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美国最高法院复审比尔斯基案可能震动专利制度

去年10月，一家美国上诉法院极大地改变了美国的专利法，从而在就何种发明能够受到专利保护这一问题上采取的做法更接近其他国家的标准。联邦上诉巡回法庭（Federal Circuit Court of Appeals，经常被称为美国的“专利法庭”）撤销了自己基本判例，并大幅减少了符合专利保护各类方法和程序。该判决使数千个专利前途未卜，其中就包括许多商业方法专利和金融方法专利。

La revisión del caso Bilski por parte de la Corte Suprema de los EE.UU. podría repercutir en todo el sistema de patentes

El pasado mes de octubre, un tribunal de apelación de los Estados Unidos modificó drásticamente la ley de patentes, acercando así las normas de este país a las de otros en lo relativo a las invenciones que se pueden patentar. El Tribunal de Apelación del Circuito Federal (apodado a menudo el “tribunal de patentes” de los EE.UU) anuló uno de sus precedentes fundamentales y redujo fuertemente los tipos de métodos y procesos que pueden ser objeto de protección mediante patentes. La decisión dejó en entredicho a miles de patentes, entre ellas muchas relacionadas con métodos comerciales y métodos financieros.

Le réexamen de l’affaire Bilski par la Cour suprême américaine pourrait avoir des répercussions sur le système des brevets

En octobre dernier, aux États-Unis, l’arrêt rendu par une cour d’appel a bouleversé la loi fédérale sur les brevets, en comblant le fossé qui la séparait des législations d’autres pays sur les critères de brevetabilité des inventions. La Cour d’appel du tribunal fédéral (Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, parfois surnommée « tribunal de la propriété intellectuelle ») a annulé sa propre décision qui faisait école jusque là. Elle a, de plus, drastiquement limité les types de méthodes et de procédés brevetables. L’arrêt de la cour a remis en question des milliers de brevets, portant pour un grand nombre d'entre eux sur des méthodes commerciales et des procédés financiers.

Members Of Human Rights Expert Committee At UN Question Patents On Food

A group of experts working as a think-tank for the United Nations Human Rights Council raised the issue of patents and food at a meeting this week. Meanwhile, a new report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food expected to be available at the end of August will focus on the intersection between intellectual property and the human right to food.

Congress Members Seek Permanent ICANN-US Link

A group of US congressional members have sent a letter to US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke calling for a temporary arrangement between the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (which manages technical aspects…

IP Dispute Could Threaten Skype

Online auction site eBay, the owner of popular, proprietary voice-over-internet protocol software Skype, has warned that the service might not continue if it loses an intellectual property dispute with Joltid, the company from which it licences Skype’s core technology. “If…

US Supreme Court Review Of Bilski Could Reverberate Through Patent System

Last October, a United States appellate court shifted the country’s patent law dramatically, moving the nation closer to other countries’ standards on what inventions can be patented. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (often called America’s “patent court”) overruled its own seminal precedent and sharply cut back on the types of methods and processes that are eligible for patent protection. The ruling put thousands of patents under a cloud, including many business method patents and financial method patents.

This controversial ruling will soon be reviewed by the US Supreme Court. The resulting decision in Bilski v. Doll could become a milestone in US patent law, with repercussions around the world.

Proponents Fight To Keep IP Issues At High Level At WTO

With governments looking to close the long-stalled Doha Round of trade liberalisation talks in 2010, what will happen to remaining disagreements on intellectual property issues is still unclear. But proponents of amending the World Trade Organization intellectual property agreement reasserted the need to have them addressed.

USPTO Nominee Kappos Appears To Clear First Senate Hurdle

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday appeared to look favourably upon David Kappos, the Obama administration nominee for undersecretary of Commerce and director of the US Patent and Trademark Office. But in the process, Kappos showed possible weaknesses in separating himself from his job at IBM and the need for international diplomacy on IP enforcement.