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EU General Court Clears Copyright Collecting Societies Of Antitrust Charges

European copyright collecting societies are not engaged in a cartel but the European Commission was correct in finding that some of the provisions in their reciprocal representation should be barred, the EU General Court (GC) said in a 12 April ruling. The case, which pits the International Confederation of Societies and Authors (CISAC) and 24 of its members against the EC, could be appealed to the EU Court of Justice (ECJ). CISAC said the decision proves its contention that it was not engaged in a conspiracy to restrict competition, and that it has already done away with the complained-of clauses.

Separately, the ECJ has been asked to tackle several key issues in a German matter involving standards-essential patents encumbered with a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing agreement.

GI Experts Speak Of Value But Concede International Accord Hard To Reach

Bangkok, Thailand - Experts on geographical indications ended two days of discussions here by acknowledging greatly the benefit of GIs to national economies and cultural heritages, but conceded that it has been tough to reach a multilateral agreement on the protection of this type of intellectual property. [Updated]

Royalty-Setting For Standard Essential Patents Might Be Balanced By Prospect Of Injunction, Speakers Say

Threats of injunction in cases of infringement of essential standard patents, which have raised concerns in Europe and the United States as being leverage for patent holders to get higher royalties, might in fact be a way to maintain an equilibrium in royalty-setting, according to speakers at a World Intellectual Property Organization event.

Biovision: Personalised Medicine, Climate Change, Sustainability Need Innovation

Lyon, France – Biovision, a biennial international event on life sciences, brought together some 3,000 participants this week to discuss and compare experiences in different fields, including personalised medicine, how best to use natural resources and the impact of climate change on food security. Open innovation was presented as a way forward, and the role of companies in mitigation was deemed important but with ethics.

Rules Changing For Life Sciences Tech Transfer, IP, Speakers Say

Lyon, France – Participants at a the Biovision international life sciences forum aimed at encouraging collaboration and integrating innovation shared experiences and discussed a number of topics including intellectual property strategy, technology transfer and the way forward for sustainable innovation.

Samsung Lawyer Assesses IP Legal Battle With Apple

Cape Town, South Africa - Professor Charles Gielen, an insider in the epic design war between Apple and Samsung, has described the hostile standoff between the two corporate giants as a shape-shifting space for intellectual property laws following the different interpretations of IP law the case has evoked from the courts.

UN Agencies To Examine International Standards, Potential Value For Developing Countries

Five United Nations agencies are joining efforts to tackle the rising issue of private standards which they say are affecting developing countries' exports by creating market entry hurdles for those countries. A new forum will be launched this week, and will establish its priority issues.

US Perspectives: US Tries Gentler Copyright Enforcement

On 25 February, the US opened a new front in its war against online copyright infringement. Five of the nation’s biggest internet service providers (ISPs) joined with the movie and music industries to launch the Copyright Alert System, a new means of attacking unauthorised file-sharing. This ISP-based enforcement system is similar to efforts in at least seven other industrialised countries. Some of these efforts have apparently slashed unauthorised file-sharing, which suggests the US system will be similarly successful. It is unclear, however, if the US system (or any of the other countries’ systems) will succeed in their ultimate goal - boosting revenues for the movie and music industries.