The Lexmark Litigation: Why Does Big Pharma Care So Much About Ink Cartridges? 17/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Federal Circuit will soon hear Lexmark v. Impression Products, a case about ink cartridges. Impression, a foreign buyer, refills spent Lexmark cartridges and resells them in the United States. Impression claims that Lexmark, having sold the cartridges, has exhausted its patent rights, and cannot hold Impression liable for patent infringement. The Federal Circuit will address whether the US patent is exhausted with the sale of the patented product outside the US, write Burcu Kilic and Peter Maybarduk.
Did WIPO Get Cool? UN IPR Agency Joins Creative Commons Initiative 17/09/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization exists to protect and promote intellectual property rights, including copyright. As a large international organisation, it is also a producer of a great amount of data and information that users around the world want to access.
WIPO HR Report Shows Effort At Geographical Diversity, Gender Balance 16/09/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization has fewer staff overall but more senior staff, according to an annual report on human resources at the United Nations agency. In addition, while efforts at WIPO are continuing to expand geographical diversity among staff, the number of countries represented fell last year. Western Europe provides half of all staff. Meanwhile, women make up about a quarter of senior posts.
WIPO Continues Honing Its Audit And Oversight Functions 15/09/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The UN World Intellectual Property Organization has been working in recent years to improve its audit and oversight functions under the watchful eye of its member states. On the opening day of its meeting this week, the influential Program and Budget Committee (PBC) took several actions to advance the process, with some key positions in flux.
European Commission Supports Indefinite Exemption Of LDCs From IPRs On Pharmaceuticals 10/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments In a communication today, the European Commission said it agrees to support a least developed country request at the World Trade Organization to prolong indefinitely a current exemption on the enforcement of IP on pharmaceutical products. Now the decision moves to the EU member states.
WIPO To Tackle Lisbon Financing, External Offices, Development Expenditures 10/09/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization Program and Budget Committee meets next week to address several substantive issues. Among the issues to be discussed is the financing of the system of protection of geographical indications, which has been called into question by non-members of the system. Other topics are external WIPO offices, and if the WIPO coordination office in New York should be closed, what constitutes development expenditures in the budget, and how to implement a recommendation by the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit.
No Need Of IPRs For Protecting Traditional Knowledge 03/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 8 Comments We should be careful in creating registrable rights on the traditional knowledge (TK) including traditional medicine practices and classifying TK under intellectual property rights, which are private exclusive rights operating like a monopoly in practice. Patents create private spaces in the knowledge arena (though for a short duration), and therefore no private appropriation should be allowed in the realm of TK, writes R.S. Praveen Raj.
OECD Book Highlights Economic Impact – Good And Bad – Of IPRs 02/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new book from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) paints a revealing picture of the impact on economies of intellectual property rights.
Proposed PTAB Rules Provide Incremental Change 01/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment On August 20, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published proposed amendments to current rules governing trial practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) under the America Invents Act (AIA). The new proposals contain more substantive changes than the May package and while all parties will appreciate the USPTO clarifying various issues in the proposed rules, many patent owners may be underwhelmed with the real-world impact of the proposals, especially the portion dealing with motions to amend claims during AIA trials, write Jason Lohr and Stephen Shaw.
Interview: IP Enforcement In The US Fashion Industry 31/08/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Protecting intellectual property rights in the fashion industry can be a tricky exercise in this fast-moving environment. Several avenues are possible for fashion designers in the United States, such as trademark, trade dress or design patents. Perkins Coie IP litigation partner Ann Schofield Baker, based in New York, participated in an interview with Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez on ways fashion designers can protect and enforce their rights in the US.