EU Microsoft Judgment Sparks IP Law Debate 18/09/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch A European Commission ruling and record fine was upheld Monday against US software giant Microsoft for breaching European antitrust laws in a judgment that will have repercussions for intellectual property owners far beyond the case itself, experts said. The European Court of First Instance upheld the �497 million fine and the 2004 ruling by the Commission that Microsoft had, among other things, refused access to rivals to IP-protected information needed for developing interoperable products.
New USPTO Rules, Legal Decision Signal Changes For US Patent Practices 10/09/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch New rules by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) governing the continuation of patent applications will wreak havoc in the biotechnology and high-tech sectors, according to some experts. The regulations, announced in August as part of a USPTO effort to boost patent quality, and effective on 1 November, are already being challenged in court. In addition, US patent practice changes could arise from a 20 August judicial decision setting a new standard for determining when patent infringement is wilful or done knowingly.
US Ruling Creates Uncertainty For Famous Foreign Trademarks 20/07/2007 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Steve Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch In a ruling that surprised many trademark experts in the United States, one of the country’s most respected appellate courts recently cut back on the protection given to famous foreign trademarks. If such marks are well known in the US but are not registered or used in the country, they are unprotected by federal law, according to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Nokia Patent Case Against Qualcomm Reinvigorated 10/07/2007 by Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch A patent infringement case brought by US technology firm Qualcomm against Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia at the US-based International Trade Commission (ITC) has been reinvigorated, with a hearing scheduled for 10 September.
KSR Decision May Impact EU Patent Process But Not Harmonisation 01/06/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch While the direct impact of the recent landmark US Supreme Court decision in Teleflex v. KSR on patent law and practice will be felt only in the United States, the case could indirectly spark changes to European patent processes, experts said. Its focus on the troublesome question of when an invention is “obvious,” however, means it probably will not help global efforts to harmonise national patent systems, they said.
US Courts Leave Patent Holders Seeking Stronger International Enforcement 29/05/2007 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Steve Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch As more and more commerce crosses national borders, so do more and more items seen as infringing on patents. And patent holders are making a case for stronger international rules on enforcement to protect themselves. International intellectual property treaties enable an inventor to file one patent application and obtain patent rights in multiple countries, but the treaties do not provide similar mechanisms for multinational enforcement. A patentee can sue in each country where infringement occurs, but this is often prohibitively expensive, they say.
US Supreme Court Reins In Reach Of US Patents 15/05/2007 by Sarah Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Sarah Lai Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch The United States Supreme Court in late April reined in another patent appeals court ruling it deemed overly-expansive. The high court ruled that software companies liable for infringing a patent in the United States cannot at the same time be held liable by American courts for the same activities outside of US borders. “Foreign law alone, not United States law, currently governs the manufacture and sale of components of patented inventions in foreign countries,” wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg on behalf of three of her colleagues, Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and David Souter.
USPTO Cautious In Interpretation Of Supreme Court Ruling On Patents 09/05/2007 by Sarah Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Sarah Lai Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a preliminary memorandum that instructed its examiners to interpret a landmark Supreme Court ruling conservatively – even as the wider community in the field of US patent law expect the opinion to shake up longstanding rules that determine when an idea is too obvious to be granted a patent. The office also formed an experts’ group on the issue.
Possible Qualcomm-Nokia Patent War Delayed Until August 03/05/2007 by Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch US technology firm Qualcomm this week raised the spectre that if Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia does not comply with demands within four months, a long-running worldwide intellectual property dispute between the two companies could potentially escalate. But so far, Nokia has stated its position and shows no sign of moving. For now, the expected patent war between Qualcomm and Nokia has been delayed. Industry observers had expected Qualcomm to bring a slew of costly suits against Nokia in April for allegedly infringing its extensive patent portfolio. A patent war would pitch two of the largest mobile technology companies in the world against each other, which could have an impact on worldwide consumers’ access to mobile technology products.
US WTO Cases Against China Draw Reactions 24/04/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen NEW YORK – A United States official who presented the arguments for why the United States has taken China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for alleged breaches of trade law related to intellectual property rights and market access was met with strong support from industry and lawyers, but equally strong criticism from others at a recent conference.