Category North America

Despite Ongoing Efforts, USPTO Still Faces Patent Quality Issues

The US Patent and Trademark Office continues to face claims of low patent quality despite a major initiative to address the situation. The agency has been the subject of several critical reports by oversight agencies and recently defended its patent quality improvements before Congress. Patent practitioners say that while patent quality may not actually have worsened over the past few years, the USPTO's ongoing lack of financial and other resources, and inconsistent judicial decisions, are among the factors causing problems.

Survey Finds Promising Future, Major Challenges For Augmented And Virtual Reality

Optimism is said to exist about the future of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) following a survey completed by over 650 respondents in the industry. Though growth and investment are anticipated, concerns about a lack of compelling content and cost and issues with the user experience were among the survey’s key findings. Legal risks were identified as well, with the highest percentage relating to technology and intellectual property licensing.

Canada’s Anti-Counterfeiting Chargeback Project: Paying Back Deceived Consumers

A Canadian initiative to fight online counterfeiting and piracy that enables deceived consumers to get their money back is yielding results, a Canadian official said last week. Project Chargeback means to cut the profit margin of counterfeiters on the internet, and supplement legal recourse for right holders.

Blockchain Technology Raises Challenging IP Issues, Say Speakers

Blockchains, such as the well-known bitcoin, are not yet well-defined but are creating a lot of hype, speakers at a 23 August Intellectual Property Owners' Association webinar said. Two things are clear so far, they said: the technology is in its infancy, and there are lots of unresolved questions about what is patentable and how IP laws intersect with the mostly open source software used in the systems.

US Industry Warns Of Restrictive Policies In ICTs, Including On IP Rights

“Serious concerns” have been raised by the United States Chamber of Commerce that policy measures increasingly restrict investment in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, following its comprehensive examination of ICT laws and policies around the world. Intellectual property rights are among the areas the Chamber says are being targeted.

Industry’s Proposed Changes To Draft TPP Were Not Protected Under National Security Exemption, US Judge Says

Changes to the draft text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) suggested during negotiation of the treaty are not protected under the national security clause of the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a judge ruled yesterday in a rare rejection. But he also defended USTR’s protection of information on the basis that other countries in TPP might accuse the US of “steamrolling” them if US textual proposals from the negotiations were revealed.

New US Government Source Code Policy Could Provide Model For Europe

The United States government this month published its new federal source code policy to allow government-wide access to custom source code developed by or for any agency of the federal government. The policy, which aims to reduce duplication, avoid technology “lock-in,” and tap the best minds in or outside government, has caught the attention of free software developers in Europe who are hoping to use it as a basis for change there too.

The Downfall Of Invention: A Broken Patent System

The cost of dozens of brand-name drugs have nearly doubled in just the past five years. Public outrage over drug prices extends from Capitol Hill to the presidential candidates to patients. In response, pharmaceutical executives are spending more on lobbying and marketing. Yet for all this attention, most of the proposed solutions for reducing prescription drug costs—tougher negotiations, appeals for transparent R&D costs or investigations into insurers—miss one of the primary sources of the problem: the way we award patents, writes Tahir Amin.