India Publishes Draft Guidelines For Patenting Of TK and Biological Material 08/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The government of India has released a set of draft guidelines to be followed in the patenting of traditional knowledge and biological material. Comments are due by 22 November.
Landmark India IP Board Decision Against Hepatitis C Drug Patent 04/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments India last week saw a landmark public health decision on the evolving role of intellectual property rights in the context of the public interest.
In Search of Relevance, Not Solutions: The Truth About ITU’s ‘Patent Roundtable’ 24/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Meetings at UN agencies in Geneva are not often mainstream news – but given the high profile nature of legal disputes about smartphone and tablet technology taking place around the world, a meeting to discuss an arcane area of patent policy – the ITU Patent Roundtable – was widely covered, as it brought together some of the titans of the mobile and internet industry plus government regulators and standards bodies.
New USPTO Post-Grant Review A Small Step For Patent Harmonisation 18/10/2012 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment On 16 September, the United States made its patent system more like everyone else’s. The country began implementing a new patent office procedure for challenging the validity of recently issued patents. This was, however, only a modest step towards harmonisation because the US version of post-grant patent review has little in common with the corresponding processes available in other countries, according to experts.
ITU Undertakes Work On Standards Essential Patents 12/10/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has tasked an expert group on intellectual property rights with coming up with ways to update ITU patent policy with an eye toward clarifying litigation involving “standards-essential patents.”
Talks Ongoing To Raise Quality Of International Patents 10/10/2012 by Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Big patent offices worldwide are leading talks to raise the quality of international patents under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). This comes as it has become harder, yet more urgent than ever, for stakeholders to inject some reforms into the more than four-decade old system amid the unprecedented rise in applications and faster technology turnaround.
No Deal For Now On WIPO Design Treaty, Patent Law Work Plan 08/10/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization this week could not agree on a work plan for the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP), leading to a likely postponement of the next committee meeting. In addition, the annual WIPO General Assemblies failed to agree to hold a diplomatic conference on a Design Law Treaty, but did agree on an expedited way forward. And the Assemblies took note of the work of the committees on standards and enforcement.
MSF Launches Patent Opposition Database 02/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors without Borders) today announced the launch of the “Patent Opposition Database,” an online resource to help patient groups or others to oppose wrongful patent applications as a way to ensure access remains open for affordable generic drugs.
Latest Draft Of European Patent Court Agreement Released 28/09/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new draft of the agreement on creation of a European Patent Court has been issued by the Council of the European Union. The latest version shows the changes agreed earlier this year, including to locate the central office in Paris with divisions in London and Munich.
US And UN Consider New Limits On Patent Wars 20/09/2012 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The patent wars have produced many casualties around the world. Companies that make and sell smartphones and tablet computers, courts, consumers and the economy – all have suffered, according to many experts. “I couldn’t come up with a worse system” for handling patent disputes, said Erich Spangenberg, chairman of IP Navigation Group, a consultancy. But significant reforms may be on the way, thanks to the US government and a United Nations agency.