Information Filled Under 'The Business of IP' Category
Tech Sector Holds Breath as IV Unloads More Patents Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Today’s Wall Street Journal reports : Intellectual Ventures LLC continues to sell some of its vast patent holdings, recently selling patents to two companies that incorporated in Marshall, Texas, a favored venue for litigious patent-holding companies known as patent trolls. WebVention LLC acquired five patents in November from Ferrara Ethereal LLC, an IV shell company.
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Tech Sector Holds Breath as IV Unloads More Patents
Following a provisional refusal and two hearings, the trademark registrar has finally approved registration of the trademark AIRKRAFT in Class 12 of the Nice Classification. The provisional refusal had been based on an ex officio examination and on absolute grounds for refusal.
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REPORT: Registrar finally approves registration of AIRKRAFT
The registrar of trademarks recently refused an application to register the word mark TOMBOY in respect of clothing, footwear and headgear in Class 25 of the Nice Classification on the grounds that the mark consists exclusively of a sign which designates the characteristics of the goods applied for and is devoid of distinctive character.
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REPORT: Registrar finds TOMBOY mark descriptive and indistinctive
In DaimlerChrysler Corp v American Motors Corp the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board followed the recent decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in In re Bose Corp and denied DaimlerChrysler’s motion for summary judgment on the question of whether American Motors Corp had attained registration of its trademark by way of fraud on the USPTO.
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REPORT: Motion for summary judgment denied on issue of fraud intent
I was only thinking the other day that it has been quite quiet on the Intellectual Ventures front recently when what pops up in The New York Times, but a long piece on the firm and its co-founder Nathan Myhrvold. That said ,there is not much which is very new in it; instead it is a reprisal of the usual stuff that is always written about IV. So, we have Myhrvold stating that patents should be a distinct asset class, that there needs to be much more transparency in the market place and that big technology companies are a “cozy…
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BLOG: In praise of Intellectual Ventures
PatentFreedom has identified and profiled over 315 distinct NPEs and claims that, since 1985, these NPEs have been involved in litigation with nearly 4,500 different operating companies in over 3,100 distinct actions. Furthermore, nearly 75% of the suits between these NPEs and operating companies were filed since 2003.
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The Companies Most Pursued by NPEs
The Tribunal of Turin has held that the import of products from another EU member state is not sufficient to exhaust trademark rights. It found that Young Importers had unlawfully sold decoded products without knowing the exact origin of those products, thus committing trademark infringement as it could not prove that the rights were exhausted.
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REPORT: Import of products from another EU country insufficient to exhaust trademark rights
Occasionally a question arises regarding the proposed exploitation of a patent that is considered to be invalid. However, there is also a further question as to whether Australian law imposes a legal duty for the “infringer” to take action to revoke the patent(s) blocking its strategy.
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REPORT: The probably invalid patent: is clearing the way a necessary strategy?
In the latest issue of IAM we run a fascinating article by Joseph Hadzima, Bruce Bockmann and Alexander Butler of IP Vision in Boston. They describe a project they undertook with investors, corporate executives and members of the faculty at MIT Sloan School of Management to assess over 9,000 US venture capital backed technology companies’ intellectual property positions
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BLOG: Why VCs and start-ups should love IP
On 1st April 2010 new Implementing Regulations to the European Patent Convention will enter into force. The regulations will have a major impact on the hitherto generous provisions regarding the filing of divisional applications in the European Patent Office patent prosecution process.
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REPORT: New rules put time limit on divisional applications
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has confirmed that trademark rights trump title of goods in Canada. This was the message delivered to an applicant which sought a declaratory order stating that the respondent’s trademark rights would not be infringed by the applicant’s importation into Canada of goods bearing the COTTON GINNY marks.
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REPORT: Trademark rights trump title of goods, says court
From the Wall Street Jornal: Inventors and companies would face a new 15% surcharge on patent fees under the Obama administration’s proposed budget, with the funds going to help the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to “improve the speed and quality of patent examinations.” The head of the patent office floated the surcharge proposal late last year.
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Here Comes the Hike: 15% Increase in Fees Proposed by USPTO
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has set aside a US$358 million damages award in Lucent v Gateway, finding that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s verdict. The case provides some useful guidance on the role of expert witnesses in working out damages.
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REPORT: The role of the expert witness in calculating damages
IP Australia has issued the first of two papers setting out details of proposed changes initially discussed in its earlier series of consultation papers. The new consultation paper explains how IP Australia intends to progress each of the proposals put forward in the first-round consultation papers.
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REPORT: Towards a stronger and more efficient IP rights system
The draft Bill for the General Audiovisual Communication Law, which will transpose into Spanish law the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive, has been approved by the Spanish Congress and is now being analysed by the Senate. In particular, the bill establishes an obligation to identify advertising messages clearly to distinguish them from other audiovisual content and regulates advertising targeted at minors.
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REPORT: Advertising regulation under draft Bill for General Audiovisual Communication Law
INTA’s Annual Meeting is the premier event for networking, continuing legal education, committee and client meetings, valuable skill-building workshops, industry breakouts, interactive table topics, and an exhibition hall featuring more than 90 exhibitors. Make the Annual Meeting your meeting! Visit www.inta.org/go/boston to register today.
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EVENT: INTA Annual Meeting
I have had quite a few interesting emails and telephone conversations since posting the article I wrote for the latest issue of the CIPA Journal concerning the lack of European patent attorneys on this blog last week. First of all, I have learned that the problem is far worse than I thought. Around 30% of those people currently entitled to call themselves European patent attorneys are able to do so under the so-called “grandfather” clause of Article 163 of the old European Patent Convention, which has been
EVENT: LES Turkey Friday, January 8th, 2010LES Turkey celebrates its launch with an international conference on “Strategies of IP Management: Innovation in Turkey and Global Ecosystem” on January 28-29, 2010 in Istanbul. Licensing professionals from Turkey and from around the world will meet where continents meet. Enterprise Europe Network will host a brokerage event in conjunction with the LES Turkey event.
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EVENT: LES Turkey
David Kappos, the Director of the USPTO, is reported to have made a last-ditch effort to persuade Congress to release $100 million worth of funding to the office during its 2010 fiscal year, which began in October. In a letter sent to members of the Senate and House of Representative appropriatons committees on Monday, Kappos stated: “Absent further congressional action, the USPTO will not be able to expend this fee income to address its urgent fiscal needs.” This would mean, he said, the office operating on a
BLOG: The decade of the intangible up for discussion Tuesday, January 5th, 2010The Intangible Asset Finance Society, a long-standing partner of IAM magazine, is holding its monthly on-line briefing this Friday at 5.00 pm UK time (12.00 pm EST). A group of panellists, including IAM’s Finance Editor Nigel Page, will be discussing subjects around the general theme of the “Intangibles Decade”.
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BLOG: The decade of the intangible up for discussion
From Timo Fisher and Joachim Henkel’s paper, titled ” Patent Trolls on Markets for Technology – An Empirical Analysis of Trolls’ Patent Acquisition”: Patent trolls appropriate profits from innovation solely by enforcing patents against infringers. They are often characterized as relying on low-quality patents, an assessment that, if correct, would imply that eradicating such patents would effectively terminate the troll business
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One Reason Why Improving Patent Quality Won’t Solve the "Troll Problem"
We already have some great speakers lined up for the IP Business Congress, which is taking place in Munich next year. You can see a full list of the people who have already confirmed they will be in Munich for the event, which is running from 20th to 22nd June 2010, on the IPBC website and I am sure that you will agree they are all top notch, One of the sessions that I am really looking forward to is the Meet the Decision Makers plenary which takes place during the morning of 22nd June
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BLOG: Policy makers and politicians confirm their presence at the IP Business Congress 2010
The Chinese Trademark Office recently laid down specific examples of evidence of use that a registered trademark proprietor can provide to defend successfully against a cancellation action for three years’ non-use of that mark. It listed valid proof of use for both product and service marks.
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REPORT: Trademark Office clarifies valid proof of use for cancellation actions
The Svea Court of Appeal recently reversed a district court’s decision in the first Swedish case involving the EU IP Rights Enforcement Directive. The appeal court held that internet service provider ePhone should not be required to hand over user information requested by five book publishers.
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REPORT: Appeal court reverses district court decision in first enforcement directive case
The Administrative Council of the European Patent Office has announced that it will hold an extraordinary general meeting at the beginning of February 2010, at which it will attempt to elect a new president of the office. Jesper Kongstad’s withdrawal from the race is also confirmed
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BLOG: New EPO presidency vote set for February as Brimelow deplores lack of transparency
In One Industries LLC v Jim O’Neal Distributing Inc the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that the standard for tacking marks to claim priority based on the date of first use is “exceedingly strict” and very rarely met. The court refused to tack two iterations of the same basic mark – an “O” with an apostrophe – because the shape of the “O” had changed.
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REPORT: Tacking standard "exceedingly strict", says Ninth Circuit
The Supreme Court has upheld an appeal filed against a decision of the Italian Trademark Office refusing registration of a three-dimensional trademark. The decision established in detail the steps and criteria for the examination of three-dimensional trademark applications.
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REPORT: Supreme Court rules on protection of three-dimensional trademarks