Battle Looms In US Over Royalty Fees For Internet Radio 26/06/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Webcasters across the United States fell silent on 26 June in an effort to influence the passage of legislation reversing royalty rate increases many say will kill radio delivered over the Internet. The “Internet Radio Equality Act,” introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives, responds to […]
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.
Bush Administration Pushes For Stronger Copyright Protection, Enforcement 22/05/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch The United States government and the US creative industries last week signalled a new crackdown on intellectual property (IP) infringement at home and abroad. In a flurry of activity, the Bush administration proposed unprecedented changes to copyright enforcement laws, key entertainment industry groups and companies partnered to fight […]
Support In US For WIPO Broadcasting Treaty Appears To Wane 21/05/2007 by Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – Practically no one participating in a recent government forum here liked the proposed broadcaster protection treaty under negotiation at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. Computer companies didn’t like it; telephone companies didn’t like it; the National Football League didn’t like it; consumer […]
US To Loosen Drug Patent Provisions In Some Trade Deals 17/05/2007 by Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON – The White House has agreed to loosen restrictions on clinical test data and patent safeguards for pharmaceuticals in bilateral trade agreements between the United States and Peru, Panama, and Colombia as part of a broader agreement with congressional Democrats to spur progress on the Bush administration […]
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.
Brazil Takes Steps To Import Cheaper AIDS Drug Under Trade Law 07/05/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The government of Brazil has issued a license that will allow the importation of cheaper versions of a patented HIV/AIDS drug after negotiations failed to bring about agreement on price reductions with Merck, the US company holding the patent. Merck said it was “profoundly disappointed,” as Brazil’s action sparked a […]
Réactions aux plaintes américaines contre la Chine à l’OMC 04/05/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Par Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Lors d’une récente conférence, un représentant américain a exposé certains des motifs qui ont poussé les Etats-Unis à déposer plainte contre la Chine devant l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) pour dénoncer le non-respect des droits de propriété intellectuelle et les obstacles posés à l’importation de produits culturels. La position des […]