Measure Allowing Federal Courts To Handle Trade Secrets Claims Clears US Congress 28/04/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Legislation authorising federal courts to hear cases involving theft of trade secrets passed the US House of Representatives on 27 April and is now headed for an expected signature by President Barack Obama. Final enactment of the “Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016” (DTSA), along with the 14 April adoption by the European Parliament of the EU Trade Secrets Directive, boosts protections on both sides of the Atlantic but not uniformly, intellectual property lawyers said.
In US, Growing Battle Over Offensive Trademarks 26/04/2016 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is not admitting defeat. It is still refusing to register trademarks that disparage people, even though this policy violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, according to a December decision by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. The USPTO has appealed the court ruling, and many experts expect the Supreme Court will soon rule on whether there is constitutional protection for disparaging marks. [Updated!]
Tribute To Brazilian Legal Scholar Denis Barbosa 05/04/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Genius, brilliant, generous, wholehearted, warm, kind, funny, original, musician, art lover, brave, restless, these are few of the most suitable and recurrent attributes of Denis Borges Barbosa, who passed away on Saturday, April 2nd. Leading IP professor, researcher and attorney in Brazil, he was also the key international face of Brazilian IP, write Allan Rocha de Souza and Cláudia Chamas.
Despite Supreme Court Ruling, Foreign Sales Don’t Affect US Patent Rights 29/03/2016 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The controversial ruling was perhaps to be expected. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals doggedly hewed to its existing interpretation of patent law. Unfortunately, the court’s decision in Lexmark International v Impression Products conflicts with recent Supreme Court jurisprudence, according to many experts – thus leaving unresolved some important questions about how much control patentees can maintain over their patented products.
Leading US TV Operators In IP Clash With Russian TV Channels 24/03/2016 by Eugene Gerden for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Leading Russian television channels, among which are First Channel, STS, Ren TV, TNT the Comedy, Nostalgia and some others, have filed a class action lawsuit related to intellectual property rights in a New York court against their US repeaters, including Infomir, Panorama TV, Goodzone TV.
South Africa: New Prominent Pro-IP Academic Comes Out Against Government 23/03/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The new Anton Mostert Chair of Intellectual Property Law at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, Professor Sadulla Karjiker, has pointed a finger at the country’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for being “unresponsive” to stakeholders offering their input into proposed IP legislation.
Ukraine To Amend Customs Code, Ratify Amendments To TRIPS 16/03/2016 by Jaroslaw Adamowski for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Ukrainian Parliament is currently drafting an amended Customs Code to introduce a number of changes to the country’s intellectual property legislation. Moreover, in mid-March, local lawmakers authorised Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko to ratify the protocol amending the TRIPS agreement which enables increased exports of pharmaceuticals produced under compulsory licences to countries which are not capable of manufacturing them locally.
MSF Challenges Pfizer Patent Application For Pneumonia Vaccine In India 11/03/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Today, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) filed a patent opposition against Pfizer’s vaccine for pneumonia in India.
Gilead Sovaldi Case Reveals Patent-Health Fissures In India 09/03/2016 by Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments NEW DELHI — Are patient groups, health activists and manufacturers of low-cost generic drugs always on the same page? Do India’s generic companies think alike? The short answer: not necessarily, though their interests have overlapped on many occasions.
CETA Legal Review Completed, Now Off To Parliaments And Governments For Approval 01/03/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Union and Canada have jointly announced the finalisation of the legal review for Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).