Everything Is Obvious 25/03/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Ryan Abbott writes: For more than sixty years, “obviousness” has set the bar for patentability. Under this standard, if a hypothetical “person having ordinary skill in the art” would find an invention obvious in light of existing relevant information, then the invention cannot be patented. This skilled person is defined as a non-innovative worker with a limited knowledge-base. The more creative and informed the skilled person, the more likely an invention will be considered obvious. The standard has evolved since its introduction, and it is now on the verge of an evolutionary leap: Inventive machines are increasingly being used in research, and once the use of such machines becomes standard, the person skilled in the art should be a person using an inventive machine, or just an inventive machine. Unlike the skilled person, the inventive machine is capable of innovation and considering the entire universe of prior art. As inventive machines continue to improve, this will increasingly raise the bar to patentability, eventually rendering innovative activities obvious. The end of obviousness means the end of patents, at least as they are now.
Inventors, Licensing Groups Back US Withdrawal From Standards-Essential Patent Pact 20/03/2019 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A coalition of inventors, patent licensing, business and political groups has issued a letter of support for an effort by Trump administration agencies to withdraw from an Obama-era arrangement with the US Patent and Trademark Office on standards-essential patents that the groups say is harming innovation.
Summaries Of The Recent US Supreme Court Copyright Decisions: Finnegan LLP 07/03/2019 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United States Supreme Court took two important actions on copyright-related matters this week. US law firm Finnegan LLP has summarised the decisions in two separate articles.
Innovation And Regulation Of Gene-Edited Vegetables: An Interview With IP Lawyer Chris Holly 05/03/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Chris Holly is a practicing intellectual property lawyer with extensive experience helping clients leverage IP portfolios in the agriculture, food, microbiology and biotechnology industries. Intellectual Property Watch’s David Branigan interviewed Holly to gain his perspective on the technological, regulatory and intellectual property considerations of next generation plant breeding techniques, in particular those that involve gene editing using CRISPR technology.
Will US Drug Pricing Politics Change Intimidation Practices Globally? 05/03/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Fifa Rahman writes: The global health world, particularly as concerns skyrocketing drug prices and patent abuse, is in a unique space in time. Recently, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has been carrying on as per usual. It has threatened the Malaysian and Colombian governments at numerous junctures to prevent them from issuing compulsory licences – a completely legal mechanism which the US uses regularly – to access generic hepatitis C drugs. The Trump Administration has sent delegations to global health agencies in Geneva to intimidate them into reducing, or hiding, work on TRIPS flexibilities and fairer drug pricing.
In US, No Remedies For Growing IP Infringements 04/03/2019 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium. Alas, that longstanding legal principle – where there’s a right, there’s a remedy – doesn’t apply to IP owners in the US. Thanks to several Supreme Court rulings interpreting the US Constitution, owners of patents have no recourse when their IP is infringed by US states. Copyright owners now face the same fate, unless the Supreme Court reverses a recent 4th Circuit decision.
USTR Reports On 2018, Lays Out IP Priorities For 2019; China A Main Target 04/03/2019 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Office of the United States Trade Representative has issued its annual report on trade relations with other nations, essentially a report on progress and problems from last year and an agenda for what’s coming this year. Multilateral approaches came in for touch criticism, and on intellectual property rights, a vigorous, repeated focus is China.
Rise Of The Machines: Experts Look At AI, Robotics And The Law 27/02/2019 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments NEW YORK — Artificial intelligence, robots, and the law, are all changing a rapid pace. A panel of experts at a recent event at Fordham Law School discussed latest developments and signs of the limits of the law when applied to AI areas like facial recognition, automated weapons systems, and financial technology.
Patents Under Debate As Pharma Executives Face US Senate Committee 27/02/2019 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Executives of seven large pharmaceutical companies faced questioning yesterday from the United States Senate Finance Committee over high drug prices in the US, especially compared with other developed countries. One issue that came under the microscope was patents.
California Startup Brainbase Building Breakthrough Online IP Licensing Platform 19/02/2019 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Brainbase, a California tech startup with a team in Estonia, has received US$1M in seed funding to build an “end-to-end product ecosystem for intellectual property licensing” that could change the way businesses manage and licence their brands worldwide. The investment is an indication of dynamic evolution in the IP sector as it takes advantage of latest technologies and the talents of innovators.