EPO New Policy Brief On Climate Technologies 03/07/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Patent Office today released a new policy brief on climate change mitigation technologies, with a focus on renewable energy technologies, which are on the rise.
EPO Will Not Allow Patents On Plants, Animals From Biological Processes 29/06/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Patent Office today issued a clarification about the patenting of plant and animal products, putting it in line with a European Commission clarification that such products obtained through a biological breeding process should not be patentable.
Novartis Loses Claim On Extension Of Data Exclusivity 28/06/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In a decision today, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg put an end to a complaint by Novartis Europharm Ltd against the European Commission over the terms for data exclusivity (C-629/15 P). Novartis had appealed an earlier decision by the European Court (the first instance) which had rejected the claims by the pharmaceutical company that it should be granted additional data exclusivity for Aclasta, developed from Novartis’ older drug Zometa. No way, the Court of Justice said today, upholding the judgment by the lower court that had found that Novartis’ interpretation of the rules would effectively allow the extension of data exclusivity for a drug forever.
Fierce Controversy Over Draft Hate Crime Legislation, New Surveillance Law In Germany 27/06/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Just before the upcoming elections in September, the German government seems eager to push through legislation to rein in internet hate speech, fake news, and also legalise state hacks and police searches of computers and mobile phones against suspects of all kinds. Even at the United Nations and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) level the recent initiatives in Germany have resulted in some raised eyebrows. The draft hate speech law has also “made it to the alert list of the Council of Europe Platform to promote the protection of journalism.”
EPO Staff Calls General Strikes To Protest Presidential Reform Plans 27/06/2017 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments European Patent Office employees, fed up with a series of reforms proposed by President Benoît Battistelli, have called “Respect Staff” strikes on 30 June and 3 July in all European Patent Office locations – Munich, The Hague, Berlin and Vienna.
EU IP Enforcement Summit: Figures Grave, Reactions Slow 23/06/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment With figures now available for what intellectual property infringement is worth, the European Union copyright office made a call to action at its 2nd International IP Enforcement Summit in Berlin, which ended today. “Now that we know the facts, it is time to move to action and problem solving,” said Antonio Campinos, head of the EU IP Office (EUIPO).
As Questions Mount Over Future Of IP, Geneva A ‘Particular’ Place For Global Dialogue 23/06/2017 by Elise De Geyter for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment There are still many unanswered questions about intellectual property rights, speakers said during an academic conference last week in Geneva. Think tank analyst and author Pedro Roffe, who was the focal point of the conference, said at the event that there is “particularly in Geneva” place for dialogue about “very important and emerging” IP questions.
Intermediaries At Centre Of Battle On EU IP Enforcement 22/06/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment BERLIN — The future of the European intellectual property enforcement framework is under heavy discussion at the second IP Enforcement Summit of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in Berlin today.
Tribute To An IP Community Influencer Brings Together IP Experts In Geneva 20/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Inspiring, generous, humanist, nobody was short of praise and anecdotes at an event last week to celebrate the lifelong contribution of Pedro Roffe, well-known Geneva thinker and writer on intellectual property. A conference on the evolution of intellectual property, trade and development had been organised for the occasion, congregating many IP experts offering their perspective on the role of IP in fields, such as public health, innovation policy, and competition law.
German Court, UK Election Could Push Back Unified Patent Court Launch 14/06/2017 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Unified Patent Court (UPC) in Europe was previously expected to open for business in December 2017 but that timeline has now slipped.