Category IP Policies

China Proposes Fund To Help Its Firms Fight IP Litigation

By Jia Hepeng for Intellectual Property Watch
BEIJING - China is proposing a fund to help its enterprises cope with rising international litigation related to intellectual property rights (IPRs).

The message, together with other measures, was delivered by Zhang Qin, deputy director of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) at a national corporate IPR meeting on 2 September, but it was not made public until 10 September.

Sun Pingping, a spokeswoman of SIPO, confirmed the news, saying the scale and detailed operation of the fund have not been finalised.

Zhang told the corporate meeting that international legal cases on IP that Chinese enterprises face have been growing. While some of the lawsuits arise from Chinese enterprises' poor IPR awareness and ownership, it is possible that some multinationals are abusing IPR to block the rise of Chinese firms, he said.

EU Microsoft Judgment Sparks IP Law Debate

By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
A European Commission ruling and record fine was upheld Monday against US software giant Microsoft for breaching European antitrust laws in a judgment that will have repercussions for intellectual property owners far beyond the case itself, experts said.

The European Court of First Instance upheld the �497 million fine and the 2004 ruling by the Commission that Microsoft had, among other things, refused access to rivals to IP-protected information needed for developing interoperable products.

IP And Bioethics: International Community Seeking Answers

By Catherine Saez
In order to explore the relationship between intellectual property rights and life science innovations, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is organising policy symposia to identify and clarify the intellectual property dimension in the life sciences.

In a world where biotechnology is booming and new technological frontiers are being crossed, new challenges arise such as ethical questions relating to the implication and applications of biological research. Patent agencies, industry and civil society were invited on 4 September to share their thoughts and experience on the use of the intellectual property system in bioethics.

As Antony Taubman, acting director of the WIPO Global IP Issues Division described it, biotechnology is based on living organisms which raises distinct ethical questions.

Trademark Owners Take On Internet Search Engines

By Liza Porteus for Intellectual Property Watch
NEW YORK - Popular search engines like Google are proving to be formidable foes to trademark holders trying to maintain a strong grip on their property in keyword advertising on the Internet, experts said on 10 September.

There are numerous search engines people can use to look up information online, but Google is not only the most popular, it is also involved in a litany of lawsuits involving online ads and trademarks. So far, Google has prevailed in US courts, but has lost similar trademark cases in France.

New USPTO Rules, Legal Decision Signal Changes For US Patent Practices

By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
New rules by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) governing the continuation of patent applications will wreak havoc in the biotechnology and high-tech sectors, according to some experts. The regulations, announced in August as part of a USPTO effort to boost patent quality, and effective on 1 November, are already being challenged in court.

In addition, US patent practice changes could arise from a 20 August judicial decision setting a new standard for determining when patent infringement is wilful or done knowingly.