UK Ratifies Unified Patent Court, Moving It Closer To Reality 27/04/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United Kingdom has ratified the Unified Patent Court Agreement that will allow “a single judgment in cross-border disputes between private parties over patents granted under the current intergovernmental system.” The system is administered by the European Patent Office, and the UK’s ratification leaves Germany outstanding.
Adopting An Open Innovation Perspective For Patent Policy For The Internet Of Things 26/04/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Internet of Things is a prototypical technology space, where small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), universities and their spin-outs as well as big corporations alike could constitute a fruitful innovation ecosystem. All these players could thrive in the spirit of Open Innovation, so to collectively re-invent the future of the internet and patents could take the role of promoting tech transfer, knowledge exchange and spur secondary markets for intellectual property.
Charles Gore, Founder Of World Hepatitis Alliance, To Head Medicines Patent Pool 19/04/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Medicines Patent Pool announced today that it has appointed Charles Gore as new executive director. Gore is founder and former president of the World Hepatitis Alliance.
Patents On Delivery Devices Can Extend Drug Patent Protection For Years, Study Finds 17/04/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The number of patents for drug delivery devices has shot up in recent years, and has had the effect of significantly extending the protection enjoyed by patented pharmaceuticals, delaying cheaper versions of the drugs and leading to higher prices, a recent paper found. And in a Q&A below, one of the authors raises an issue for policymakers.
US Files WTO Case Against China For Violations Of Global Patent Rules 26/03/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment It has been considered for years that China has not been as strong as developed country trading partners in protecting intellectual property rights. Now, as China gains ground in building its own patent war chest, it has received a World Trade Organization challenge from the top patent-filing nation in the world, arguing that China’s treatment of foreign companies’ IP rights is unfavourable and its policies violate international trade rules.
Irrepressible Rise Of China In International Patent Applications, Developing Countries Lagging 21/03/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments If the United States remains the champion of international patent applications at the World Intellectual Property Organization, China is now on its heels, and knocked Japan off the second place in 2017, according to numbers provided by WIPO. Southeast Asia is now a strong source of international applications, while developing countries still stand as a poor relation of the intellectual property system, though some of them are progressing steadily.
UAEM Students Launch Campaign To Drop Publicly Funded Patent Claim On Cancer Drug In India 16/03/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) this week launched a campaign to ask the University of California to drop its pursuit of a patent on the prostrate cancer drug Xtandi in India in order to make it affordable for patients. Xtandi sells at “exorbitant” rates in the United States, they said, a seeming violation of the licensing guidelines of the publicly funded University of California system which guarantees an “appropriate” return on taxpayer investments.
Did EU Council Conclusions On IP Enforcement Overlook Patent Trolls? 16/03/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A coalition of companies holding patents in Europe has welcomed conclusions released this week by the Council of the European Union on tougher enforcement of intellectual property rights. But the group raised concern that the conclusions failed to recognise the steady rise in the EU of patent-assertion entities, or patent trolls.
EPO Reports Record Volume Of Patents, Seeks To Assure Quality 07/03/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Patent Office today issued statistics which it claimed show the continued ascendance of Europe as a premier destination for patenting, not only from European countries. The statistics focus strongly on the increased volume of patents filed and granted, which it argued is a result of the office’s focus on “efficiency and quality” and a boost to innovation.
Early Certainty Initiative Of The European Patent Office – Flexibility For Biotech Needed 06/03/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments In 2016, the European Patent Office (EPO) introduced a streamlined opposition procedure that should simplify opposition proceedings and deliver decisions faster, while giving parties more time to react to summons and prepare for oral proceedings. This new initiative, called early certainty, aimed to cut down the overall duration of granting new patents and to tackle the backlog in patent granting within the EPO, writes Michael Kahnert.