Panelists: Balance Needed Between Antitrust Law, Patent Quality 11/06/2008 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – A careful balance must be struck between ensuring the quality of the United States patent system – and the patents themselves – and antitrust law to ensure that new technologies and services can be brought to market, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, experts said in Washington Monday. “Imbalance can result in less competition, less innovation,” Deborah Garza, deputy assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, said during a meeting of the Intellectual Property Owners Association.
USPTO Patent Reexamination Process Is Flawed, Think Tank Says 10/06/2008 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch A United States Patent and Trademark Office procedure for third-party patent challenges is in turmoil and needs rethinking, an investigation by an independent think tank has found. Though few in number so far, inter partes reexaminations are increasingly used in conjunction with, rather than as an intended replacement for, patent infringement litigation. On top of that, the USPTO is taking years to resolve the cases, leaving business plans in disarray. The USPTO said it is working to cut delays in the system.
High US Court Reconsiders Policy Of Patenting Business Methods 15/05/2008 by Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – The chief US appeals court that rules on patent disputes has squarely reconsidered whether the United States’ 1998 decision to allow greater berth for business method patents was the right intellectual property policy. Adding heft to the position of changing course on business method patents was the US Patent and Trademark Office, which challenged a patent application on a method for financial hedging by inventors Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw. The USPTO urged the court to reject the patent as ineligible subject matter. It offered a standard for invalidating the patent that demonstrated a dramatic change of course for the US government over the past 10 years.
Suspending TRIPS Obligations: A Rising Alternative For WTO Retaliation 09/05/2008 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Catherine Saez Retaliating against a country found in violation of World Trade Organization rules by sanctioning the country’s activities in an unrelated trade sector may be a more effective alternative for developing countries than retaliating under the sector of the violation, especially when such cross-retaliation involves WTO rules on intellectual property rights, an expert told a panel this week.
Revision of Swiss Copyright Law Raises Moderate Protest 20/03/2008 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Catherine Saez Switzerland has adopted a new copyright law strengthening the rights of performers, producers and copyright owners online that appears less stringent than similar legislation adopted in some peer countries, according to observers. Nevertheless, some activists still see the Swiss law as jeopardising users’ rights.
International Implications Of Red Cross Trademark Fight Unclear 20/12/2007 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Catherine Saez Months after health products manufacturer Johnson & Johnson filed a civil complaint against the American Red Cross and its commercial licensees to stop using the symbol of a red cross, the public interest it generated seems to have all but subsided. However, questions about the possible consequences of this lawsuit at the international level remain unanswered. After roughly 100 years of sharing the symbol, the two entities are now fighting over it. The lawsuit filed by US-based Johnson & Johnson (J&J) against the American Red Cross (ARC) and four of its licensing partners on 8 August focused mainly on preventing the ARC and its licensing partners from using the red cross design on commercial products such as first aid kits to prevent unfair competition. The American Red Cross has licensed sale of its kits in large-scale retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and major drug stores.
New USPTO Rules Blocked; EU Views New Patent Litigation Proposal 05/11/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch A US federal court in Virginia has temporarily blocked the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from implementing controversial new rules governing patent application continuations. The rules, set to come into effect on 1 November, sparked strong opposition from many patent attorneys who argued that capping the number of patent claims and continuing applications would harm inventors seeking to protect intellectual property rights in the fast-moving high-technology sector (IPW, Patent Policy, 10 September 2007). Separately, Portugal, which holds the EU presidency, floated a revised proposal for a European patent litigation system. The draft, although seen by critics as much improved over earlier versions, leaves several key issues unresolved, said Kevin Mooney, a UK attorney with Simmons & Simmons and president of the European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW).
Qualcomm-Nokia Patent Lawsuits Advance 29/10/2007 by Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch A German court has thrown out a case involving patents brought by Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia against US chipmaker Qualcomm. The case is one of several internationally between the two companies that could have an impact on telecommunications and information access.
US Courts Swinging Toward Higher Threshold For Patentability 04/10/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch For years, the United States has appeared unusually generous towards patent applicants. The country has extended legal protection to many inventions, such as business methods, that typically are not patentable in Europe and other parts of the world. Now, however, America appears to be back-pedalling. Two recent court rulings in the United States have significantly cut back on the types of inventions that can patented in the country. And these decisions may be just the beginning. More court-imposed restrictions may be coming soon, according to some experts.
China Proposes Fund To Help Its Firms Fight IP Litigation 19/09/2007 by Jia Hepeng for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Jia Hepeng for Intellectual Property Watch BEIJING – China is proposing a fund to help its enterprises cope with rising international litigation related to intellectual property rights (IPRs). The message, together with other measures, was delivered by Zhang Qin, deputy director of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) at a national corporate IPR meeting on 2 September, but it was not made public until 10 September. Sun Pingping, a spokeswoman of SIPO, confirmed the news, saying the scale and detailed operation of the fund have not been finalised. Zhang told the corporate meeting that international legal cases on IP that Chinese enterprises face have been growing. While some of the lawsuits arise from Chinese enterprises’ poor IPR awareness and ownership, it is possible that some multinationals are abusing IPR to block the rise of Chinese firms, he said.