News

Week’s news headlines – jun. 6th 2014

5 REASONS PATENTS ARE ON THE RISE

The rise in patent applications has accelerated in recent years — and isn’t necessarily because of increased innovation. Patent law has come to the forefront as so-called patent trolls have increased litigation and as the Supreme Court considers whether software —

Saiba mais em: http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2014/06/02/5-reasons-patents-are-on-the-rise/

 

 

Patent Lawsuits Limited by Supreme Court in Two Rulings

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against patent holders in two cases, rejecting a legal theory used to sue technology companies and requiring patents to be written with more specific language.

Saiba mais em: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-02/patent-lawsuits-limited-by

 

 

Patents as Collateral

In a prior post, I highlighted Professor William Mann’s recent article on patents as collateral. I asked him to provide a guest post that explains some of his research. – DC

Saiba mais em: http://patentlyo.com/patent/2014/06/patents-as-collateral.html

 

 

Gilead Warns: Examine Patent Portfolios For Double Patenting Pitfalls

Addressing invalidation of a patent for obviousness-type double patenting, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded a district court’s decision, finding that a later-issued, but first-expiring patent could invalidate a first-issued, but later-expiring patent if both patents are commonly owned and do not have a common priority claim.

Saiba mais em: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/317546/Patent/Gilead+Warns+Examine+Patent

 

 

Patent Overhaul to Shift IP Disputes to Europe, Firm Says

A new system for filing and enforcing patents in Europe, which is expected to be implemented in 2016, may bring more intellectual property cases to the region rather than the U.S. or Asia, a law firm said.

Saiba mais em: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-01/patent-overhaul-to-shift-ip

 

 

Cae el registro de patentes españolas

Por cuarto año consecutivo, España solicitó menos patentes que el año anterior. En esta ocasión, 3.133 (-6,78%), según los datos de la Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas (OEPM) analizados por la escuela de negocios Online Business School en El sistema de patentes 2014.

Saiba mais em: http://tecnologia.elpais.com/tecnologia/2014/06/02/actualidad/1401708963_139358.html

 

 

Man trademarks Pi, tries to cut out geeky T-shirt designers

This may be the biggest legal controversy to engulf the mathematical constant pi since that time in 1897 when the Indiana legislature tried to declare it equal to 3.2: A Brooklyn artist is claiming a broad trademark in T-shirts, jackets, caps, and other apparel featuring the Greek letter, resulting in the mass, temporary removal of thousands of products from the custom t-shirt printing site Zazzle.

Saiba mais em: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-06/02/pi-trademark-usa

 

 

Leading-Edge Law: Trademarks and the First Amendment

It’s been an interesting and controversial couple of months for the relationship between trademark law and the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Saiba mais em: http://www.timesdispatch.com/business/economy/leading-edge-law

 

 

China’s New Trademark Law And The Law Of Unintended Consequences

China’s new Trademark Law went into effect on May 1, 2014, to great fanfare from the international IP community. The law ostensibly improves several aspects of China trademark practice: more ways to combat bad-faith filings, more protection of well-known marks, and formal time limits for decisions on trademark applications and appeals, to name a few. But as with, well, everything in China, the devil is in the details.

Saiba mais em: http://www.chinalawblog.com/2014/06/chinas-new-trademark-law-and-the-law-

 

 

 

Supreme Court decision clarifies ‘third-party’ infringement of intellectual property rights –

Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in the Limelight Networks v. Akamai Technologies case states criminal law should not bear much weight in how third-party infringement of property rights cases are decided, according to a University at Buffalo Law School professor and expert on cyberspace legal issues.

Saiba mais em: http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2014/06/004.html#sthash.lvzhsbwD.dpuf

 

 

Law clinics will offer startups intellectual property advice

To go from invention to successful commercial venture, you need scientists or engineers who develop the breakthroughs; financial backers prepared to risk their money and marketers to sell the product.

Saiba mais em: http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4554052-law-clinics-will-offer-startups

 

 

 

Supreme Court: Patents Require “Reasonable Certainty” Or May Be Invalid

With the much-publicized issue of vague patent claims square in its sights, the United States Supreme Court has issued a new standard by which courts may find patents invalid for indefiniteness. The new standard may give defendants another tool in their arsenal to challenge the validity of patent claims that are not precise or clear.

Saiba mais em: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/318032/Patent/Supreme+Court+Patents+require

 

 

OMPI pretende que Paraguay adhiera a tratado de patentes favorable a empresas extranjeras

Autoridades de la Organización Mundial de Propiedad Intelectual (OMPI) visitaron el país para reunirse con referentes del Gobierno y de empresas privadas con el objetivo de “concientizar” a los paraguayos para que aprueben la adhesión al Tratado de Cooperación en Materia de Patentes (PCT) de la OMPI.

Saiba mais em: http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=185501

 

 

Firms fight patent ‘death squad’

VirnetX Holding won a $368 million jury verdict against Apple in 2012 – and soon found itself under attack.

Not just by Apple, which a jury said infringed four VirnetX patents by using them in the iPad and iPhone without paying.

Saiba mais em: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140602/BIZ/306029982/1031

 

 

U.S. Supreme Court rulings may make life harder for patent trolls

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned two lower court patent decisions, one related to heart rate monitors and the other to management of Web images, in rulings that could make it harder for so-called patent trolls to win infringement cases.

Saiba mais em: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/02/us-biosig-nautilus-patent

 

 

Supreme Court Limits Suits Over Encouraging Patent Infringement

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to make it easier to hold companies liable for encouraging others to commit patent infringement, in its latest rejection of a decision by a specialized court that hears appeals in the nation’s patent cases.

Saiba mais em: http://online.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-wont-make-it-easier-for

 

 

Google Asked by U.K. Official to Fight Harder Against Pirates

Google Inc. (GOOG), owner of the world’s most used Internet search engine, was urged by a British government official to be more active against online piracy

Saiba mais em: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-02/juniper-nintendo-geaux

 

 

Patent expiration dates are the key to determining eligibility under obviousness-type double-patenting

The doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting prevents an inventor’s extension of its exclusivity period through multiple patents on obvious variations of the same invention.  In Gilead Sciences, Inc. v. Natco Pharma Ltd., the Federal Circuit held that an earlier-expiring patent qualifies as a double patenting reference against a later-expiring patent, even when the earlier-expiring patent is the later-issuing of the two patents.

Saiba mais em: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e830115d-c0ed-4f93-ae26

 

 

Zazzle Decides to Continue Listing ‘Pi’ Products Despite Mark

Counsel for a New Yorker who registered the Greek letter Pi as a trademark for clothing in January sent a cease-and-desist letter to the print-on-demand company Zazzle Inc. May 16 demanding the takedown of all images of merchandise bearing images of Pi, CNET News reported.

Saiba mais em: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-03/patent-rulings-zazzle-pirate-bay

 

 

Artist trademarks ‘Pi’ symbol, enrages the web

Thousands of t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts and other items containing an ancient mathematical symbol were pulled from an online marketplace last week for allegedly violating a registered trademark: Pi (π.)

Saiba mais em: http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2014/06/artist-trademarks

 

 

Invasion of the trademark snatchers

Proposed changes to the federal Economic Action Plan (EAP) could make local companies vulnerable to a form of corporate identity theft, say Surrey’s business leaders.

Saiba mais em: http://www.biv.com/article/20140603/BIV0107/306039986/-1/BIV0100/

 

 

Turkish Patent Office Rejects A Trademark Application Due To Incorporating The Phrase “Cubano” Amongst Other Reasons

HAVANA CLUB HOLDING S.A. (“HAVANA CLUB”) filed an opposition against the application on the grounds that the application is not registrable in accordance with Article 7/1(c) of Decree Law, given that “it was not distinctive in the commercial industry, designated geographical origin and contained phrases which will deceive consumers,” since it includes the phrase “CUBANO”, referring to the country of “CUBA”

Saiba mais em: http://www.mondaq.com/x/318150/Trademark/Turkish+Patent+Office+Rejects+A+Trademark

 

 

 

Protect Your Intellectual Property — Before It’s Too Late

Acceptance into an incubator or accelerator can often be a stamp of approval for a young startup. A website reference to Y Combinator, 500 Startups, or Techstars to name a few, can mean instant credibility and prestige for a fledgling company. Just this past week MassChallenge announced its 128 finalists from a pool of over 1,600 applicants.

Saiba mais em: http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2014/06/03/protect-your-intellectual

 

 

Intellectual property is putting circular economy in jeopardy

Manufacturers like BMW, Apple and Nikon could accomplish far more if they worked with independent businesses, instead of against them

Saiba mais em: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/intellectual-property

 

 

Global anti-hypertensives market will see decline as key patents expire

Multiple major drug patent expiries will cause the global anti-hypertensive drug market value to decline from $40 billion in 2013 to $37.6 billion by 2020, at a negative compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.9%.

Saiba mais em: http://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/global-anti-hypertensives-market-will-see

 

 

Trademark “Bullying” Leads To Depression In Lawyers

Being a lawyer is a tough job. Lawyers are nearly four times more likely to suffer from depression and twice as likely to struggle with substance abuse than the general population. Psychologist and lawyer Dave Shearon, of the Thriving Lawyers Institute, believes that one of the reasons being a lawyer is so tough are the “values conflicts” that routinely occur when representing clients.

Saiba mais em: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/318260/Trademark/Trademark+Bullying+Leads+To

 

 

Intellectual property and banking – the complications of distinguishing your bank name

Expansion of Banking: What happens when First National Bank is no longer First?

Ask any community banker and she will tell you that bank name disputes are on the rise. The Third Federal Circuit Court of Appeals attributes the rise of bank name disputes to “an outgrowth of aggressive and expansionist banking flowing from the Congressional liberalization… of national banking laws.” Citizens Financial Group, Inc., v. Citizens Nat’l Bank, 383 F.3d 110, 112 (3rd Cir. 2004). This case is one of many examples of disputes arising between two financial institutions, in similar geographic regions, operating under identical or a confusingly similar name (e.g., Citizens National Bank of Evans City and Citizens Financial Group, Inc.).

Saiba mais em: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=eed957bf-1bab-47a7-92d3

 

 

USPTO Launches Glossary Pilot to Promote Patent Claim Clarity

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announces the launch of a new Glossary Pilot as part of a White House Executive Action designed to enhance claim clarity in the specification of software-related patent applications

Saiba mais em: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2014/06/04/uspto-glossary-pilot-patent-claim

 

 

UK clinical trials given immunity from patent infringement

New legislation drafted by the UK government should shield clinical trials in the United Kingdom from the risk of patent infringement in the near future.

Saiba mais em: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=75027464-aff3-4a57-8e1b

 

 

 

Mobile em marcha lenta: 64% das marcas não investem no canal

Apesar do crescente aumento no uso de smartphones, ainda são poucas as marcas que investem no desenvolvimento de um canal mobile eficiente para se comunicarem e relacionarem com os consumidores. Das empresas no Brasil, 64% não possuem presença relevante nas plataformas móveis, segundo pesquisa realizada pela Pontomobi. O levantamento apontou que apenas 2,4% das companhias do setor de bens de consumo podem ser categorizadas como “ready” (prontas) e nenhuma é classificada como “expert”. Já entre as alimentícias, 60% delas não criaram qualquer versão específica para os dispositivos.

Saiba mais em: http://www.mundodomarketing.com.br/reportagens/digital/30878/mobile-em

 

 

CNN International fecha patrocínio com quatro marcas para a Copa do Mundo

SAIC Notice On Implementing Amended Chinese Trademark Law

Attention: Provincial and autonomous regions, municipalities, planning cities, administrations of sub-provincial cities, market supervisory authorities

The Decisions on Amending the Chinese Trademark Law promulgated by the fourth meeting of the Twelfth Standing Committee of National People’s Congress shall come into effect on May 1, 2014. In order to implement the new Chinese Trademark Law, some issues of bridging the previous and new Chinese Trademark Law are hereby noticed as follows:

Saiba mais em: http://www.mondaq.com/x/318528/Trademark/SAIC+Notice+on+Implementing+Amended

 

 

IS THE WORD ‘MORMON’ REALLY TRADEMARKED?

Chapstick, Kleenex, Bubble Wrap and Onesies are all words that have been trademarked. Can the Mormon Church trademark the term “Mormon”? A legal dispute with a small business asks that question.

Saiba mais em: http://abc13.com/news/is-the-word-mormon-really-trademarked/93473/

 

 

Collective trademark for Nepali footwear launched

The Leather Goods and Footwear Manufacturers’ Association Nepal (LGFMAN) has launched a collective trademark for use on locally manufactured footwear. The “Made in Nepal” logo, which was unveiled on Wednesday, will assure buyers of the quality of the products bearing it.

Saiba amis em: http://ekantipur.com/2014/06/05/business/collective-trademark-for-nepali

 

 

Brandis and Turnbull working on joint piracy crackdown policy

Australian Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Attorney-General George Brandis have been meeting to discuss various proposals for how to crack down on Australians downloading copyright-infringing TV shows, movies, and music, including adapting the Spam Act, and graduated responses as proposed by the Communications Alliance.

Saiba mais em: http://www.zdnet.com/au/brandis-and-turnbull-working-on-joint-piracy

 

 

 

Decision clarifies ‘third-party’ infringement of intellectual property rights

Monday’s Supreme Court decision in the Limelight Networks v. Akamai Technologies case states criminal law should not bear much weight in how third-party infringement of property rights cases are decided, according to a UB Law School professor and expert on cyberspace legal issues. –

Saiba mais em: http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/campus/campus-hos

 

 

Patent troll on the verge of winning 1 percent of iPhone revenue

The company also lost one of that year’s biggest cases when an East Texas jury ordered it to pay $368 million to a company named VirnetX for infringing patents related to FaceTime and VPN On Demand functions used in iPhones, iPads, and Macs. VirnetX is a company some call a “patent troll” because its only business is now patent enforcement. Then, in March, US District Judge Leonard Davis ordered an ongoing royalty to be paid to VirnetX. The number was downright stunning: 0.98 percent of revenue from iPhones and iPads sold in the US.

Saiba mais em: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/06/apples-last-ditch-effort-to-dodge

 

 

Apex Obtains an Important Victory in Patent Litigation

Apex Medical Corporation (Apex, TWSE: 4106) a leading player in the Respiratory Therapy and Pressure Area Care sectors, announced that it has successfully obtained an initial advisory opinion from the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) that its continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)-complimentary mask product is free from patent claims previously asserted by its Australia-based competitor, ResMed.

Saiba mais em: http://www.prnewswire.co.in/news-releases/apex-obtains-an-important-victory

 

 

Supreme Court paves the way for invalidating vague patents

On Monday, June 2, 2014, the United States Supreme Court lowered the threshold for invalidating patents based on ambiguous claim language. In Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, No. 13-369, the Supreme Court rejected the long-standing test formulated by the Federal Circuit that claims are indefinite only if they are “insolubly ambiguous.” Instead, the Supreme Court held that the proper test for definiteness is whether the claims “inform those skilled in the art about the scope of the invention with reasonable certainty.” Under the Supreme Court’s new test, claims that might have passed muster under the old test are more likely to be held indefinite, rendering them invalid.

Saiba mais em: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b4b4e6b1-a7b5-4109-a27b

 

 

Formula 1: The Race To Patent?

Although the weather might not yet be cooperating, the Grand Prix and Formula 1 racing in Montréal this weekend is the first real confirmation for many of the start of summer.  As an IP attorney, that got me wondering about intellectual property protection and Formula 1.  Yes, I know that probably makes me pretty pathetic, but I will also be out enjoying the vibe.

Saiba mais em: http://www.mondaq.com/canada/x/319058/Patent/Formula+1+The+Race+to+Patent

 

 

A trademark fight over the word ‘Mormon’

Could the Catholic Church trademark a crucifix? Could the Jewish faith corner the market on the Star of David?

Obviously not, since the symbols of these thousands-of-years-old religions are firmly in the public domain. But what about a newer faith, established in a time of more robust intellectual property protections?

Saiba mais em: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27708734

 

 

After trademark dispute, Mexican carriers can no longer use ‘iPhone’ name in ads

Earlier this year, Apple (sort of) won a trademark lawsuit to Mexican telecommunications company iFone over the use of the phonetically-identical “iPhone” brand. The iFone trademark was originally filed in 2003, and in 2009 the company filed a suit against Apple. In March 2013 the case ended with the decision that Apple had in fact not infringed on the mark.

Saiba mais em: http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/05/after-trademark-dispute-mexican-carriers-can

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