Category English

How To Discover Valuable Patents

Bastian July writes: In May 1968, the submarine USS Scorpion disappeared after a tour of duty in the North Atlantic. The initial search area was a circle twenty miles wide and thousands of feet deep. Instead of asking one or two experts for input, Navy officer John Craven assembled a large group of independent experts with a wide range of knowledge. The group included mathematicians, submarine specialists, salvage men and many others. Combining their knowledge, Craven was able to estimate the submarine’s likely location. It was found 200 yards from the group’s collective estimate. But can you also turn to the Wisdom of the Crowd when it comes to discovering the fortunes lying hidden in patents?

UK Ratifies Unified Patent Court, Moving It Closer To Reality

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.

WIPO Members Energised On Protection of Country Names, GIs, New Technological Designs

The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on trademarks concluded early today with plans for further work and a full week session for the next meeting. Member states are called into action to provide inputs so that the WIPO secretariat can come up with questionnaires on the protection of new technological designs, such as icons, and on the protection of geographical indications. Another issue for which member states are asked to contribute inputs in how to protect country and geographical names.

World IP Day: Women Are Celebrated But Gender Gap Persists

The annual World Intellectual Property Day (26 April) is dedicated to women this year at the World Intellectual Property Organization. On the occasion, several countries are organising an exhibition and the screening of a film celebrating the life of Hedy Lamarr. Austrian/American actress who was also an inventor.

Adopting An Open Innovation Perspective For Patent Policy For The Internet Of Things

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.

US Supreme Court Rules Inter Partes Review Legal

United States Patent and Trademark Office inter partes reviews are legal and do not violate Article III of the Constitution or the 7th Amendment, the US Supreme Court said today. While the decision was expected, practitioners before the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board can now rest easy, as one patent lawyer put it.