Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A record number of cybersquatting complaints were filed at the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2008, and the organisation is preparing for a potentially much larger set of concerns as the launch of an unknown number of new domains approaches.
With over 1 million patent applications backlogged at the US Patent & Trademark Office, IBM legal counsel Steven Bennett and David Kappos urge adoption of a deferred examination process, which they argue will benefit USPTO, applicants and the public.
On 3 March, 2009, bills were introduced in the US Congress setting forth the proposed "Patent Reform Act of 2009". The legislation proposes significant changes to post-issuance proceedings available to challenge patents in the United States. US attorneys Matthew A. Smith, Stephen B. Maebius and Jon W. Dudas argue the proposed legislation will be a step toward improving patent quality.
Should national drug control bodies grant marketing licences to generic medicine companies only if their products do not possibly infringe existing patent rights? Yes, German pharmaceutical company Bayer told the High Court of Delhi last week when the court heard arguments in an ongoing court case on patent linkage.
By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch
2009 could be a bad year for IP owners in the United States.
For patent owners, it may be particularly tough. The US courts are likely to continue their recent trend of cutting back on patent rights, according to many experts. The question is: what rights may be cut back and by how much?
Copyright and trademark owners in the United States face a different set of troubles. They are struggling to protect their rights in the digital world, and it is far from certain how they will fare.
By Kaitlin Mara and William New China has been found in violation of two of its responsibilities under international rules on trade and intellectual property, and in partial violation of one more, said a World Trade Organization panel report on…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
Before a packed audience, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Friday tackled the highly controversial dispute between the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and much of the patent bar over rules capping the number of continuation requests and claims patent seekers can submit without incurring additional expenses and paperwork.
By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch
For the past two decades, industrial design rights have received little respect in the United States. But no longer.
The recent court ruling in Egyptian Goddess, Inc v Swisa, Inc has dramatically strengthened industrial design rights in the US, bringing the country's protections for these rights back into line with international standards, according to many experts.
By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch
Compared with other countries, the United States has had a much more expansive view of what inventions can be patented. Late last week, however, the US took one big step closer to international norms.
It happened on 30 October, when the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals - often called the country's "patent court" - issued its decision in In re Bilski.
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
Five years and over 30,000 lawsuits later, both sides in the music industry's legal battle against illegal file-sharing in the United States claim they are prevailing.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
BOSTON - Patent law in the United States is in danger of becoming "highly destabilised" as well-funded competing interests try to vie for legislators' ears in Washington, a federal judge said Tuesday.
Speaking here to participants at the Harvard Law School Conference on Intellectual Property Law, the Hon. Paul R. Michel, chief circuit judge for the US Court of Appeals for the federal circuit, said such a disruption could have huge consequences for inventions, investment, property of individual companies, and economies.
By Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch
An important court case in the ongoing saga between two of the mobile industry's most influential technology firms begins next week.
The case is a crucial stage in the ongoing disagreement between the two equipment manufacturers - Finnish Nokia and US Qualcomm - that has become increasingly acrimonious over recent years and resulted in numerous patent infringement cases all over the world.