US Supreme Court To Examine Outsized Infringement Damages 28/09/2016 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Patent infringers are supposed to pay damages, but the award in this case struck many as ridiculous. Some Samsung smartphones contained one or two purely decorative design elements that had been patented by Apple. But instead of paying modest damages for what many see as a tiny infringement, Samsung was ordered to pay $399 million – all the profits the company had made from its infringing phones. The Federal Circuit said it had no choice but to approve those damages; it was constrained by statute. Critics, however, said that the Federal Circuit had misinterpreted the statute. They fret the court’s error will unleash a wave of design patent infringement suits that will harm innovation, stifle competition, and empower patent trolls. Which is why so many will be paying close attention on 11 October, when this dispute comes before the US Supreme Court.
CETA To Be Signed (Again) During EU-Canada Summit In Mid-October 23/09/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment European Union trade ministers at an informal meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia today agreed on the final steps to enact CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU. There will be no other reopening of the text, assured EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem after the meeting. But ministers have agreed, according to Slovak Minister of Economy Peter Ziga, that some sensitive issues have to be straightened out in an additional annex to the CETA text.
European Cooperation Against Counterfeits Online: Sporting Goods Industry Joins Team 22/09/2016 by Alexandra Nightingale for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) and the European Commission recently signed a memorandum of understanding that sets out to “establish a code of practice in the fight against the sale of counterfeit goods over the internet and to enhance collaboration between the signatories.”
‘Ransomware’ Emerges As A Major Threat To IP Ownership 19/09/2016 by Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Criminals are increasingly blocking access to digitised intellectual property and then charging their victims ransom to get it back, as “ransomware” attacks become increasingly common and sophisticated.
Albania, Montenegro Amend IP Legislation With EU Bids In Mind 19/09/2016 by Jaroslaw Adamowski for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In a bid to push forward their ongoing membership negotiations with the European Union, two Balkan States have moved to further harmonise their intellectual property regulations in line with EU legislation. Albania’s new copyright law will enter into force this October, and Montenegro’s amended legislation on trademarks, industrial design and topographies of semiconductor products entered into force last July.
Mass Protests Against TTIP, CETA In Germany 17/09/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments In Berlin, Hamburg and five other cities in Germany, some 320,000 citizens today protested against the adoption of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Despite Ongoing Efforts, USPTO Still Faces Patent Quality Issues 16/09/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The US Patent and Trademark Office continues to face claims of low patent quality despite a major initiative to address the situation. The agency has been the subject of several critical reports by oversight agencies and recently defended its patent quality improvements before Congress. Patent practitioners say that while patent quality may not actually have worsened over the past few years, the USPTO’s ongoing lack of financial and other resources, and inconsistent judicial decisions, are among the factors causing problems.
Changes In Music Listening: Survey Finds Streaming Improves; Stream Ripping The New Infringement 16/09/2016 by Alexandra Nightingale for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Industry research on music consumer behaviour has found changes in practices of accessing and listening to music. It has been found that, whilst paid audio streaming services grew, copyright infringement remains a significant problem. Next up? Stream ripping.
Delinkage Of R&D Costs From Product Prices 15/09/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments It is essential that policy makers reform the systems for financing R&D, and de-link the costs of R&D from the prices of products, says James Love.
MSF Report Calls On Governments To Repair, Remodel Biomedical R&D 15/09/2016 by Alexandra Nightingale for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Governments are urged to do more to promote the development of desperately-needed new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics at affordable prices and address the failures of research and development (R&D) in a new report by Médecins Sans Frontières.