Original news and analysis on international IP policy
WASHINGTON, DC - France's "three strikes" law is both "ambitious" and "realistic," French culture and communication minister Christine Albanel told a conference Tuesday, and anyone who thinks the internet can be a lawless arena where anything goes is "in the wrong century." Also at the conference, predictions were made on US legislation on patent reform, performance rights and other issues.
Patent reform may be chugging along in the United States Congress, but so far, with the Senate soon to be consumed with what could be a contentious Supreme Court nomination fight, and with President Obama still lacking a new director of the US Patent and Trademark Office, some are questioning whether reform will actually happen this year. In addition, a key "first-to-file" provision in the US bill to harmonise with other countries may be more appearance than substance.
While heralded by patent- and copyright-based industries as a welcome step, the annual report on alleged inadequate protection of US intellectual property rights released by the Office of the US Trade Representative released this week is being blasted by some civil society groups.
WASHINGTON, DC - The Patent Cooperation Treaty is not performing up to par and is not helping enough to alleviate the stress on the global patent system, World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry said here Tuesday. The backlog theme was echoed by judges from across the globe who said their dockets are getting fuller with IP-related cases.
WASHINGTON, DC - The Obama administration will fight for the movie industry and work to aggressively enforce its intellectual property protections both at home and abroad, United States Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said here Tuesday.
The United States patent reform bills offered up Tuesday fall well short of what is needed to protect innovation and intellectual property rights, say myriad small tech companies, large-cap manufacturers, pharmaceutical firms and inventors. In fact, they say, it even threatens jobs at a time when the economy is in desperate need of them.
But proponents argue that it is precisely the type of measure needed to promote jobs, reduce lawsuits and poor patent quality that put a drag on innovation and the economy.
As the United States battles an economic meltdown, items like economic stimulus and home foreclosure relief are taking centre stage. Congress also is still working to confirm President Obama's nominees. But once those items are dealt with, issues such as patent reform and intellectual property enforcement are expected to be hot-button items once again.
With patent reform expected to be introduced sooner rather than later in this 111th United States Congress, calculating damages for infringement remains one of the main sticking points.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is considering a deferred-examination procedure to help reduce the backlog of the more than 770 million patent applications that have not yet been looked at. And the US Congress may be willing to help give the agency the authority to do so in this year's patent-reform legislation.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch and William New
Changes in several key international agencies and governments will bring a cadre of new faces to positions that address intellectual property policy, and some potential names for those spots have been circulating in recent weeks.
The naming of the new chief of the World Trade Organization IP Division is "imminent," according to sources close to the process. And as US President Barack Obama began his first weeks in office in late January, many IP-related positions also remain unfilled.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch The United States Chamber of Commerce is calling on President-Elect Barack Obama to fill key intellectual property enforcement posts within the first 100 days of taking office. Meanwhile, other trade associations also…
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
A pilot patent peer review system in the United States could serve as a model for patent offices around the globe.
New York Law School, in cooperation with the US Patent and Trademark Office, is in its second year of Peer To Patent, an innovative initiative that opens the patent examination process to public participation. The online system allows the public to supply prior art to assess the claims of pending patent applications. The goal is to provide patent examiners with as much information as possible, and ultimately increase the quality of approved patents.