US Ends Post-Sale Patent Rights 08/06/2017 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment On 30 May, the US Supreme Court handed down yet another in a long series of rulings that cut back on the rights of patent owners. This time, the high court made it far more difficult for patentees to impose post-sale restrictions on the use or resale of their patented goods. The ruling should boost parallel imports into the US, increase competition throughout the American economy, lower prices for US consumers, and hurt the bottom line of many companies.
Top 5 IP Offices Advance Patent Harmonisation 02/06/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Celebrating their tenth anniversary of working together, the intellectual property offices of Europe, Japan, Korea, China and the United States today concluded a meeting of the so-called IP5 by announcing efforts to further harmonise their patent practices. This includes measures affecting global instruments like the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
US Supreme Court Adopts International Exhaustion For Patents: Paving the way for parallel imports to exert downward pressure on domestic pharmaceutical (and other) prices 31/05/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Frederick M. Abbott writes: The Supreme Court of the United States on May 30, 2017 adopted a rule of international exhaustion of patent rights for the United States in Impression Products v. Lexmark International, No. 15-1189. The near-unanimous decision authored by Chief Justice Roberts is unambiguous and unequivocal.[1] The Court paid short shrift to contrary decisions of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Jazz Photo Corp. v. International Trade Commission, 264 F. 3d 1094 (Fed. Cir. 2001) and in this case on certiorari, Lexmark International v. Impression Products, 816 F.3d 721 (Fed. Cir. 2016). In addition to adopting international exhaustion, the Supreme Court ruled firmly against enforcement of post-sale restrictions through infringement actions based on patent. The Court allowed for enforcement under contract law of limitations that may be included in patent licenses.
US Supreme Court Puts New Limits On Patent Suits 23/05/2017 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Yesterday’s United States Supreme Court decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Brands Group followed some familiar trends in Supreme Court jurisprudence. It overturned long-established Federal Circuit law, restricted the power of patent owners, and handed a stinging defeat to so-called “patent trolls” (companies that make money primarily by licensing their patents and suing those who refuse to purchase licenses). The Court did all this by limiting where patent infringement suits can be filed – and thus significantly changing patent litigation in the US.
US, EU Diverge On Medical Diagnostic Patents 10/05/2017 by Kim Treanor for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A recent article in the journal Nature Biotechnology finds that since a key United States Supreme Court decision, the European Union and United States have diverged in their patent filings for medical diagnostics.
At re:publica 2017, Strategy Of ‘The Facebook Empire’ Revealed By Patents 09/05/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In a talk at the re:publica 2017 in Berlin this week, academics from the Share Lab Project presented how they relied on an unusual resource to get a measure of the algorithms of Facebook. By reading through a part of the 8000 patents registered by the company, the researchers were able to shed some light into the process of how the “Empire” turns the raw data they treat their users as into those valuable big data golden profiles that then can be marketed.
US Government Intends To Grant Exclusive Licence On Zika Patent Over Objection Of Civil Society 26/04/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United States Department of Defense has announced that it intends to grant Sanofi Pasteur, a French pharmaceutical corporation, exclusive rights to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus. The decision follows outcry from the public and civil society groups over concerns of affordability and accessibility in taking such a step.
US Supreme Court Ruling Worries Patent Experts 25/04/2017 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A recent US Supreme Court patent law decision surprised few observers – other than those steeped in patent law. The high court’s ruling in SCA Hygiene Prods. Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Prods stunned and dismayed many patent experts, because the decision will benefit patent trolls and other unscrupulous patent owners, at the expense of companies just trying to make and sell their products. On the positive side, however, the ruling brings US patent law more in line with Europe’s patent law.
Internet Of Things Is The Next Big Thing In Patents, And EPO Says It’s Ready For It 21/04/2017 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The European Patent Office has a “tradition of looking forwards” to anticipate patenting trends, and it sees the Internet of Things (IoT) as the next challenge, Chief Economist Yann Ménière said at 20 April OxFirst webinar on the office’s contribution to the coming world of billions of connected objects.
Tech, Auto Companies Urge US Action On Standard Essential Patents 21/04/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A group of 15 US and foreign tech and automobile companies and organisations has sent a letter to the White House asking for support to reduce what they see as rising anti-competitive licensing practices involving standards essential patents (SEPs).