Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
BOSTON - Japan next month will roll out a new patent process which aims to examine a patent application anywhere from two weeks to one month from receipt of request. Meanwhile, the United States said patent harmonisation among top IP countries is near, and a client privilege treaty was discussed.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
The presidential election in the United States is getting down to the wire, with Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama being officially chosen as their parties' nominees.
The intellectual property community is taking particular note of what positions the candidates are taking on patent reform, copyright enforcement, internet neutrality, and a host of other issues. Both campaigns have a plethora of expertise in the form of law professors, patent lawyers, and others advising them, either informally or formally.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is meeting with industry groups and intellectual property experts to determine how to strike just the right balance on industrial design protection in the United States.
In the US, design patents can protect the ornamental appearance of manufactured items such as cars. These differ from utility patents, which provide protection for the innovative, functional aspects of a product as embodied in the structure or operation of the product. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) often spend millions, if not billions, of dollars creating unique and distinctive designs for their products, whether they be strollers, mobile phones, household appliances or clothing.
But recent moves by the European Union in loosening patent protection for car repair parts, specifically, has gotten some attention in the United States, as has a legislative bill sponsored by Representative Zoe Lofgren (Democrat, California). So the USPTO wants to round up ideas and opinions on market effects of such actions, particularly when this country has seen an "incremental increase in design applications" being filed - about 5,000 more in 2007 than in 2003.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
When Biotechnology Industry Organization CEO Jim Greenwood meets with members of the United States Congress to talk to them about follow-on biologics, he brings a graphic model of an aspirin and a DVD showing the complex molecules of a biologic drug. He uses these visuals to help explain the differences between traditional chemical drugs and newer, cutting-edge biological ones being used in many breakthrough therapies for cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases.
The differences between traditional chemical drugs and biological ones is the crux of the debate going on in the United States as Congress and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) try to create a regulatory pathway that gives consumers greater access to cheaper, generic biological drugs, but still spurs innovation and protects innovator patent claims.
"When the legislation was introduced at the beginning of this Congress, most pundits expected that we'd oppose it," said Greenwood, a former House representative from Pennsylvania, told Intellectual Property Watch. "But that was a mistake the pharmaceutical industry made in the '80s - trying to resist the notion you could safely make generics …our view at BIO is that we need to follow the science, and science says you can make follow-on biologics that can be safe and can save the consumer money and therefore we support it."
[Note: new Commerce Department letter added 16 June] By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – Performance-rights groups and broadcasters went head-to-head Wednesday as the two sides testified before the United States Congress as to whether conventional…
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
WASHINGTON, DC - A careful balance must be struck between ensuring the quality of the United States patent system - and the patents themselves - and antitrust law to ensure that new technologies and services can be brought to market, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, experts said in Washington Monday.
"Imbalance can result in less competition, less innovation," Deborah Garza, deputy assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's antitrust division, said during a meeting of the Intellectual Property Owners Association.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
NEW YORK - The groundwork has been laid at the United Nations by governments, non-governmental organisations, and intellectual property and finance experts on how to use intellectual property assets to encourage credit around the globe while not interfering with intellectual property laws.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
NEW YORK - A United Nations group on Monday began debate on a publication aimed at helping the world's governments harmonise their secured financing and intellectual property laws.
The UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group VI is meeting in New York this week to hammer out differences various parties have on issues including transfer of intellectual property rights, creation of a security right, registries, and intellectual property rights related to tangible assets when those rights are used as collateral to secure credit.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch Despite an apparent stalemate on patent reform in the United States Congress, the Bush administration is still pushing for a bill to be completed this congressional session. Speaking in California’s Silicon Valley…
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
NEW YORK - The banking industry and the intellectual property community will be keeping close tabs on the activities of a United Nations group next month when it meets to begin forming the foundation of IP rights treatment by the world's various secured financing systems.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) last week delivered to Congress its 2008 National Trade Estimate Report (NTE), which includes many intellectual property-related challenges in 62 trading partners around…
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
NEW YORK - The Japanese Patent Office in April will introduce a new policy called JP-First, which aims to release patent examination results of applications first filed with the JPO to major patent offices throughout the world, including in some developing countries. The initiative and others could be steps toward allowing patent filers to bypass an established international treaty on patents, sources said. Also at the event, government officials and academics also discussed copyright developments in Canada. US experts argued that Canada is not doing its part to crack down on piracy, while the Canadians said they are actually setting the bar in some areas in terms of protecting copyrighted works.