Special Report: Union Lawsuit Claims EPO Has Prevented It From Functioning; Office Claims Immunity 11/07/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Deteriorating relations between European Patent Office (EPO) management and staff union SUEPO have sparked another lawsuit in the district court in The Hague, Netherlands. The matter, which will be heard in a 15 July summary proceeding, alleges a pattern of threats, dismissals, suspensions from service and gagging of union members, said Prakken d’Oliveira attorney Liesbeth Zegveld, who represents SUEPO and its Dutch branch. Around one-third of union officials have been suspended, investigated or gagged, effectively preventing the union from functioning, she said in an interview. The lawsuits are just part of the ongoing turmoil affecting the EPO. Reform of the Boards of Appeal (BoA) has also proved controversial, and there are concerns about the reluctance of the Administrative Council to get a grip on the staff-management battle. The EPO said that, as an international organisation, it has immunity from such suits, as recently held by a German court. It defended its changes to the BoA, and announced an autumn conference for stakeholders to discuss an independent study on office social issues.
CETA: Ripe For Provisional Implementation In January 2018? 10/07/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Commission on 8 July published the finalized Comprehensive Economic Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) and formally proposed to Council to sign the agreement, pushing for provisional implementation amidst ongoing discussions over competency issues with EU member states. After finalising CETA in August 2014, the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system was renegotiated last year.
Brexit Threatens Legal Uncertainty, Higher Costs For Trademarks, Lawyers Say 08/07/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Two weeks after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, the potential impact of “Brexit” on patents and trademarks is becoming marginally clearer, intellectual property lawyers said in interviews and a 7 July webinar. Among other things, Brexit would delay the EU unitary patent and unified patent court (UPC) and result in great uncertainty –and higher costs — for trademark owners, they said.
V4 Countries Launch Visegrad Patent Institute As Region’s First ISA, IPEA 08/07/2016 by Jaroslaw Adamowski for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment With the aim of strengthening regional cooperation in intellectual property, the four member states of the Visegrad Group, which comprises Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, launched the Visegrad Patent Institute (VPI) on 1 July. Applicants will be allowed to communicate with the institutions in their respective mother tongues, and fees for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications will be reduced by as much as 40 percent, according to Poland’s Patent Office (UPRP).
French Bill Could Open Door For Sharing, Selling Of Seeds In Public Domain 07/07/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Next week, the French Senate is due to consider a bill on biodiversity for the third time. That bill, which could be modifying several legislations, might allow for the sharing and selling by non-governmental organisations of seeds in the public domain to non-commercial buyers, which is so far not permitted under the current French legislation, according to sources.
UK High Court Upholds Blocking Of Infringing Websites In Trademark Cases 06/07/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Internet service providers can be ordered to block websites that offer counterfeit goods for sale despite the lack of an express law to that effect in trademark cases, the UK Court of Appeal for England and Wales said in a 6 July decision.
UK Proposes To Tighten IP Protections Online 06/07/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United Kingdom Digital Economy Bill, floated this week, aims to “enable access to fast digital communication services for citizens and businesses, to enable investment in digital communications infrastructure, to shape the emerging digital world to the benefit of children, consumers and businesses, and to support the digital transformation of government, enabling the delivery of better public services, world leading research and better statistics,” the UK government said in the document.
The Dutch & Pharma Policy: A Groundbreaking Presidency 05/07/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Netherlands’ Presidency of the European Council proved to be far from quiet in relation to pharmaceutical affairs. June 17 was the concluding Health Ministers Council (EPSCO) that signed off the most strongly-worded conclusions Brussels observers can recall. The meeting signaled the end of an overall successful and impactful Presidency in the highly sensitive field of medicines. The past semester has been eventful to say the least.
European Music Industry Presses Brussels To Solve “Value Gap” From User Uploads 30/06/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments More than 1,000 recording artists and songwriters from Europe, and artists who regularly perform there, have urged the European Commission to stop the “value gap” created by user upload services such as Google’s YouTube from “siphoning value away” from the music community. Google, however, said digital services aren’t the problem, and that greater transparency on royalties is needed.
Russian IP Industry At Center Of Massive Scandal 29/06/2016 by Eugene Gerden for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Russian IP industry is in the center of a massive scandal, caused by the yesterday’s arrest of Sergei Fedotov, director general of the Russian Authors’ Society (RAO), a public association, which is responsible for the collection and distribution of royalties among rights holders, on the suspicion of multi-million dollar theft and withdrawal of funds to abroad.