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Pharma & Biotech Global Week in Review 18 Nov 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:57:22 -0500

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Pharma & Biotech intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

Please join the discussion by adding your comments on any of these stories, and please do let us know if you think we’ve missed something important, or if there is a source you think should be monitored.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

EU: Bundesgerichtshof refers human stem cell patent case to ECJ (IPKat) (PatLit) (ipwars)

General

Global health policy – when is the price right? (Spicy IP)

Brazil gets closer to listing US IP retaliation targets (IP tango) (IP Watch)

Brazil: Patent office and health authorities - Office of the National General Attorney issues opinion stating on dual analysis system for pharmaceutical inventions (Koury Lopes Advogados)

EU: Bundesgerichtshof refers human stem cell patent case to ECJ (IPKat) (PatLit) (ipwars)

EU: MEP rejects calls for bar codes to stop fake drugs (Managing IP)

US: Interview with ACLU attorney Chris Hansen over gene patents (Patent Baristas)

US: The Coinco strategy – what can go wrong with ownership of patents within a corporate enterprise - Novartis Pharm. Corp. v. Teva Pharm. USA, Inc. (Property, intangible)

US: How do you solve a problem like Sidewiki (FDA Law Blog)

US: Bio Podcast: The role of patents in a pathway for the approval of biosimilars (Holman's Biotech IP Blog)

US: Lilly files principal brief for Ariad v Lilly rehearing en banc - Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co. (Patent Docs) (ISinIP)

US: A brief defense of the written description requirement: Ariad v Lilly (Patently-O)

US: China food and drug outsourcing gets criminal. Fast. - US criminal liability for import of adulterated or misbranded food or drugs (China Law Blog)

US: Patent term adjustment: 37 CFR § 1.704(b)’s three-month provision (Patent Docs)

Products

Amrix (Cyclobenzaprine) – US: Patent infringement suit commenced in response to Paragraph IV certification: Eurand Inc. et al. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. et al (Patent Docs)

Carbatrol (Carbamazepine) – US: Settlement announced in patent dispute between Shire and Apotex over Carbatrol (Patent Docs)

Combigan (Brimonidine tartrate/Timolol maleate): US: Patent infringement suit following a Paragraph IV certification Allergan, Inc. v. Alcon Laboratories, Inc. et al. (Patent Docs)

Dovonex (Calcipotriol) – UK: EWHC dismisses Sandoz appeal against Floyd J’s finding that Leo Pharma’s patent was valid (PatLit)

Humira (Adalimumab): US: District Court E D Texas upholds record $1.7 billion infringement judgment: Centocor v Abbott (Patent Docs) (EDTexweblog.com)

Lexapro (Citalopram) – US: Infosint seeks increased damages award in Citalopram suit (Patent Docs)

Myfortic7 (Mycophenolate) – US: Patent infringement suit filed in response to Paragraph IV certification - Novartis AG et al. v. Apotex Inc. et al. (Patent Docs)

Prandimet (Repaglinide and Metformin) - US: Patent infringement suit filed in response to Paragraph IV certification: Novo Nordisk Inc. et al. v. Sandoz Inc (Patent Docs)

Roundup Ready soybean seed – US: Monsanto files patent infringement suit based on defendant’s use of seed produced from earlier planted Roundup Ready soybean seed: Monsanto Co. et al. v. Germann (Patent Docs)

Rozerem (Ramelteon) – US: Patent infringement suit filed in response to Paragraph IV certification: Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. et al. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. et al. (Patent Docs)

Ryzolt (Tramadol) - US: Patent infringement suit filed in response to Paragraph IV certification: Purdue Pharma Products LP et al. v. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. et al. (Patent Docs)

Zolpimist (Zolpidem) - US: Hi-Tech Pharmacal’s ECR subsidiary signs exclusive agreement to commercialise sleep aid in oral spray form (SmartBrief)

General Global Week in Review 16 Nov 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:51:22 -0500

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

Putting the USPTO to work for independent inventors (Director's Forum) (Inventive Step) (IP Asset Maximizer Blog) (Patently-O)

Tafas v Kappos – CAFC dismisses Tafas suit against Rules; leaves lower court ruling in tact (Patent Baristas) (Patently-O) (Patent Docs) (America-Israel Patent Law)

Global

Global - General

Global reactions to ACTA (Michael Geist) (Michael Geist) (Michael Geist) (Michael Geist)

ACTA shall be concluded in 2010 – negotiating countries make joint statement (Michael Geist)

WIPO IT Committee’s proposed broad mandate raised questions (IP Watch)

The road to Copenhagen: IP and climate change (JIPLP) (IP Osgoode)

5^th International Forum on Creativity and Inventions opens with emphasis on need for balance in IP systems (WIPO)

Global - Patents

Trilateral patent offices to launch new work sharing projects (IP Watch)

Global - Copyright

Panel at WIPO event calls for disclosure of industry methodology assessing losses to piracy for developing countries (IP Watch)

Keeping a global eye on copyright law (EFF) (EFF)

Africa

‘Rolex Gang’ gate crashes IP Crammer seminar, thoughts on Kenya Industrial Property Tribunal ruling in Chemserve Cleaning Services v Sanitam Services (Afro-IP)

Argentina

The whiff of trademarks: scent marks reach Argentina (IP tango)

Australia

Government announces it will not change limitations in Copyright Act on parallel import of books (ipwars)

Vegemite iSnack 2.0 – impact from a trade mark or branding perspective (ipwars)

Creole/Oreo biscuits: Coles changes name of biscuit (LawFont.com)

IP Australia’s IP tax advice (IP finance)

Brazil

Incremental patents under criticism (Koury Lopes Advogados)

Sport-related events, counterfeiting and ambush, guerrilla marketing (Koury Lopes Advogados)

New trademark examination procedure guidelines (Koury Lopes Advogados)

Canada

Proving a trademark licence – Federal Court decision in Nova Scotia Company v Lang Michener LLP and Registrar of Trademarks (Canadian Trademark Blog)

China

China emerges as world leader in IP finance (IAM)

China draft law proposes new patent standards (IP Watch)

R&D in China: no genuine research, only development thanks to poor execution of IPR laws (IP Dragon)

Europe

ECJ references on customs seizure rules concerning counterfeits in transit through the EU without evidence of likely diversion to EU market: UK case Nokia v HMRC and Belgian case NV Koninklijke Philips Electronics v Far East Sourcing Limited (The IPKat) (The IPKat)

CFI: The mechanics of requesting trade mark proof of use: Harwin International LLC v OHIM, Cuadrado SA (jiplp)

OHIM Board of Appeal: Novelty v individual character– it’s the nose, stupid!: Normann Copenhagen ApS v Paton Calvert Housewares Limted (Class 99)

Third-party observations: new OHIM practice statement (Marques)

The next EPO President – the results are in from IPKat poll (IPKat)

EPO presidency vote – the plot thickens as Swiss candidate claims to be in pole position (IAM)

Inventive step focus in the EPO? (Innovationpartners)

Germany

Ferrero v FIFA (in World Cup trade mark dispute) – 1:0 says the German Bundesgerichtshof (IPKat)

India

WIPO Director General pledges support for India’s visually impaired community (WIPO)

Delhi High Court on working of patents and S 107A(b) Strix Limited v. Maharaja Appliances (Spicy IP)

Amending the Copyright Act to provide justice for all... (Spicy IP)

India will be working as ISA by June 2010: IPO (Spicy IP)

Ireland

Riverdance: Kelly takes steps to settle – Jen Kelly’s action withdrawn (IPKat)

Italy

Italian laws rigidifies discipline of use of MADE IN ITALY (Marques)

La Bella della Daunia: PDO changes approved (Marques)

Israel

Israel IP fraud squad supports Maccabi Haifa football team (IP Factor)

Peru

Descriptive and distinctive marks – walking a fine line between granting or not granting registration in Peru (IP tango)

Poland

Can real food serve as a trade mark? (Marques)

Russia

Carrefour, brands and the Russian market (IP finance)

South Africa

Supreme Court of Appeal decision in Mr Video case concerning parallel importation of DVDs (Afro-IP)

Sweden

Can Sweden bring political IP unity before year’s end? (IPEG)

United Kingdom

EWHC: Registry decision leads to High Court estoppels: William Evans and Susan Mary Evans (trading as Firecraft) v Focal Point Fires plc (Marques)

Lord Hoffmann on patentability of software and business methods (IPKat)

Making life more comfy for designers? (Class 99)

United States

US General

Wisconsin judge vacates $ 1.26 billion judgment in default against PepsiCo (IPKat) (IP Factor)

California Court of Appeal: Von Dutch tradename settlement gives rise to legal malpractice action and questionable mediation confidentiality decision: Michael Cassel v Superior Court of Los Angeles County (The IP ADR Blog)

US Patent Reform

Putting the USPTO to work for independent inventors (Director's Forum) (Inventive Step) (IP Asset Maximizer Blog) (Patently-O)

No parties for Kappos yet as critics question patent reform legislation (IPKat)

Survey of disruptive impact of first-to-file switch (Patently-O)

US Patents

USPTO proposes Patents Ombudsman pilot program (Patent Docs)

Class 705 reorganised (Patent Librarian's Notebook)

Latest clean energy patent growth index results announced (IP Frontline)

The Coinco strategy – what can go wrong with ownership of patents within a corporate enterprise Mars, Inc v Coin Acceptors; Novartis Pharmaceuticals v Teva Pharmaceuticals (Property, intangible)

The audacity of the USPTO – PTO Deputy Director speech (EDTexweblog.com)

Claiming the benefit of priority, examples of how to do it, and how to correct a failure to make a claim (Patentably Defined)

US patent counts, Q3 2009 (Patent Librarian's Notebook)

US Patents – Decisions

Tafas v Kappos – CAFC dismisses Tafas suit against Rules; leaves lower court ruling in tact (Patent Baristas) (Patently-O) (Patent Docs) (America-Israel Patent Law)

District Court E D Texas: Patent revival defense could not be based on A § 102(c): Abstrax, Inc v Dell, Inc (IP Frontline)

Marshall Jury finds patent infringed, not invalid, damages of $5 million: Retractable Technologies v. Becton Dickinson (EDTexweblog.com)

District Court E D New York: Federal police power trumps patent law: IRIS Corporation v Japan Airlines (IP Frontline)

Delaware Court: Honeywell patents on LCDs nixed: court dismisses claim of patent infringement: Honeywell v Fujifilm and Samsung (Managing IP)

District Court W D of Wisconsin denies motion claim for claim construction in full: Semiconductor Energy Lab Co v Samsung Elecs. (Gray On Claims)

Precedential BPAI opinion rejects functional claim elements as indefinite and not enabled: Ex parte Rodriguez (Patently-O)

BPAI issues opinions on four NTP patent re-examinations (12:01 Tuesday)

ITC decides not to review ALJ’s grant of Rambus’ summary determination motion that its licensing activities satisfy the domestic industry requirement in certain semiconductor chips (337-TA-661) (ITC Law Blog)

ITC issues final determination of no violation in matter concerning probe card assemblies commenced in response to complaint by FormFactor (ITC Law Blog)

ITC issues final determination of violation in matter involving Sharp and Samsung concerning liquid crystal display modules (ITC 337 Law Blog)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Akeena Solar - Akeena DJ and infringement action aims to ease mounting tension: Akeena Solar v Zep Solar, Inc (Green Patent Blog)

B&R Plastics – B&R files new 337 complaint regarding certain foldable stools (ITC Law Blog)

Bilski – Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Bilski v Kappos (The Prior Art) (Ars Technica) (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog) (Patent Baristas) (Filewrapper) (Inventive Step) (IPKat)

John Mezzalingua Associates (dba PPC) - ALJ Gildea issues public version of initial determination finding defaulting respondents in violation of s 337 in matter concerning coaxial cable connectors commenced by PPC (ITC Law Blog)

Knowles Electronics – Knowles files new 337 complaint against Analog Devices regarding silicon microphone packages (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Target –Two more patents for retailing giant Target covering: cosmetic case and method for activating stored value cards (12:01 Tuesday)

Thermapure – setting the stage for retrial: Thermapure v Water Out Drying. Corp. (EDTexweblog.com)

US Army – More DOA patents (12:01 Tuesday)

US Copyright – Decisions

Reporting on 6^th Circuit decision in Bridgeport Music v UMG Recordings concerning copyright in ‘Bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yea’ and accompanying musical elements (The 1709 Copyright Blog) (Property, intangible)

District Court W D Washington dismisses Freedom of Information Act suit for information on counterfeit seizures: Watkins v US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

US Trademarks

Brand Assassins: (ISinIP)

Insurance coverage for trade mark infringement actions: Kim Seng Company v Great American Insurance Co of New York (IP ADR Blog)

US Trade Marks – Decisions

CAFC affirms TTAB genericness ruling re MATTRESS.COM: In re 1800Mattress.com IP, LLC (precedential) (TTABlog)

District Court N D California allows owner to delete unused goods from trademark registration: One True Vine, LLC v The Wine Group (Seattle Trademark Lawyer) (TTABlog)

TTAB Precedential No. 46: TTAB finds two ANTHONY’S marks confusingly similar for pizza restaurant Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta International, Inc v Anthony’s Pizza Holding Company, Inc (TTABlog)

TTAB affirms genericness refusal of GOJI BERRY: In re Bradley Dobos (not precedential) (TTABlog)

Test your TTAB Judge-ability: is the stylisation of JUMBOZ inherently distinctive? In re Dakota Natural Foods, Inc (not precedential)(TTABlog)

US Trade Marks – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Buffer, Michael – 'Let’s rumble...’ but how much is it worth – ‘Let’s get ready to rumble’ catchphrase slogan has netted owner $400 million (IP finance)

CMG Brands - Marilyn Monroe’s licensing company sues calendar publisher over unauthorised use of ‘name, trademark and image of Marilyn Monroe’: CMG Brands v Moseley Road (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

Mattel - CAFC hears oral argument in CRASH DUMMIES appeal: Mattel, Inc v The Crash Dummy Movie (TTABlog)

McDonald’s - McDonald’s walks into a naming and branding lion’s den – Lion’s Tap settles trademark suit against McDonald’s over ‘Who’s Your Patty’ slogan (The Product Naming Blog)

Rocky Brands - Topline sues boot designer over use of FLIRT trademark: Topline Corp v Rocky Brands Wholesale LLC (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

Trump University – General Patent Corporation secures settlement and agreement from Trump University regarding ‘Negotiate to Win’ service mark owned by Common Ground Seminars (IP Frontline)

Online Global Week in Review 13 Nov 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:28:14 -0500

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Online intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

Supreme Court hears arguments in Bilski v Kappos – commentary and opinion (Patent Baristas) (The 271 Patent Blog) (IAM) (IP Frontline) (Managing IP) (Inventive Step) (Anticipate This!) (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog) (Patently-O) (Patently-O) (The 271 Patent Blog) (Washington State Patent Law Blog) (BlawgIT) (ipwars) (Patent Baristas) (Patent Docs) (Patents4Life) (Inventive Step) (Anticipate This!) (Filewrapper) (Ars Technica) (Innovationpartners) (Patently-O) (Patently-O) (Technology Transfer Tactics)

Skype founders successfully use IP to get their seat on the board – eBay, Skype settlement (IAM) (Tangible IP)

USPTO Director Kappos launches blog on PTO website (Anticipate This!) (Patently-O) (The 271 Patent Blog) (IP Factor) (Patently BIOtech) (The Invent Blog)

Global

Global - General

Pirates get a taste of Microsoft COFEE (Ars Technica)

Study flags internet censorship as open to challenge at WTO (IP Watch)

Global - Copyright

Leaked ACTA document on Internet chapter (Michael Geist) (Ars Technica) (ipwars)

ACTA threat: Michael Geist’s talk on everything you need to know about ACTA, but didn’t know to ask (Michael Geist) (Copyfight)

Perpetual motion? - motionbox online video hosting Terms and Conditions – perpetual licence to use user content (1709 Copyright Blog)

BitTorrent may kill Zombieland sequel, writer claims (TorrentFreak)

Pre-release music piracy: further arrests, exec loses job (TorrentFreak)

Global - Trade Marks & Domain Names

Losing your Twitter naming and branding just bad business (The Product Naming Blog) (Innovationpartners)

Beatles’ records on apple-shaped USB-stick – do I sense a little provocation? (Class 46)

Registries and registrars split on ownership reform - gTLD demand will be limited, says ICANN (Managing IP)

Registries and registrars split on ownership reform (Managing IP)

Glenn Beck loses domain dispute, still ends up with domain (Ars Technica) (IP Watch)

Global - Patents

Is Nokia to turn the tables in the standards game? (IP Expert Group)

Australia

Updates on AFACT v iiNet (TorrentFreak) (TorrentFreak) (TorrentFreak)

DFAT, ABC report on ACTA (LawFont)

Canada

i4i Inc vs the software giant (Microsoft): success story and advice from the underdog (IP Osgoode)

ACTA threatens made-in-Canada copyright policy (Michael Geist)

Canadian Labour Congress adopts new copyright policy (Michael Geist)

China

ISP liability for infringing content: bloggers beware (China Law Blog)

Smashing China’s great firewall...through trade disputes? (Ars Technica)

Denmark

Anti-piracy group responds to media, not DRM breaker (TorrentFreak)

Anti-piracy group announces it will stop going after file-sharers (TorrentFreak)

Europe

EU telecom package agreed with safeguards but three-strikes still possible (IP Watch) (Managing IP)

Bad faith, trade marks and the .eu TLD (The IPKat)

India

Coming soon: websites in Hindi and the IPO too? (SPICY IP)

Israel

Yes to software patents? No to software patents? Israel PTO thinking of reconsidering position on software patents (America-Israel Patent Law)

Lithuania

Anti-piracy group reports torrent site users to the police (TorrentFreak)

Mexico

.mx domain names registration (IP Frontline)

Nigeria

Software raid in Lagos confiscates high quality copies of Microsoft products (Afro-IP)

Norway

IFPI loses: Telenor will not block The Pirate Bay (TorrentFreak) (the 1709 Copyright Blog)

Sweden

Ex-supplier of Pirate Bay bandwidth given leave to appeal (TorrentFreak)

United Kingdom

EWHC: Interim relief includes disabling domain name: Wasabi Frog Ltd v Miss Boo Ltd and Gulfraz Mohammed (Class 46) (ipwars.com)

British Telecom unsuccessful in patenting online profile generation (Innovationpartners)

Public pressure stops BBC’s HDTV DRM drive (for now) (Ars Technica)

United States

US General

US Groups duel over access to ACTA negotiation (IP Watch) (Public Knowledge)

Reining in ACTA: Update and call to action (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

USPTO Director Kappos launches blog on PTO website (Anticipate This!) (Patently-O) (The 271 Patent Blog) (IP Factor) (Patently BIOtech) (The Invent Blog)

Ebay terms upheld – forum selection clause: Tricome v Ebay (IPblog)

Data breach notifications one step closer to law... again (Ars Technica)

US General – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Starbucks - Starbucks data breach plaintiffs try their luck in the 9^th Circuit: Krottner v Starbucks (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Bilski - Supreme Court hears arguments in Bilski v Kappos – commentary and opinion (Patent Baristas) (The 271 Patent Blog) (IAM) (IP Frontline) (Managing IP) (Inventive Step) (Anticipate This!) (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog) (Patently-O) (Patently-O) (The 271 Patent Blog) (Washington State Patent Law Blog) (BlawgIT) (ipwars) (Patent Baristas) (Patent Docs) (Patents4Life) (Inventive Step) (Anticipate This!) (Filewrapper) (Ars Technica) (Innovationpartners) (Patently-O) (Patently-O) (Technology Transfer Tactics)

eBay - Skype founders successfully use IP to get their seat on the board – eBay, Skype settlement (IAM) (Tangible IP)

Ethernet Innovations – Patent infringement dispute between Ethernet Innovations and Acer, Apple, Dell and others: 3Com gets religion, but too late to save jobs and a once thriving business; HP faces 3Com patent dilemma when acquisition goes through (IAM) (IAM)

US Copyright

Hollywood’s antipiracy charm offensive has FCC in crosshairs (Ars Technica)

US Copyright – Lawsuits and strategic steps

BlueBeat.com – EMI’s request for preliminary injunction granted in copyright infringement suit brought against BlueBeat.com (IPKat)

US Trade Marks – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Google – AdWords litigation: Parts Geek v US Auto Parts (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

New York-New York Hotel & Casino - Cybersquatting or domain name hijacking? You be the judge: New York-New York Hotel & Casino v Katzin (Las Vegas TM Attorney)

US Chamber of Commerce - EFF to represent Yes Men who ‘punked’ US Chamber of Commerce on climate change (Ars Technica) (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

Yahoo – Yahoo and Mary Kay settle dispute over pop-up ads from unauthorised resellers (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

Pharma & Biotech Global Week in Review 11 Nov 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:02:31 -0500

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Pharma & Biotech intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

EU: Generics producers: Criminal sanctions can stop counterfeit drugs (IP Watch)

Prandin (Repaglinide) – US: Federal Circuit grants stay of preliminary relief pending full appellate review: Novo Nordisk v Caraco (Patently-O)

General

Eduardo Pisani of Bristol-Myers Squibb is the new IFPMA Director General (IP Watch)

Is the practice of medicine impeding medical innovation? (BiotechBlog)

‘Most important’ biodiversity access / benefit meeting (IP Watch)

EU: Patentability of gene sequences and Directive 98/44 (JIPLP)

EU: Generics producers: Criminal sanctions can stop counterfeit drugs (IP Watch)

US: Mayo seeks Supreme Court review in Prometheus Labs case (Patent Docs)

US: Follow-on biologics news briefs – No 9: Patient groups back Senate and House Committee FOB legislation; DelawareBio and BIO seek support of Delaware Delegation; CCPM asks Congress to fix FOB provisions; TJU Dean asks Congress to focus on patient safety (Patent Docs)

US: Issues for another day: Software? Medical diagnostics?: Bilski (IP Frontline)

US: Next up: Ariad v Lilly rehearing en banc (Patent Docs)

Products

Ablify (Aripiprazole) – US: Otsuka files patent infringement suit against Teva in response to Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Boniva (Ibandronic acid) – US: Roche drops two lawsuits in response to Teva cancelling plans to manufacture generic Boniva (The IP Factor)

Copaxone (Glatiramer) – US: Teva files amended complaint against Momenta/Sandoz to include infringement of three Copaxone–related patents (SmartBrief)

Copaxone (Glatiramer) – US: Teva files patent infringement suit against Mylan, Natco following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs) (GenericsWeb)

Enbrel (Etanercept) – US: Mathilda and Terrence Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology Trust files patent infringement suit against Amgen based on its manufacture and sale of Enbrel (Patent Docs)

Fentora (Fentanyl) – US: Cephalon files patent infringement suit against Barr Pharmaceuticals following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

GeneChip – US: Illumina files patent infringement suit against Affymetrix over manufacture and sale of certain GeneChip products (Patent Docs)

Lipitor (Atorvastatin) – Generic makers line up to sell copies of Pfizer’s Lipitor (GenericsWeb)

Loestrin, Femcon (Norethindrone, Ethinyl estradiol) – US: Warner Chilcott suit against Lupin dismissed in Maryland, to be heard in Delaware (Patent Docs)

Loprox (Ciclopirox) – US: Medicis files patent infringement suit against Glenmark following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Myfortic7 (Mycophenolate) – US: Novartis files patent infringement suit against Apotex in response to Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Nexium (Esomeprazole) – US: Astrazeneca files patent infringement suit against Lupin following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

OxyContin (Oxycodone) – US: Apotex and Purdue settle suit over OxyContin (Patent Docs)

Oxytrol (Oxybutynin) – US: Settlement announced in Oxytrol litigation between Watson and Barr (Patent Docs)

PradiMet (Repaglinide) – US: Novo Nordisk files patent infringement suit against Actavis following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Prandin (Repaglinide) – US: Stays pending appeal - Federal Circuit grants stay of preliminary relief pending full appellate review: Novo Nordisk v Caraco (Patently-O)

Rozerem (Ramelteon) – US: Teva sued by Takeda over generic version of Rozerem (The IP Factor) (GenericsWeb)

Taxotere (Docetaxel) – US: Aventis files patent infringement suit against Sandoz following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Thrombin JMI (Coagulation Factor II) – US: King Pharmaceuticals and others sue ZymoGenetics for false advertising, trade mark infringement; obtain three temporary restraining orders: (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

Travatan (Travoprost) – US: Alcon files patent infringement suit against Apotex following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Treagan (Acetic acid, Antipyrine, Benzocaine, U-polycosanol 410) – US: Deston Therapeutics files patent infringement suit against TriGen, Irisys based on manufacture and sale of Treagan (Patent Docs)

Tricor (Fenofibrate) – Elan files patent infringement suit against Impax in response to Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Tricor (Fenofibrate) – US: Abbott files patent infringement suit against Impax following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Ultram (Tramadol) – US: Purdue Pharma files patent infringement suit against Cipher Pharmaceuticals following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Xeloda (Capecitabine) – US: Hoffman-La Roche sues Teva et al in response to Para IV challenge (The IP Factor)

General Global Week in Review 9 Nov 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:44:36 -0500

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

ACTA negotiations, Seoul (Michael Geist) (Michael Geist) (Michael Geist) (Michael Geist) (Public Knowledge) (Public Knowledge) (LawFont) (Michael Geist) (BLOG@IP::JUR) (EEF) (PC World) (TorrentFreak) (IP Watch)

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting, Barcelona; US Senate letter urges IP rights (IP Watch) (IP Watch) (IP Watch) (IP Watch)

Global

Global - General

Keynote on what’s happening in the world of IP strategy IP Think Tank podcast 26 Oct 2009 (IP Think Tank)

WIPO, donor community to explore ways to enhance use of IP for development (IP Frontline) (IPKat)

WIPO power struggle looms over development agenda coordination (IP Watch)

A look into the future... US joins other major economies reporting return to positive economic growth (IAM)

Michael Geist on CBC’s ‘As It Happens’ on ACTA (Michael Geist)

The leaked ACTA document (Michael Geist)

ACTA negotiations day 1 – Internet provisions (Michael Geist) (BLOG@IP::JUR) (EEF) (PC World) (TorrentFreak) (IP Watch)

ACTA negotiations day 2 – Criminal provisions (Michael Geist)

ACTA negotiations day 3 – secret talks on transparency (Michael Geist)

UNCITRAL security interests consultation update (Excess Copyright)

Breakthrough in strategic IP thinking? (Innovationpartners)

Smart City’s intangible assets... (Business IP and Intangible Assets Report and Blog)

Intangible asset valuation frustration-skepticism (Business IP and Intangible Assets Report and Blog)

Raising finance from intellectual assets is on the rise, but more needs to be done (IAM)

Advisory Committee on Enforcement meeting: IP enforcement work at WIPO gets boost from developing nations (IP Watch)

WTO to extend moratorium on non-violation cases, e-commerce taxes (IP Watch)

Slow but steady progress in IP’s move to the corporate centre stage (IAM)

Global - Patents

Which patent office does it best? IAM/Thomson Reuters survey says: EPO (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog)

Patent plutonomies (IPEG)

Mandatory disclosure, PCT and WIPO conspiracy theories (Spicy IP)

IP for you business: Reducing patent litigation budgets (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog)

Seeking to sell your patent to a big company? Think about these negotiation tips (IP Asset Maximizer Blog)

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting, Barcelona; US Senate letter urges IP rights (IP Watch) (IP Watch) (IP Watch) (IP Watch)

Global - Copyright

Will the sci-fi franchise continue? (IP finance)

Gospel, gold diggers and gum trees: How sampling litigation changes the tune (IP Osgoode)

Australia

A mere collocation - Full Federal Court allows appeal against grant of interlocutory injunction preventing Smith & Nephew entering negative pressure wound therapy market: Smith & Nephew P/L v Wake Forest University Health Sciences (ipwars.com)

The Vegemite/iSnack trade mark saga down under: Fiasco or triumph? (IP finance)

Brazil

INPI sets higher grounds and prepares itself for Madrid Protocol and the 2014 World Cup (IP tango)

Canada

Justice Marshall Rothstein on business method patents (IP Osgoode)

Oshawa school trustee seeks elimination of copyright fees (Michael Geist)

Justice Vancise on the courts and copyright policy in Canada (Excess Copyright)

Government responds to IP enforcement criticism, proposes changes to proceeds of crime rules (Michael Geist)

Bachman Turner Overdrive trade mark dispute between current and former band members (Canadian Trademark Blog)

Auditor General wields Crown copyright to demand takedown (Michael Geist)

Canadian copyright collectives and the Copyright Board after 20 years: Does the system serve its purpose? (Excess Copyright)

Chile

The ambitious project that seeks to change the Chilean wine map (IP tango)

China

Pepsico-Tianfu JV dispute over trade secrets and branding (China Hearsay)

iSuppli: China’s grey mobile phone market explodes (IP Dragon)

Europe

Questions referred to ECJ in Interflora v Marks and Spencer now available (IPKat) (Class 46)

ECJ crystal clear ruling in border measures reference: Zino Davidoff SA v Bundesfinanzdirektion Südost (JIPLP)

Brussels Court of Appeal refers SatCab questions to ECJ in Airfield v Agicoa and Airfield v Sabam (1709 Copyright Blog)

Pirate Party gets second seat in European Parliament (TorrentFreak) (IP Watch)

Enlarged Board of Appeal at EPO: Can impartiality of member be challenged by amicus curiae brief? (BLOG@IP::JUR)

EU Community patent: The mill goes on and on – EU Council issue Document 15149/09 ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation on the Community Patent – Revised text’ (BLOG@IP::JUR)

Notice from the European Patent Office dated 26 October 2009 concerning search options available after ‘Examining Division's first communication’ (EPO)

OHIM to launch products/services similarity database in 2010 (Class 46)

EPO presidency vote revealed (IAM)

Stalemate over EPO president – election postponed until at least December (Managing Intellectual Property) (Innovationpartners)

Why are CTM applications through the Madrid system less often opposed? (IPKat)

Finland

Finnish Customs sees more counterfeit action in 2009 than previous years, according to financial newspaper Kauppalehti (Class 46)

France

Paris Tribunal de Grande instance now has exclusive jurisdiction for all patent disputes in France (Managing Intellectual Property)

India

India’s traditional knowledge database wins early successes at EPO (Spicy IP)

Gandhi-Mont Blanc dispute ‘almost settled’ (Spicy IP)

Ramkumar’s patent covering dual SIM phones stayed by the IPAB (Spicy IP)

Bambino Agro Industries applies for geographical indication status for Bambino brand vermicelli (Spicy IP)

Bombay High Court dismisses allegations of copyright infringement against Madhur Bhandarkar’s movie ‘Jail’ (Spicy IP)

Ireland

Fashion designer Jen Kelly sues Riverdance duo Moya Doherty and John McColgan for using his designs without permission, seeks royalties on Riverdance profits (IPKat)

Israel

Israel PCT receiving office – have your say! (The IP Factor)

Jerusalem District Court: American Colony Hotel prevents competitors using name Colony (The IP Factor)

Italy

Italian law amends Italian IP Code and reinforces protection to IP rights holders under Italian Criminal Code (Class 46)

Kenya

High Court orders Music Copyright Society of Kenya to stop collecting ringtone royalties (Afro-IP)

Mexico

Amicus brief filed by INTA with Federal Court of Tax and Administrative Affairs (Grupo Anderson’s Case) (relatIP)

Peru

Premio Planeta 2002 prize winner found liable for moral rights infringement (IP tango)

Poland

Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage creates incentives for sharing educational content (Creative Commons)

Jail time for selling fake croissants (Class 46)

Switzerland

Swiss patent litigation reform (PatLit)

Syria

Syria waives Israel boycott declaration (The IP Factor)

United Kingdom

How easily can multi-issue disputes be slimmed down?; Commercial success as criterion of inventive step: Grimme Landmaschinenfabrik GmbH & co. KG v Derek Scott (PatLit) (Class 99) (IPKat)

April 2010 trial ordered in trade mark infringement and copycat advertising dispute between Specsavers and Asda (IPKat)

‘Give it back!’. ‘Shan’t!’ Court of Appeal rules... – Scopelight Ltd & Ors v Chief Constable of Northumbria and Federation Against Copyright Theft concerning police powers to retain seized property once decision not prosecute has been made (1709 Copyright Blog)

Warner Bros says Harry Potter theme dinner infringes copyright (TorrentFreak)

United States

US General

Did you know... section 337 settlement agreements must be approved by the ITC? (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Groups protest Obama Administration secrecy on ACTA (Public Knowledge)

Artist, Open Government, and civil liberties groups join calls for ACTA transparency (Public Knowledge)

US General – Decisions

$1.26 billion awarded against PepsiCo for not defending trade secret case regarding bottled water (The IP Factor)

US Patent Reform

Outside opinions are still key to avoiding wilful infringement (Patents4Life)

US Patents

Changing opinions on wilful patent infringement (IP Frontline)

Someone already patented your invention? Run to the USPTO (IP Frontline)

Director’s blog, now with feedback (just_n_examiner)

Effective 8 November, Office’s revised count system initiatives go into effect (just_n_examiner)

Should you file a patent application now or can you wait? (Inventive Step)

Copyrighting a prior public disclosure: In re Lister (IP Directions) (IP Osgoode)

A closer look at requests to stay section 337 investigations pending re-examination at the USPTO (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Patent prosecution tips: drafting preambles (Patently-O)

US Patents – Decisions

CAFC: When are subsidiaries covered in a license agreement?: Imation v Koninklijke Philips Electronics (Patently-O) (IP Spotlight)

District Court N D Illinois: Court not required to review products during claim construction: SP Techs. LLC v Garmin Int’l, Inc (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog)

District Court E D Texas: Motion for summary judgment as to patent defendant’s defences and counterclaims granted in part; antitrust claims severed: Fiber Systems International v Applied Optical Systems (EDTexweblog.com)

District Court E D Texas: Motion to compel denied – non-compliance with ‘meet and confer’ rule: Konami Digital Entertainment Co v Harmonix Music (EDTexweblog.com)

BPAI used dictionary and patentee’s explicit distinguishing of prior art in defining claim term and reversing rejection of claims: Ex parte Westlund (Gray on Claims)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Coskata – Biofilm, bugs and bioreactors: The IP behind Coskata’s new biofuel facility (Green Patent Blog)

GreenShift Corporation – GreenShifting focus to pre-grant damages in ethanol processing patent suit: GS Cleantech Corporation v GEA Westfalia Separator, Inc and Does 1-20 inclusive (Green Patent Blog)

Honeywell – Public version of initial determination released – No violation of s 337 by respondents’ importation and sale of automotive multimedia display and navigation products in investigation based on complaint by Honeywell (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Tessera – ITC to review initial determination in investigation of importation and sale of allegedly patent infringing semiconductor chips commenced in response to complaint by Tessera (ITC 337 Law Blog)

US Copyright

The future IP Czar (Excess Copyright)

US Copyright – Decisions

District Court S D New York: Oral contract not worth the email they’re printed out on: Weinstein Company v Smokewood Entertainment Group (The Trademark Blog)

US Trade Marks – Decisions

CAFC: Trademark cancellation: Presumption of validity includes presumption of acquired distinctiveness for marks registered under section 2(f): Cold War Museum v Cold War Air Museum (Patently-O) (TTABlog)

Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit: Use of Japanese legal term in US-based contract Sunstar Inc v Alberto-Culvar Company (IP Spotlight) (IP Law Blog)

9^th Circuit finds name not a trade mark, so no false designation of origin: Ott v Ingenix (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

Precedential No 45: TIRES TIRES TIRES generic for, or merely descriptive of, Tire Store Services: In re Tires, Tires, Tires (TTABlog)

TTAB precedential no 44: TTAB decides CAB CALLOWAY priority dispute, rules that personal names are inherently distinctive: Christopher Brooks v Creative Arts by Calloway, LLC (TTABlog)

TTAB restricts Bose’s WAVE registration per CAFC decision (TTABlog)

US Trade Marks – Lawsuits and strategic steps

McDonald’s – McDonald’s reached settlement with Lion’s Tap in dispute over McDonald’s use of WHO’S YOUR PATTY tagline (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

United States of America – US Government files suit against AFIP Laboratories over alleged infringement of their ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY mark (The Trademark Blog)

University of Southern California – CAFC hears oral argument in SC trademark dispute University of Southern California v University of South Carolina (TTABlog)

Online Global Week in Review 6 Nov 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:21:55 -0500

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Online intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

ACTA Internet chapter: Putting the pieces together (Michael Geist) (BLOG@IP::JUR) (EEF) (PC World) (TorrentFreak) (IP Watch)

ICANN approves introduction of non-Latin script top level domains (IP Think Tank) (Class 46) (IP Watch) (Managing Intellectual Property) (The Trademark Blog) (ipblog.ca) (China Hearsay)

Pirate Party gets second seat in European Parliament (TorrentFreak) (IP Watch)

File-sharers protected under proposed EU legislation – Deadlock broken on Telecoms Reform Package (TorrentFreak) (Ars Technica)

Global

Global - Copyright

ACTA Internet chapter: Putting the pieces together (Michael Geist) (BLOG@IP::JUR) (EEF) (PC World) (TorrentFreak) (IP Watch)

Big Content: Using ‘moral panics’ to change copyright law (Ars Technica)

The other side of piracy – ContentSutra op-ed on the pros of internet piracy (Spicy IP)

Record labels keep blaming P2P, but it’s a hard sell (Ars Technica)

Global - Trade Marks & Domain Names

ICANN approves introduction of non-Latin script top level domains (IP Think Tank) (Class 46) (IP Watch) (Managing Intellectual Property) (The Trademark Blog) (ipblog.ca) (China Hearsay)

10^th anniversary of WIPO UDRP (Excess Copyright)

I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER wins against icanhashotdog.com (IPKat)

Metatags, adwords, killing kittens and the cat-dog dichotomy (IPKat)

Prof Graeme Dinwoodie ‘A Comparative Analysis of Liability for Keyword Advertising’ (IP Osgoode)

Australia

AFACT v iiNet trial updates (TorrentFreak) (TorrentFreak) (TorrentFreak) (TorrentFreak)

Canada

ACTA: Time to walk away? (Excess Copyright)

Bill C-61 and DRM: How the Canadian Constitution ensures a balance of copyrights (IP Osgoode)

Counterfeit goods: Statutory and punitive damages: Microsoft Corporation v 1276916 Ontario Ltd et al (Canadian Trademark Blog)

Denmark

DRM breaker reports himself to anti-piracy group (TorrentFreak)

Europe

Pirate Party gets second seat in European Parliament (TorrentFreak) (IP Watch)

File-sharers protected under proposed EU legislation – Deadlock broken on Telecoms Reform Package (TorrentFreak) (Ars Technica)

Rest of Europe about to yield to HADOPI’s siren song? (IP Watch)

Germany

BGH rules on liability for links and adwords (IPKat)

India

Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008 now in force – ISP liability (Spicy IP) (Spicy IP)

Israel

Round table on software patents at the Israel Patent Office (The IP Factor)

Invitation to submit briefs to IPO re software patent policy in Israel (The IP Factor)

Central District Court rules that film download site be taken down and fines owner/operator: Organization for Protecting Cinematographical Creations (1993) & Ors v Dan Asulin (The IP Factor)

Latin America

Facebook looking to target Latin American market (IP tango)

Norway

Consumer group irate over Kindle, e-book tie-in (Ars Technica)

IFPI vs Telenor: Pirate Bay blocking decision delayed (TorrentFreak)

UK-T shut down for good, database deleted (TorrentFreak)

Russia

Cyrillic domain names – the new way forward (Class 46)

Sweden

Swedish judge to Pirate Bay admins: shut down or face fines (Ars Technica)

Cyber Norms project survey finds millions of file-sharers hide their identities online (TorrentFreak)

United Kingdom

UK IPO and BIS announce strategy for copyright in the digital age (1709 Copyright Blog)

UK study finds downloaders spend more on music (Michael Geist) (Ars Technica)

United States

US Patents – Decisions

BPAI gives green light to nixing ‘black bo&xrsquo; software patents under 35 USC 112: Ex Parte Rodriguez (precedential) (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog)

District Court Delaware: Microsoft denied declaratory judgment jurisdiction a second time in patent dispute with WebXchange (Washington State Patent Law Blog)

How to win $25 million in a patent suit and end up with a whole lot less – DeepNine’s patent win against McAfee (The Prior Art)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Google – Red Bend files patent infringement suit against Google over technology used in Chrome browser (The IP Factor)

US Copyright

5 million ‘Star Trek’ pirates vs 1 FCC broadband plan (Ars Technica)

Does the RIAA let defaulters off the hook? (Ars Technica)

DVR: the new player piano (Public Knowledge) (EFF)

MPAA propaganda hits ’60 Minutes’ (TorrentFreak)

US Copyright – Lawsuits and strategic steps

BlueBeat.com – Judge grants EMI’s request for injunction against BlueBeat.com, a US firm selling Beatles tracks online (Ars Technica) (Ars Technica) (Ars Technica)

US Trademarks

Keyword advertising after Rescuecom (IP Frontline)

US Trade Marks – Lawsuits and strategic steps

M Holdings – The M Resort files cybersquatting action against Hu Mei Lei (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

Pharma & Biotech Global Week in Review 4 Nov 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:03:00 -0500

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Pharma & Biotech intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

US: District Court S D New York denies motions to dismiss in gene patent case: Association for Molecular Pathology v USPTO (Inventive Step) (Patent Docs) (Patent Baristas) (Ars Technica) (The IP Factor) (Patently-O) (IP Watch)

Plavix (Clopidogrel) – US: Supreme Court rejects Plavix patent challenge by Apotex (GenericsWeb) (IP World)

US: Mayo asks Supreme Court to review another patentable subject matter case: Mayo v Prometheus (Inventive Step) (Patently-O)

Ecuador grants obligatory patent licenses (IP tango) (IP tango) (IP tango)

General

Medicines access again captures attention at WTO as progress urged in round (IP Watch)

Open source and biotechnology: Whither or whether idea? (IP finance)

Brazil: BPTO v ANVISA (Health National Surveillance Agency): Pharmaceutical patents in Brazil (IP tango)

Canada finds patents no help for poorest in need of medicine (IP Watch)

Ecuador grants obligatory patent licenses (IP tango) (IP tango) (IP tango)

India: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Suven Life Sciences: The new face of the innovating ‘Indian’ pharma industry? (Spicy IP)

India approaches WTO as yet another seizure takes place (Spicy IP)

UK: IPO issues SPC guide (The SPC Blog)

US: Follow-on biologics data exclusivity debate scorecard (Part 1 – Patent Docs) (Part II – Patent Docs) (Part III – Patent Docs)

US: 12 Senators write in support of 12-year data exclusivity period (Patent Docs)

US: Affordable Health Care for America Act introduced in House; includes biosimilar licensure pathway (FDA Law Blog) (Patent Docs)

US: Mayo asks Supreme Court to review another patentable subject matter case: Mayo v Prometheus (Inventive Step) (Patently-O)

US: Changing winds for gene patenting in the US? Stakeholders react to draft report (IP Watch)

Products

Ceclor (Cefaclor) – Canada: Eli Lilly successful in patent infringement action against Apotex (Pharmacapsules @ Gowlings)

Oxytrol (Oxybutynin) – US: Watson and Barr settle patent litigation (SmartBrief)

Plavix (Clopidogrel) – US: Supreme Court rejects Plavix patent challenge by Apotex (GenericsWeb) (IP World)

Razadyne (Galanthamine) – US: CAFC: Patent enablement requires more than a guess: In re ‘318 Patent Infringement Litigation (The IP Law Blog)

Tricor (Fenofibrate) – US: Impax Laboratories challenges Abbott’s patent relating to Tricor (SmartBrief)

Zyprexa (Olanzapine) – Canada: Federal Court decides Apotex precluded from pursuing current NOA which is null and void: Eli Lilly Canada v Apotex (Pharmacapsules @ Gowlings)

Zyprexa (Olanzapine) – Canada: Federal Court finds patent invalidity: Eli Lilly v Novopharm (Pharmacapsules @ Gowlings)

Zyprexa (Olanzapine) – Germany: Xth Senate of Bundesgerichtshof allows appeal against decision rendering Eli Lilly’s patent for pharmaceutical compound Olanzapine null and void: Eli Lilly & Co v Egis Gyogysergya Rt (JIPLP)

Just when you thought it was safe - internationalized domain names

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

ICANN, the governance body responsible for policy relating to Internet domain names, recently voted in favour of adding Internationalized Domain Names to the Internet.

Internationalized Domain Names are domain names which do not use the English a-z and 0-9 characters previously required by the domain name system. Under the new system for example, a domain name might be entirely in Chinese characters. The aim is to make it easier for those users who do not have English as a language to use the Internet (if you look at the primary language in the home location of most users, there are more Internet users from non-English countries than from English).

Internationalized Domain Names have been around for quite some time though. Software developed in the late 90s and early 2000s enabled translation of Latin characters into other character sets. So while the ability to use different characters in domain names has been available for quite some time, it hasn’t officially been baked into the domain name system (sometimes even the Internet moves slowly!).

Any change to the domain name system brings with it new opportunities for abuse. Hackers have had many years to think of ingenious ways to divert users from their intended destination. One of the most common was to register a domain name in a character set that looked visually similar to English, but being a different character set, would be an entirely different domain and different website. For example, the Cyrillic characters ‘а’, ‘е’, and ‘р’ all look very similar to the Latin ‘a’, ‘e’ and ‘p’. Imagine trying to tell the difference between “paypal.com” and “paypal.com”! Specific case rules were built into browsers to combat these issues.

Whether this will be a significant issue when international domain names are more widely used remains to be seen.

[Photo credit: hermanusbackpackers']

Keynote on what's happening in the world of IP Strategy IP Think Tank Podcast 26 Oct 2009

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:31:47 -0500

Welcome to the IP Think Tank podcast for 26th October 2009. In this special edition Duncan shares his thoughts on recent trends in intellectual property strategy around the world. This edition, recorded in Duncan's keynote address while chairing a conference in Sydney, Australia, covers such topics as:

Chief IP Officers (CIPOs);
Communicating value;
Openness;
Pirates; and
Small to medium enterprises.

We hope you enjoy this special edition, and as always, we look forward to your comments and feedback.

General Global Week in Review 2 Nov 2009 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:41:13 -0500

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

EPO Administrative Council fails to reach agreement on who should be next EPO President (IPKat) (IAM) (Managing Intellectual Property)

Study conducted by Stuart J H Graham and Dietmar Harhoff concludes US would benefit from EPO-style opposition (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog) (IAM)

Korean Intellectual Property Office announces super speedy green patent application examination (Green Patent Blog)

Global

Global - General

Intellectual Capital Management: Are you riding the wave? IP Think Tank Podcast 22 October 2009 (IP Think Tank)

Systemic risks to IP and intangible assets (Business IP and Intangible Assets Report and Blog)

Systemic risks to IP and intangible assets held by SME’s and SMM’s (Business IP and Intangible Assets Report and Blog)

Converging and bundling intangible assets to meet company’s core mission (Business IP and Intangible Assets Report and Blog)

Intangible asset risk management – the 4G of information asset protection (Business IP and Intangible Assets Report and Blog)

‘Knowledge is power’... especially in the knowledge-based economy! (Business IP and Intangible Assets Report and Blog)

Gurry highlights ‘paralysed’ IP policy (Managing IP)

Oxford IP journal gets its own weblog (IPKat)

Global - Trade Marks / Brands

So what will branding look like in a small car world? (IP finance)

Global - Patents

General Electric’s Chief IP Counsel warns of the dangers of ‘monkeying with the IP system’ (IAM) (BLOG@IP::JUR)

The US is first choice for patent litigation, while Germany beats the UK in Europe (IAM)

For inventor of 21 patents, patent troll litigation not very lucrative (IP Asset Maximizer Blog)

Global - Copyright

WIPO striving to increase access and protect assets – African-Arab seminar on copyright limitations and exceptions: addressing the needs of affected constituencies (Afro-IP)

Africa

African nations score poorly for entrepreneurship, innovation in latest Legatum index (Afro-IP)

Brazil

Rio 2016: International Olympic Committee have preliminary parley (IP tango)

Canada

Joseph Smith and the copyright revelation (1709 Copyright Blog)

Cape Verde

From 12 November, Cape Verde declared to be convention country for the purposes of UK Registered Designs Act 1949 (Afro-IP) (Class 99)

China

China series: Judicial proceedings (Maier & Maier)

Europe

ECJ referral - Gallecs and Gallo: is a single initial letter enough to support an opposition? Indústria e Comércio v OHIM, Consorci de l'Espai Rural de Gallecs (Class 46)

CFI: John Deere prevails before CFI with colour combination mark: BCS v OHIM, Deere (Class 46) (IPKat)

CFI finds trademarks containing common element in identical font confusingly similar in Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co v Goya Importaciones y Distribuciones (Class 46)

CFI: RNAiFect and RNActive: who would get confused?: CureVac v OHIM (Class 46)

CFI: French speakers, visual similarity sink AGILE mark: Peek & Cloppenburg v OHIM (IPKat) (Class 46)

EPO Administrative Council fails to reach agreement on who should be next EPO President (IPKat) (IAM) (Managing Intellectual Property)

EPO presidency: Managing Intellectual Property users make their voice heard (Managing Intellectual Property)

‘Hands off my design’, OHIM style (Class 99)

OHIM e-filing update (Class 99)

Germany

Jack Wolfskin relents after negative feedback by customers relating to infringement of “paw” trade mark (Class 46)

India

Much music to be faced – Dispute between IPRSL and Hotel Goa Marriott over multi-channel music played to entertain guests (Spicy IP)

Delhi High Court upholds jurisdiction; finds no bar against Specific Relief interim injunction in MAZAA trade mark dispute between Coca-Cola and Bisleri (Spicy IP)

Conference on publicly funded patents and technology transfer: A review of the Indian ‘Bayh Dole’ Bill (Spicy IP)

CBC Spark podcast on India’s traditional knowledge digital library (Jeremy de Beer)

Japan

Japan’s IP High Court finds 3D seashell chocolate bar shape inherently distinctive and registrable without secondary meaning evidence (JIPLP)

Korea

KIPO announces super speedy green patent application examination (Green Patent Blog)

Mexico

Football legends to be trade marks for beers (IP tango)

‘Made in Mexico’ (IP tango)

Poland

Sometimes it’s better not to refrain from trade mark use – MICHALKI trade mark dispute (Class 46)

What are serious reasons for non-use of a trade mark? – PARADIES trade mark dispute (Class 46)

United Kingdom

EWHC finds patent covering cigarette packaging foil embossing technology valid and infringed; director and shareholder of first defendant personally liable: Boegli-Gravures SA v Darsail-ASP Ltd and Andrei Ivanovich Pyzhov (PatLit)

EWHC clarifies ‘link’ in trade mark infringement dispute between Daimler and Sany (Managing Intellectual Property)

Sue and settle – but who is the real winner? Morgan Contract Furniture resolves design right infringement claim against PTT Design (Class 99)

United States

US General

Disney: Is it about contents, distribution, or branding? (IP finance)

US General – Decisions

PepsiCo’s $1.2 billion court no-show in trade secrets misappropriation case brought in connection with AquaFina bottled water (IPKat)

Adequately indentifying trade secrets in California trade secret misappropriation litigation: Brescia v Angelin (JIPLP)

US Patent Reform

Patent ‘reform’ may happen this year, after all (Patent Docs)

US Patents

Study conducted by Stuart J H Graham and Dietmar Harhoff concludes US would benefit from EPO-style opposition (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog) (IAM)

Slowing down RCEs and lengthening the patent term (Patently-O)

Tracking the use of continuations – working paper by Mark Lemley and Bhaven Sampat (Patently-O)

Federal Circuit proposes changes to rules of practice (Patently-O)

Supreme Court clustering of patent cases (Patently-O)

Stays pending re-examination (Patently-O)

Patent officials: ‘worst is yet to come’ (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog)

Summary of local patent rules affecting claim construction practice (Part 6 of 6) (Gray on Claims)

USPTO looks to reduce “stress” of data delivery, seeks high volume dissemination for future (271 Patent Blog)

Michael Jackson’s antigravity step secret is out (ipmINDs)

US Patents – Decisions

CAFC: Does a reference’s priority claim to a provisional application alter its 102(e) prior art date?: In re Giacomini (Patently-O)

District Court Delaware imposes limit of ten disputed terms for claim construction in future cases: Grape Tech. Group, Inc v Jungle Networks, Inc (Gray on Claims)

BPAI holds term indefinite and summarizes reasoning behind broadest reasonable interpretation rule: Ex parte Senju Metal Industry Co (Gray on Claims)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Amkor Technology – ITC issues supplemental initial determination finding non-invalidity under 35 USC §§ 102(g) and 103(a) of certain asserted patent claims in investigation concerning Carsem’s importation and sale of encapsulated integrated circuit devices (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Fed Ex Trade Networks - ITC issues seizure and forfeiture order against Fed Ex Trade Network in certain television products (337-TA-617) (ITC Law Blog)

General Electric – ITC issues public version of initial determination in wind turbines investigation finding s 337 violation by Mitsubishi in respect of two patents (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Murata Manufacturing – ITC institutes investigation based on Murata’s complaint against Samsung alleging importation and sale of patent infringing ceramic capacitators (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Toyota – ITC opens investigation into imported Toyota hybrids based on Paice’s allegations of patent infringement (Green Patent Blog)

US Copyright – Decisions

5^th Circuit interprets ambiguous contract to find assignor has standing to sue for copyright infringement: In re Isbell Records, Inc (Property, intangible)

US Copyright – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Associated Press – Shepard Fairey admits evidence destruction and fabrication in battle over Obama ‘Hope’ poster (IP Osgoode)

US Trademarks

TTAB Chief Judge J David Sams to step down November 1^st (TTABlog)

US Trade Marks – Decisions

District Court N D Illinois: Trademark claims surrounding unjust enrichment not entitled to trial by jury; parties settle trademark dispute on eve of trial: SPSS Inc v Nie (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog) (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog)

District Court N D Illinois: Chicago 2016 is a trademark, but not all city-plus-Olympic-year marks are: Frayne v Chicago 2016 (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog)

TTAB precedential no 42: TTAB denies fraud summary judgment motion due to inadequate pleading of claim: Asian and Western Classics BV v Lynne Selkow (TTABlog)

TTAB precedential no 43: TTAB enters partial summary judgment in 2(d) VUDU opposition: Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP v Vudu Inc (TTABlog)

TTAB reverses RADIUS 2(d) refusal, PTO read registrant’s services too broadly: In re Radius Health, Inc (not precedential) (TTABlog)

US Trade Marks – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Alcesia – ITC denies Alcesia’s request for reconsideration in investigation based on complaint of Philip Morris concerning cigarette packaging (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Aloha Medicinals – Aloha sues Birkdale over apparent relabeling of products (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

CityCenter Land – CityCenter seeks declaratory judgment that its proposed use of the name PAPILLON for high-end retail store does not infringe trade mark rights of Papillon Airways (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

Price Products – Owner of DRIPSTIK ice cream holder sues for trade mark and trade dress infringement over knockoff product sold under name FUN STIK: Price Products v Juvenile Solutions (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

Mellow Beverage Co – MBC, which sells a ‘relaxation’ beverage under the unregistered trademark MELLOW (trade mark applications pending) files trade mark infringement suit against Shannon N Nounna over similar beverage sold under the same name (trademark application pending) (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

Rolex Watch USA – Rolex sues Angelika Ryska and Robert Mayer over their sale of ‘replica’ Rolex watches (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

Online Global Week in Review 30 Oct 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:50:15 -0400

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Online intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

UK to introduce three strikes policy (Michael Geist) (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

Prepare for disconnection! French ‘3 strikes’ law now legal (Ars Technica) (IP Watch)

Chinese authors condemn Google book deal (Managing Intellectual Property) (China Blawg) (China Hearsay)

Global

Global - General

Happy 40^th birthday internet (Securing Innovation)

Global - Copyright

Anti-piracy laws and lawsuits fail to change social norms (TorrentFreak)

Discussion of Alan Kaufman’s ‘The Electronic Book Burning’ (1709 Copyright Blog)

Paranoid Android- sharp divide between the approach of old media and new media to copyright and content (1709 Copyright Blog)

Global access to OER – A report by UNESCO (Creative Commons)

Building out legal permissions on the semantic web (opencontentlawyer.com)

The clash between copyright holders and personal data (1709 Copyright Blog)

Global - Trade Marks & Domain Names

Adwords and trademark law (SPICY IP)

Domain names: a UDRP epiphany – UDRP has been misunderstood for ten years after two recent decisions WIPO – mummygold.com and octogen.com (JIPLP)

ICANN meeting – draft applicant guidebook for new TLDs - initial process to be kicked two years into the future (Trademark Blog)

Canada

Copyright consultation submissions: Canadian musicians vs Canadian recording industry spokesperson (Michael Geist)

Study finds Canadian C-61 anti-circumvention provisions unconstitutional (Michael Geist)

Business method patents – debate continues (IPblog)

China

Chinese authors condemn Google book deal (Managing Intellectual Property) (China Blawg) (China Hearsay)

Games on iPhone are 50-90 percent pirated (IP Dragon)

Denmark

RIAA Anti-piracy partner clueless about BitTorrent (TorrentFreak)

Europe

It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to: Pirate Party (JIPLP)

3-strikes for Pirates makes European comeback tour (TorrentFreak)

European Commission paper on single market for creative content (IP Watch)

OHIM now using Twitter and YouTube (Class 46)

France

Prepare for disconnection! French ‘3 strikes’ law now legal (Ars Technica) (IP Watch)

Germany

Denic softens its registration rules (IPKat)

Sweden

Pirate Bay founders banned from running the site (TorrentFreak)

Fresh Pirate Bay purchase attempt by four potential buyers (TorrentFreak)

United Kingdom

ISP threatens legal action against UK over anti-piracy plans (TorrentFreak)

UK to introduce three strikes policy (Michael Geist) (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

United States

US General

Facebook for scientists gets millions in funding – social network for scientists and researchers (Technology Transfer Tactics)

US Patents

Patenting the virtual world: Webkinz (12:01 Tuesday)

US Patents – Decisions

ITC decides to review and affirm initial determination in investigation concerning 3G mobile handsets involving InterDigital (complainant) and Nokia (respondent) (ITC 337 Law Blog)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Apple – Nokia asserts 10 patents against Apple relating to iPhone (IPKat) (Tangible IP) (IAM)

Memorylink – Memorylink gets to fight another day in patent inventorship dispute Memorylink Corp v Motorola Inc (Property, intangible)

Sandisk – ITC throws out Sandisk’s attempts to prevent imports of flash memory into the US (The IP Factor)

SiRF Technology - Federal Circuit to hear oral argument in SiRF Technology appeal against ITC decision on November 4 (ITC Law Blog)

US Copyright

Prepaid providers seek to put locks on your phone and their hands in your pocket (EFF)

‘Hall of Shame’ calls out bogus internet censorship (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

Sony CEO pleads poverty but the movie industry is loaded (TorrentFreak)

Oh Hollywood: Netflix profit leaching and longer movie rental delays (Public Knowledge)

US Copyright – Decisions

District Court S D New York: Summary judgment in favour of Verizon on ringtone royalty case (IPKat)

US Copyright – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Texas Instruments – TI still issuing DMCA takedown letters over online discussions about techniques to get more functionality from TI calculators (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

US Chamber of Commerce – US Chamber of Commerce issues DMCA takedown notice against ‘parody’ website (IP Watch) (Public Knowledge)

US Trade Marks – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Google – Soaring Helmet voluntarily dismisses Google from AdWord trade mark lawsuit against Bill Me (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

Google – Daniel Jurin finds new attorney and files new AdWords complaint against Google (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

Google – Court tosses false endorsement and conspiracy claims but remainder of Rosetta Stone’s case against Google over AdWords remains in tact (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

Google – Google’s voluntary dismissal of declaratory judgment action fails to affect venue (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

Intellectual capital management - are you riding the wave? IP Think Tank Podcast 22 Oct 2009

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:45:58 -0400

Welcome to the IP Think Tank podcast for Thursday 22nd October 2009. In this week's call, regular panellists Jeremy Phillips and Duncan Bucknell are joined by Mary Adams to discuss intellectual capital management, some fundamentals, it's role and some recent developments.

We hope you enjoy this week's show, and as always, we look forward to your comments and feedback.

Links:

People

Jeremy Phillips - http://www.jeremyphillips.eu; http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/

Mary Adams - http://www.i-capitaladvisors.com/

Pharma & Biotech Global Week in Review 28 Oct 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:15:58 -0400

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Pharma & Biotech intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

US: Senate Judiciary Committee passes amended Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act (S.396) banning pay-for-delay settlements (Patent Baristas)

Vigamox (Moxifloxacin) – US: District Court S D New York finds Teva infringed Alcon’s patent covering Vigamox (Patent Docs) (IP Factor)

Alphagan (Brimonidine) – US: District Court Delaware rules that proposed products by Apotex and Exela infringe Allergan’s asserted patent claims (Patent Docs) (SmartBrief) (GenericsWeb)

General

Disagreements remain in WHO talks on virus-sharing after Chan proposal (IP Watch)

Billable hour is dying: Pfizer sets another nail into the coffin (BLOG@IP::JUR)

Advocates warn against ‘monsantosizing’ of global food sources (IP Watch)

Brazil, India to take EU to court in generics row(GenericsWeb)

EU: Synaptech for ECJ reference: to join with Synthon v Merz? (The SPC Blog)

EU: European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations unveils anti-counterfeit authentication system (IP Watch)

US: Time Magazine on data exclusivity debate (Patent Docs)

US: BIO’s IPCC Conference: Behind the scenes look at patent cases – Mayo v Prometheus; Bilski v Doll; Laboratory Court of Am. Holdings v Metabolite Labs (Patent Baristas)

US: BIO’s IPCC Conference: Patent re-examination in the life sciences (Patent Baristas)

US: Senate Judiciary Committee passes amended Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act (S.396) banning pay-for-delay settlements (Patent Baristas)

US: TTOs wary of new recommendations from Task Force on IP and Genetic Testing that could weaken patent protection for genetic research (Technology Transfer Tactics)

US: Empirical research fails to support gene patenting ban (Patent Docs)

US: Banyu Pharmaceutical files suit seeking review and correction of patent term adjustment calculation for patent covering ‘fused ring 4-oxypyrimidine derivative’ (Patent Docs)

US: Rockefeller University files suit seeking review and correction of patent term adjustment for patent covering ‘methods of detecting, measuring and evaluating modulators of body weight in biological samples and diagnostic, monitoring and therapeutic uses thereof’ (Patent Docs)

US: Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique files suit seeking review and correction of patent term adjustment calculation in respect of patent covering ‘method for producing oligopolysaccharides’ (Patent Docs)

US: Gen-Probe asserts 8 patents against Becton Dickinson over its manufacture and sale of its ‘Viper’, ‘Viper with XTR Technology’ and ‘ProbeTec’ products (Patent Docs)

Products

Alphagan (Brimonidine) – US: District Court Delaware rules that proposed products by Apotex and Exela infringe Allergan’s asserted patent claims (Patent Docs) (SmartBrief) (GenericsWeb)

Angiomax (Bivalirudin) – US: The Medicines Company continues lobbying push for Angiomax patent term extension legislative fix; latest iteration of the “Dog ate my homework act” maintains $65 million late fee (FDA Law Blog)

Caduet (Atorvastatin) - US: Sandoz files suit seeking declaratory judgment of invalidity and non-infringement of Pfizer’s patents based on Sandoz’ filing of an ANDA to manufacture generic Caduet (Patent Docs)

Circumvent, Porcilis, CircoFlex (Porcine circovirus vaccines) – US: Wyeth files patent infringement suit against Intervet, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica based on their manufacture and sale of Circumvent, Porcilis and CircoFlex (Patent Docs)

Copaxone (Glatiramer) – US: Teva files patent infringement suit against Mylan and Natco following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Famvir (Famciclovir) – US: Teva loses bid to have Novartis’ patent infringement suit dismissed for lack of standing (Patent Docs)

Lexapro (Escitalopram) – US: Infosint awarded $15M as reasonable royalties in patent dispute with Lundbeck and Forest over patent covering Lexapro (Patent Docs)

Lipitor (Atorvastatin) – Philippines: Pfizer files patent infringement suit against United Laboratories over generic Lipitor (GenericsWeb)

Luvox (Fluvoxamine) – US: Elan files patent infringement suit against Anchen following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Namenda (Memantine) – US: Court signs off on stipulation and order resolving patent dispute between Sun India and Forest (Patent Docs) (GenericsWeb)

OxyContin (Oxycodone) – US: Purdue files patent infringement suit against Ranbaxy in response to its Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Taxotere (Docetaxel) – Canada: Non-jury trial begins for case in which Sanofi-Aventis unit accuses Hospira and Apotex of infringing Taxotere patents (GenericsWeb)

Toltrazuril (Traizine-based anti-coccidial) – US: Bayer Healthcare files patent infringement suit against Wedgewood Village Pharmacy over its manufacture and sale of its Toltrazuril product (Patent Docs)

Vigamox (Moxifloxacin) – US: District Court S D New York finds Teva infringed Alcon’s patent covering Vigamox (Patent Docs) (IP Factor)

Vyvanse (Lisdexamfetamine) – US: FDA determines Vyvanse was properly granted five-year market exclusivity (GenericsWeb)

Xeloda (Capecitabine) – US: Hoffmann-La Roche files patent infringement suit against Teva following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Yasmin (Drospirenone, Ethinyl estradiol) –US: Bayer loses bid to have CAFC overturn ruling patent invalidity in battle with Teva (GenericsWeb)

General Global Week in Review 26 Oct 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:25:32 -0400

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

New USPTO procedures likely to delay action in requests for continued examination of patent applications (IP Spotlight) (Patently-O) (Inventive Step)

12 Republican Senators send letter to Senate Majority Leader re concerns about post-grant review provisions in S.515 (Inventive Step) (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog)

Questions on acquiescence for ECJ in Budejovicky Budvar Narodni Podnik v Anheuser-Busch Inc (Class 46) (IPKat)

Global

Global - General

Should entrepreneurs care about IP and should IP Offices help them - IP Think Tank podcast, 8 October 2009 (IP Think Tank)

ACTA remains closed: The difference between inclusion and transparency (Public Knowledge)

Can one contract around a trade secret? (IP finance) (IP finance)

Why licensing negotiations fail (Innovationpartners)

Global - Patents

Patent reality check: Litigation not a viable revenue source for most inventors (IP Asset Maximizer Blog)

Dow and Fuji Xerox join Eco-Patent Commons; scheme needs more commitment if it is ever to be a success (Managing IP) (IAM)

The coming explosion of the patent monetization market: Brought to you by Open Innovation and what needs to happen in order to speed up the process (IP Asset Maximizer Blog)

Researchers to unlock codes for open source green energy (Patent Lens)

Perpetual protection of traditional knowledge ‘not on table’ at WIPO (IP Watch)

Global - Copyright

Paranoid Android- sharp divide between the approach of old media and new media to copyright and content (1709 Copyright Blog)

Copyright and A2K: a useful list (1709 Copyright Blog)

Africa

Patent literature and innovation in Africa (Patent Lens) (IP Watch)

Asia

Association of East Asian Nations – China: IPR cooperation and standard MOUs (IP Dragon)

Australia

Australian Federal Court finds claim is a mere collection of elements in light of claim construction: Smith & Nephew Pty Ltd v Wake Forest University Health Sciences (GRAY On Claims)

Mischa Accessories opposes Mischa Barton’s application to register her own name for goods including handbags (IPKat)

Brazil

Rio 2016: First English translation of the new law (IP tango)

Canada

Towards a parody consensus – push and pull of copyright reform (Excess Copyright)

Departing executives owe continuing fiduciary duty to former employer not to use confidential information or poach business opportunities: Gastops v MxI (ipblog.ca)

Ontario government to cover retroactive Access Copyright bills (Michael Geist)

Chile

Telefonica Chile to operate under trade mark Movistar (IP tango)

China

US-China Economic and Security Review Commission report to Congress: From visible IPR infringements to undetectable cyber espionage (IP Dragon)

IPR/espionage ping-pong case: Fiat sues Great Wall, Great Wall sues Fiat (IP Dragon) (China Hearsay)

IPR challenges in Geely-Ford talks about Volvo (IP Dragon) (China Hearsay)

Massive Chinese copyright trade at Frankfurt Book Fair (IP Dragon)

Russia to China: Kalashnikov assault rifle copyright should be protected (IP Dragon) (The IP Factor)

China trademark law. It’s all good – discussion of World Trademark Review article ‘Research reveals increased US confidence in China’s rights enforcement regime’ (China Law Blog)

Administrative patent proceedings within the Chinese government (Maier & Maier)

Chinese counterfeit integrated circuits sold to US Navy. How to identify them? (IP Dragon)

Colombia

Legal victory for Coca Cola over trade mark (IP tango)

Denmark

Danish Supreme Court affirms decision forcing food stall operator using ORIENTEXPRESSEN to change her trade mark (Class 46)

Europe

Questions on acquiescence for ECJ in Budejovicky Budvar Narodni Podnik v Anheuser-Busch Inc (Class 46) (IPKat)

EWHC questions referred to ECJ in L'Oréal SA v eBay now available on Curia (Class 46)

Disruptive innovations: aspects of German and European woes (BLOG@IP::JUR)

Another brick in the wall? - Alicante News reports on registered Community design invalidation case ICD 5353 (Class 99)

FORD scores at Spanish CTM Court (Class 46)

Ravioli and beans get GI status (Class 46)

Finland

Lappish beer migrating south – Lapin Kulta (Class 46)

France

SFR loses right to French trade mark Texto (Class 46)

Court of Cologne upholds preliminary action lodged by Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Regganio and grants seizure of Argentinian ‘parmesano’ and ‘reggianito’ cheese at the international Anuga food and beverage trade fair (Class 46)

Germany

Is this a setback for NPEs thinking about moving into Germany? (IAM)

Jack Wolfskin gets some heat in Germany over its aggressive enforcement of trade mark rights in its ‘paw’ sign (Class 46)

India

Patenting landscape in India (Patent Baristas) (India Patents)

Patent application filing (graphs) (ipmINDs)

India’s pre-grant patent oppositions – a true remedy? (IP Osgoode)

Changing trends in grant of temporary injunctions in IP cases (Spicy IP)

Ireland

Irish make IP-friendly amendments to Finance Act (IP finance)

Israel

Israel Supreme Court allows generic Apropo snack (IP Factor)

Does a mark give rights to an opposite word by association? SMALL TALK vs BIG TALK (The IP Factor)

Serbia

Serbia joins Hague Agreement on International Designs (Class 99)

South Africa

Bad faith and bona fide intentions (Afro-IP)

Switzerland

No sweet success for Wander against Dr Oetker in trade dress dispute over caramel puddings (Class 46)

United Kingdom

EWHC: Committal for contempt not fit for ‘grey area’ disputes: Grisbrook v MGN Ltd & Ors (IPKat) (PatLit)

EWCA: Skilled reader ‘taken to know patent law’; patent valid and infringed; design right issue not raised in appeal: Virgin Atlantic v Premium Aircraft Interiors due Thursday 22 Oct(IPKat) (Class 99) (Class 99)

Sex Pistols threaten boutique ice-cream maker Icecreamists with actions for passing off and trade mark and copyright infringement over their ‘God Save the Cream’ slogan (IPKat)

Hundred years war or merely thirty? Goalless draws and penalty shoot-outs - Budejovicky Budvar Narodni Podnik v Anheuser-Busch Inc (IPKat)

PPL’s efforts to secure via Copyright Tribunal appropriate licence fees from bars, cafes, shops and offices frustrated by Tribunal’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ fee ruling (1709 Copyright Blog)

Charity chips and dodgy patent claims – ActionAid’s unsuccessful patent application (IPKat)

United States

US General

USPTO schedules roundtable discussion on worksharing (Patent Docs)

US General – Decisions

First Circuit takes novel view of attorney work product privilege: United States v Textron Inc (Patent Docs)

US Patent Reform

12 Republican Senators send letter to Senate Majority Leader re concerns about post-grant review provisions in S.515 (Inventive Step) (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog)

Hewlett Packard pulls out of patent reform group Coalition for Patent Fairness, according to reports (IAM)

US Patents

New USPTO procedures likely to delay action in requests for continued examination of patent applications (IP Spotlight) (Patently-O) (Inventive Step)

USPTO expands and ‘enhances’ first action interview pilot program (I/P Updates)

Arti Rai appears to be on her way to becoming UPSTO’s next Administrator for External Affairs (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog)

Federal Circuit may offer patent, tech policy guidance for High Court (IP Watch) (PatLit)

Second pair of eyes review – is the wicked witch really dead? (Patents4Life)

Role of Washington DC District Court in patent cases (Patently-O)

Did you know... the prevailing party in a section 337 investigation is not automatically a party on appeal at the Federal Circuit? (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Revealed! How much money a ‘patent troll’ makes (The Prior Art)

Hospital TTO takes a different path to commercialisation with private sale of IP (Technology Transfer Tactics)

US Patents – Decisions

CAFC: Attendance at single trade show to display infringing product sufficient for personal jurisdiction: Synthes (U.S.A.) v G.M. Dos Reis Jr. Ind. Com. de Equip. Medico (Filewrapper)

BPAI finds claim indefinite and not directed to patentable subject under Bilski: Ex parte Hemmat (GRAY On Claims)

District Court N D Illinois: KSR obviousness does not require prior art from the same field: Se-Kure Controls, Inc v Diam USA, Inc (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog)

District Court E D Texas finds plaintiff has standing; agreement transfers ownership and simultaneously a conditional purchase by transferor from transferee: Balsam Coffee Solutions Inc v Folgers Coffee Co (Property intangible) (Property intangible)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Amsted – Initial determination of s 337 violation by respondents Standard Car Truck Co and others in investigation concerning cast steel railway wheels (ITC 337 Law Blog)

General Electric – Public version of recommended determination on remedy and bonding in investigation concerning variable speed wind turbines brought by General Electric against Mitsubishi (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Hewlett Packard – ITC to investigate importation and sale of inkjet supplies in response to complaint by HP against numerous respondents including Zhuhai Gree Magneto-Electric, InkPlusToner.com, Mipo International and others (ITC 337 Law Blog)

MEI – It’s alive! Or on life support, at least - MEI v JCM American Corp stayed pending outcome of Mars v Coin Acceptors (Property, intangible)

O2 Micro – ITC judge grants in part O2’s motion for summary determination of importation by ASUSTeK in investigation concerning cold cathode fluorescent lamp inverter circuits (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Ricoh – ITC institutes investigation concerning printing and imaging devices against Oki Data (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Safe Skies – ITC institutes investigation regarding dual access locks following complaint by Safe Skies against numerous respondents including C&C Luggage, Formosa Tai Rank Industrial and others (ITC 337 Law Blog)

US Army – US Army’s purchase of three pre-expired patents (12:01 Tuesday) (12:01 Tuesday)

Qimonda – Initial determination of no s 337 violation by respondents LSI, Seagate in investigation concerning semiconductor integrated circuits (ITC 337 Law Blog)

US Copyright

Denying DVD consumers what they want – LA Times discusses initiatives by some studios to perpetuate in DVD rental market classic tiered release schedule for movies (Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars)

US Copyright – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Rock Art – Rock Art uses social media campaign to fend off copyright challenge by Monster (IP ADR Blog)

US Trademarks

David Kappos comments on fraud and other trademark issues (TTABlog)

Thoughts from the TTABlog: Fraud in the post-Bose era (TTABlog)

Stephen Feingold on ‘Why you should think twice before accepting a 2(f) registration’ (TTABlog)

US Trade Marks – Decisions

District Court N D Illinois: Owner can be personally liable for corporate trademark infringement: More Cupcakes, LLC v Lovemore, LLC (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog)

District Court M D Florida: Logo designer loses (and should have): FSC Franchise v Express Corporate Apparel (Property, intangible) (Property, intangible)

Ninth Circuit affirms injunction against nutritional supplement seller in trademark and trade dress infringement case: CytoSport v Vital Pharmaceuticals (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

District Court Oregon declines to adopt Magistrate’s decision as inconsistent: Adidas America v Calmese (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

District Court E D California finds ex parte temporary restraining order not justified in trade dress case: Ruiz Food Products v Camino Real Foods (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

TTAB precedential no 41: Applicant loses third party registration battle, TTAB finds floor tiles and roof tiles related: In re G.B.I. Tile and Stone, Inc (TTABlog)

TTAB reverses Board’s s 2(d) refusal: TRINITY & Des vs TRINITY CLASSIC & Des: In re Trinity Episcopal Church of Baton Rouge (not precedential) (TTABlog)

US Trade Marks – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Green Building Initiative – GBI sues Green Globe International over use of GREEN GLOBE mark (Green Patent Blog)

North Face – Parody defense to trade mark infringement: North Face vs South Butt (The IP Law Blog)

World Wrestling Entertainment - WWE oppose Philadelphia Wine School’s attempt to register ‘Sommelier Smackdown’ for food and wine event (IPKat)

Online Global Week in Review 23 October 2009 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:11:36 -0400

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Online intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

Google book digitisation prompts EU to rethink copyright – EC communication on ‘Copyright in the Knowledge Economy’ (Ars Technica) (IP Watch) (Managing IP)

China Written Works Copyright Society objects to Google settlement (IP Dragon) (China Hearsay)

French Conseil Constitutionnel rules country’s new and improved internet disconnection law is now legal (Ars Technica)

UK All Party Parliamentary Communications Group oppose three-strikes internet plan (Managing IP) (Michael Geist) (TorrentFreak)

Misuse of a patent pool: En banc Federal Circuit to decide whether CD-R/RW patentees improperly sequestered alternative technologies: Princo Corp v ITC (Patently-O) (Filewrapper)

Global

Global – General

The GPL and you. Don’t be confused. (IP Think Tank)

Get ready for the real time web (BlawgIT)

Global - Copyright

New gTLDS: ICANN’s proposal to protect trade mark owners rights: make noise before 22 November 2009 (Class 46)

CC licensed photos and the International Olympic Committee (Creative Commons)

Brazil

Rio 2016: broadcasting rights were sold months ago (IP tango)

Canada

A real Canadian copyright debate (Excess Copyright)

Licence agreements and ownerships: second hand sales of software (IP Osgoode)

Canadian Universities too closed minded on open access (Michael Geist)

Chile

Google facing court battle on copyright over failure to remove infringing material from YouTube (IP tango)

China

China Written Works Copyright Society objects to Google settlement (IP Dragon) (China Hearsay)

Tomatolei.com copyright infringement case: four sentenced to imprisonment (Business Software Alliance)

P2P file share and internet tv’s – winning buyers in China despite piracy concerns (China Hearsay)

Europe

Google book digitisation prompts EU to rethink copyright – EC communication on ‘Copyright in the Knowledge Economy’ (Ars Technica) (IP Watch) (Managing IP)

EU: simpler music licensing in sight? – Joint statement from the Online Commerce Roundtable participants on ‘Gerneral principles for the online distribution of music’ (1709 Copyright Blog)

Enforcement of rights on the internet in Belarus and Ukraine (Class 46)

Nokia sues Apple, says iPhone infringes patents (Ars Technica)

France

Conseil Constitutionnel rules country’s new and improved internet disconnection law is now legal (Ars Technica)

Japan

Winny developer acquitted - Japanese Court quashes conviction over file-sharing software (Lenz Blog)

Netherland

Court orders The Pirate Bay to delete torrents (TorrentFreak)

Qatar

Al Jazeera blogs go CC (Creative Commons)

Spain

Anti-piracy group aims for huge Bit Torrent site purge (TorrentFreak)

The government is giving some thoughts on online IP infringement (Class 46)

Sweden

Pirate Bay takes bias claim to Supreme Court (TorrentFreak)

Pirate Bay appeal postponed til Summer 2010 (TorrentFreak)

United Kingdom

Commissioning Editor for Education at Channel 4 set to drop a file-sharing bomb on digital Britain (TorrentFreak)

70% of British public oppose disconnecting file-sharers (TorrentFreak)

UK All Party Parliamentary Communications Group oppose three-strikes internet plan (Managing IP) (Michael Geist) (TorrentFreak)

ISP filches open WiFi in fight against three-strikes law (Ars Technica)

Proposed anti-piracy legislation is flawed, ISP TalkTalk says (TorrentFreak)

Leading UK cinema implements MPAA laptop ban (TorrentFreak)

Copyright threats against compulsive singer withdrawn (TorrentFreak)

United States

US General

White House shares the ACTA internet text with 42 Washington insiders, under non-disclosure agreements (KEI)

News is not the issue, advertising is – News industry woes (Singularity Law)

US General – Lawsuits and strategic steps

District Court C D California: Domain names as property subject to creditor claims: Bosh v Zavala (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

US Patents

Academics debate patent “exhaustion doctrine” - Quanta Computer Inc v LG Electronics Inc (IP Watch)

US Patents – Decisions

District Court N D Illinois: Whether software operates in one or three modes is a question of fact: Rosenthal Collins Group, LLC v Trading Techs. Int’l, Inc (Chicago Intellectual Property Law Blog)

District Court E D Kentucky: Was this award for counsel fees ‘exceptional’ or less?: iLor v Google (ISinIP)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Princo - Misuse of a patent pool: En banc Federal Circuit to decide whether CD-R/RW patentees improperly sequestered alternative technologies: Princo Corp v ITC (Patently-O) (Filewrapper)

US Copyright

Radio ‘pay to play’ law ready for vote in House, Senate (Ars Technica)

US Copyright – Decisions

District Court N D California decision in Louis Vuitton Malletier SA v Arkanoc Solutions, Inc et al – ISPs not just tubes (IP Osgoode)

US Copyright – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Chamber of Commerce – Chamber of Commerce takes aim at Yes Men – tries to take down parody site after embarrassing prank (EFF)

Facebook – Power.com’s motion to dismiss denied in battle over whether Power.com can allow its users to access user data on Facebook’s network (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

Google – EFF urges court to ensure fairness in Google Book Search settlement amendment process (EFF)

US Trade Marks – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Texas International Property Associates - Nevada District Court dismisses some of Texas domainer’s counterclaims against World Market Centre (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

Should entrepreneurs care about IP and should IP Offices help them?

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:32:41 -0400

Welcome to the IP Think Tank podcast for Thursday 8th October 2009. In this week's call, regular panellists Jeremy Phillips and Duncan Bucknell are joined by Barbara Cookson to discuss:

entrepreneurs and IP;
are brands really that important to smaller entities and entrepreneurs?;
recent changes made at the UK IPO to assist smaller entities; and
'mosaicing' in patent cases.

We hope you enjoy this week's show, and as always, we look forward to your comments and feedback.

Links:

People

Jeremy Phillips - http://www.jeremyphillips.eu; http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/

Barbara Cookson - http://www.filemot.com/

Other

Entrepreneur site - www.thefunded.com

Woolworths twitter feed - http://twitter.com/#search?q=woolworths

Wellworths twitter feed - http://twitter.com/#search?q=wellworths

School for Startups - http://www.schoolforstartups.co.uk

Pharma & Biotech Global Week in Review 21 October 2009 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:13:30 -0400

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Pharma & Biotech intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

US: Senate Judiciary Committee passes bill against “pay for delay” drug settlements (Prior Art) (Patently-O) (Patent Docs)

Valcyte (Valganciclovir) – US: District Court New Jersey finds Roche’s Valcyte patent valid and not infringed by Ranbaxy (Patent Docs) (GenericsWeb)

General

Médecins Sans Frontiéres calls on drug companies to pool HIV patents (Patent Docs) (IP Osgoode)

Medicines for Rwanda but what about the “drug miles”? (Afro-IP)

200,000 die annually because of fake malaria medicine – Smithsonian article ‘The Fatal Consequences of Counterfeit Drugs’ (Innovationpartners)

‘Translational medicine’ (IPKat)

Brazil: Brazilian Ministry of Health calls for partnerships between public laboratories and private companies (IP tango)

Brazil: Rio 2016 – who will pay and how? – response to IAM article suggesting pharmaceutical companies will subsidise Rio 2016 (IP tango)

EU: India, Brazil to file WTO complaint against the EU over ‘seizures’ of pharma drug consignments (Spicy IP)

US: PhRMA supports follow-on biologics regulatory pathway providing 12 years of data exclusivity (Patent Docs)

US: Senators Orrin Hatch, Barbara Mikulski, Michael Enzi and Kay Hagan write in support of 12-year data exclusivity period (Patent Docs)

US: New England Journal of Medicine say five years of data exclusivity would be sufficient (Patent Docs)

US: Maybe Hatch-Waxman data exclusivity isn’t so good for traditional drugs after all (Patent Docs)

US: Senators introduce access to affordable medicines act to close labelling change “loophole”; Companion Bill to Senate Drug Price Competition Act of 2009 - Introduced in House (FDA Law Blog)

US: Senate Judiciary Committee passes bill against “pay for delay” drug settlements (Prior Art) (Patently-O) (Patent Docs)

US: Dr Tafas files reply to USPTO/GSK motion to dismiss appeal and vacate district Court judgment – Tafas v Kappos (Patent Docs)

US: Chugai Seiyaku Kabushiki Kaisha files suit seeking review and correction of patent term adjustment calculation (Patent Docs)

US: Be all you can’t be: Army patent ambushed by friendly fire (12:01 Tuesday)

US: Patentable subject matter: Federal Circuit upholds patentability of drug dosage method claim – Prometheus Labs v Mayo Clinic (Patently-O) (Patently-O)

US: Declaratory Judgment standing – must all patent owners be joined? In re KGK Synergize (non precedential) (Patently-O)

US: Myriad sticks to its business model despite legal action brought by PUBPAT and others: Association for Molecular Pathology v USPTO (Patent Docs)

US: Amazing race: Win $250,000 for commercialising biomedical research (Patent Baristas)

US: BIO survey on technology transfer shows complexity of university-industry relationships (PatentBIOtech)

Products

Adderall (Dextroamphetamine, Amphetamine) – US: Shire announces settlement with Sandoz over Adderall (Patent Docs) (GenericsWeb)

Allegra (Fexofenadine) – US: Aventis files patent infringement suit against Sun Pharmaceuticals following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Angiomax (Bivalirudin) – Medicines Co files patent infringement suits against Teva and AAP following Para IV certification as part of Teva’s ANDA to manufacture generic Angiomax (Patent Docs)

Atripla, Truvada (Tenofovir, Emcitrabine) - US: Teva files counterclaims of patent invalidity in Gilead suit – Gilead Sciences Inc v Teva Pharmaceuticals (Patent Docs)

Copaxone (Glatiramer acetate) – US: Teva files patent infringement suit against Mylan in response to Para IV filing (PatLit) (SmartBrief) (IP Factor)

Cozaar (Losartan) – Denmark: Losartan and Caspofungin granted paediatric extensions (The SPC blog)

Duac (Clindamycin, Benzoyl peroxide) – US: Perrigo announces dismissal with prejudice of Hatch-Waxman litigation relating to Duac filed by Stiefel (GenericsWeb)

Efudex (Fluorouracil) – US: FDA racks up another win in bioequivalence litigation; this time over generic Efudex (FDA Law Blog)

Evista (Raloxifene), Xigris (Drotrecogin alfa) – US: Amici briefs in Ariad v Lilly (Holman's Biotech IP Blog) (Patently-O)

Fabrazyme (Agalsidase beta) – US: Shelbyzyme files patent infringement suit against Genzyme over manufacture and sale of Fabrazyme(Patent Docs)

Gemzar (Gemcitabine) – US: Eli Lilly files patent infringement suit against Sandoz following Para IV challenge(Patent Docs)

Rogaine (Minoxidil) – US: Steifel files patent infringement suit against Perrigo following Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Valcyte (Valganciclovir) – US: District Court New Jersey finds Roche’s Valcyte patent valid and not infringed by Ranbaxy (Patent Docs) (GenericsWeb)

Vfend (Voriconazole) - US: Pfizer announces settlement and license agreement with Mylan related to Vfend (SmartBrief) (SmartBrief)

The GPL and you. Dont be confused

ben@duncanbucknell.com (Ben Lehman)) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0400

The blogosphere has picked up on a recent presentation on the open source GNU General Public License called “Unravelling the Complexities of the GPL” (here). I think they finish up on the right point, but do people really still think that there are still complexities to unravel?

1. The GPL isn’t magic

Even after twenty years, the GPL still seems to have a certain magical aura and in part that has been the reason for its success. But reality is that the GPL is much more mundane than has been made out. It’s just a private contract between two parties ... or is it?

Perhaps the most interesting and still debated technical point is whether the GPL is a bare "licence" or a "contract", and that’s really a point of interpretation based on the jurisdiction. In summary, if the GPL is enforcing obligations over and above what is governed by copyright, it’s a contract. If it’s just providing a permission to do something, it’s a licence. Breach of a licence would be a copyright infringement issue. Breach of a contract is a contractual issue. So it depends, and in some countries it just doesn’t matter.

2. The GPL needs copyright

Regardless of whether the GPL is a licence or contract, it relies on copyright.

This point is often missed and is fundamental the GPL. If I own copyright in some software, I own the exclusive right to permit reproduction of that software (and in most countries, some sort of distribution right). If I own the exclusive right to permit reproduction, I can dictate the terms on which that reproduction is made. In this case, I make those terms the terms of the GPL.

If we didn’t have copyright, you could just reproduce the software without my consent and without agreeing to my choice of terms. (Obviously I could just keep the code secret as a practical step, but open source isn’t really about confidential information). So copyright, open source and the GPL are actually best friends, not enemies.

3. The GPL isn’t a model document (for something designed to be used globally)

Now I’m not saying it’s a bad document, but if there are any complexities from the GPL, they come from within itself. At least in earlier versions it was very US centric, non-legalistic (when some terms of art were required) and inconsistent. Much of this has been improved in the recent version, but there remains issues in using the one document in different legal systems all around the world (such as what is meant by “distribution”).

None of that means open source is a poor business model or the GPL is ineffective at achieving what it’s designed to achieve. It just means that relying on a strict legal interpretation of the terms is more difficult.

4. The GPL has a strong following of enthusiastic supporters

For me, this is the key point. Ignoring all the legalities and issues, there’s a community understanding of what the GPL “should be”, not necessarily what it is. At very least as a public relations issue, working against that community spirit is a disaster. There are many examples of non-litigious “enforcement” of the GPL through community pressure. And rightly so, after all it’s the community that has often done the heavy lifting in development. As a consequence though, something more often enforced through community pressure than litigation means the legal issues raised are somewhat academic.

Even the current version of the GPL has issues, including issues relating to the global nature of software, inconsistent copyright regimes and difficulties with interpretation. On top of that, unlike many other “business grade” software licences, there is no indemnity – so if something goes wrong, you’ll likely be without coverage. The GPL is a popular licence and will continue to be. It’s just not any more or less complex than other licence agreements.

[Photo credit: jin.thai]

General Global Week in Review 19 Oct 09 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:46:54 -0400

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

USPTO rescinds patent claim and continuation rules (IP Spotlight) (Patently-O) (Filewrapper) (Technology Transfer Tactics) (Inventive Step)

ECJ: Diesel ruling affirms that exhausting still trumps trademarks, but consent must be unequivocal: Makro Zelfbedieningsgroothandel CV, Metro Cash & Carry BV and Remo Zaandam BV v Diesel SpA (Class 46) (IPKat)

Global

Global - General

Excavate your fossils to make your reservation – is IP lost in translation? (IP Think Tank)

IP Hall of Fame – your chance to nominate (IP Think Tank Blog) (Patent Baristas) (IAM)

LexisNexis: semantic search patent research (Securing Innovation)

Global - Patents

What makes for good patent due diligence? (IP Frontline)

Patent litigation demand over the next 12 months looks flat in the US and UK according to Fulbright & Jaworski’s 6^th Annual Litigation Trends Survey (IAM)

L-RAMP – The role of patent law in the public interest (IP Frontline)

Beware of bogus patent analytics: forward citation analysis leads to false conclusions about significance of client’s patent (IP Asset Maximizer)

Recent fee increases for foreign patent offices acting as ISA for the PCT (Patent Docs)

Africa

Africa must nurture home-grown brands (Managing IP)

Australia

Green patent power: Griffith Hack report analyses hybrid car patents (Green Patent Blog)

Patent litigation and the reporting of forward expectations – Australian Appeals Court lifts temporary injunction against Smith & Andrew temporary foam dressing kit (PatLit)

Brazil

Rio 2016: here’s the original text of the Olympic Act (IP tango)

Rio 2016: Wikipedia as a source (IP tango)

Canada

Professor Jeremy de Beer criticises recent court rulings on patent disclosure (Pharmacapsules@Gowlings)

The great Olympic sweater debate (IPblog)

Towards a parody consensus (Excess Copyright

China

Murdoch, Procrustus and the WTO copyright cases (IP Dragon)

Is Coffee-Mate a generic term for Coffee? (IP Dragon)

Denmark

Denmark’s new transfer pricing IP valuation guideline (IP finance)

Europe

ECJ: COLOR EDITION – the A-G delivers his opinion on the application by Lâncome: Lancôme v OHIM and CMS Hasche Sigle (Class 46)

CFI: KINDER vs TIMI KINDERJOGHURT: No res judicata, but that’s where the similarity ends: Ferrero SpA v OHIM (IPKat) (Class 46)

EPO introduces time limit for filing divisional applications (IP Frontline)

OHIM and WIPO meet in Spain to discuss cooperation on classification issues (Class 46)

EU prepares a new Intellectual Property rights strategy (IP Watch)

Darjeeling tea almost GI in the EU (Spicy IP)

Notice concerning amendments to the Implementing Regulations to the European Patent Convention – New rule 62a EPC (EPO)

Germany

Germany speeds up patent proceedings, remaining EU jurisdiction of choice (IP Expert Group)

India

Spicy IP Tidbits of Marlboro and Montblanc (Spicy IP)

Revlon fashions a TM trump before Delhi High Court (Spicy IP)

Kenya

Industrial Property Tribunal rules that ARIPO patents cannot be revoked in Kenya: Chemserve Cleaning Services Ltd v Sanitam (EA) Services Limited (Afro-IP)

Lebanon

WIPO Director General applauds Lebanon’s IP efforts (IP Frontline)

Nigeria

Is it a patent, is it a copyright, is it a morals rights dispute? Sidemans and Company Nigeria Limited v Calag Capital Limited (Afro-IP)

Poland

Personal circumstances in trade mark registration (Class 46)

South Africa

FIFA v Metcash trade mark case – Owen Dean’s response (Afro-IP)

South Africa 1 – Ambush Marketers 0: legal framework to help FIFA and 2010 World Cup sponsors protect their rights (Managing IP)

Switzerland

New developments in Swiss patent law (IP Frontline)

Federal Administrative Court finds PARK AVENUE not descriptive for publications (Class 46)

Tanzania

Tanzania’s IP changes are good for business (Managing IP)

Thailand

Thailand becomes PCT Member State (Patent Docs)

United Kingdom

Corn flakes, corn fakes and a new concept in branded breakfast cereals (IPKat)

United States

US General

USPTO and ARIPO sign bilateral cooperation agreement (Patent Docs)

Kappos to speak at ACCA 2009 annual meeting in Boston (271 Patent Blog)

US Patent Reform

USPTO rescinds patent claim and continuation rules (IP Spotlight) (Patently-O) (Filewrapper) (Technology Transfer Tactics) (Inventive Step)

Kappos starts to tackle the 700,000 patent backlog (IPKat)

USPTO proposes changes to count system (Patent Docs) (Patent Baristas)

Locke Commerce Dept pushing early statutory patent reform (IP Frontline) (Patent Docs) (Technology Transfer Tactics)

US Patents – Decisions

BPAI finds claims indefinite and not directed to patentable subject matter under Bilski: Ex parte Hemmat (Gray On Claims)

District Court E D Texas: Motion to dismiss resolved in patent infringement plus case: Ola, LLC v Builder Homesite, Ltd (EDTexweblog.com)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Datatern - Foley tries turning tables on Spangenberg (Patent Litigation Weekly)

Rothschild, Prof Gertrude Neumark - Sony Ericson settles ITC patent suit with LED Professor (Green Patent Blog)

Toyota - Toyota’s alleged infringing patents may block imports to the US – ITC to investigate Toyota following complaint by Paice (IPKat)

US Trade Marks – Decisions

ITC finds in favour of Phillip Morris issuing general exclusion order directed to gray market cigarettes bearing the Marlboro, Virginia Slims and Parliament trade marks (ITC 337 Law Blog)

TTAB: Is SCENT STRIPES merely descriptive of plastic garbage bags?: In re Intellectual Property Development Corporation Pty Ltd (not precedential) (TTABlog)

TTAB sustains Nike’s Section 2(e)(2) opposition to B-MORE for clothing: Nike, Inc v Gregory A Bordes (not precedential) (TTABlog)

TTAB reverses section 2(E)(2) refusal of CATALINA ISLAND GRANOLA: goods/place association lacking: In re Zeller (not precedential) (TTABlog)

US Trade Marks – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Cold War Museum - CAFC holds argument in appeal from THE COLD WAR MUSEUM cancellation: The Cold War Museum, Inc v Cold War Air Museum, Inc (TTABlog)

Tavern on the Green - $19 million trade mark awakens the City of New York (IPKat)

US Olympic Committee - Chicago Tribune reports on USOC’s enforcement efforts in the Windy City (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

Online Global Week in Review 16 October 2009 from IP Think Tank

duncan@duncanbucknell.com (Duncan Bucknell)) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:15:48 -0400

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly selection of top Online intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

You can separately subscribe to the IP Think Tank Global Week in Review at the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

Sarkozy government allegedly caught red-handed infringing DVD copyrights (IP Watch) (IP Factor)

District Court S D New York: Court rules that phones ringing in public don’t infringe copyright: USA v ASCAP (Electronic Frontier Foundation) (Ars Technica)

Microsoft asks Federal Circuit to reconsider presumption of patent validity: Lucent v Gateway, Dell and Microsoft (Inventive Step) (Patently-O)

Global

Global – General

Secret ACTA Treaty can’t be shown to public, just 42 lawyers – internet ‘enforcement procedures’ to be included (Ars Technica) (IP Watch)

Open data: Comparing USA v Canada (Michael Geist)

So who are Apple and Google really competing against? (IP finance)

Global - Trade Marks and Domain Names

WIPO marks 10^th anniversary of UDRP (WIPO)

Australia

AFACT v iiNet: Anti-piracy evidence lacking; Investor condoned infringement; IP address alone is not enough; Anti-piracy tech is secret (TorrentFreak) (TorrentFreak) (TorrentFreak) (TorrentFreak)

Canada

Globe confirms Kindle delay due to carrier issues (Michael Geist)

CFTPA warns against targeting P2P in copyright reform (Michael Geist)

Access Copyright collective: Reduce fair dealing, no taping TV shows or format shifting (Michael Geist) (Ars Technica)

CRTC calls for expanded copying for private use (Michael Geist)

Visit to a weird planet: Canadian copyright and trade – Sookman and Schwartz on ‘Internet piracy: Copyright law in Canada and the US’ (Rebecca Tushnet's 43(B)log)

Toronto Raptors’ Chris Bosh wins 800 domains from cybersquatter (Michael Geist) (The Trademark Blog)

China

Sweet irony: Is IP Dragon liable for hosting IPR infringing Adwords? (IP Dragon

Europe

ACTA: Initial discussion on enforcement in the ditigal environment on EU expert level (Blog@IPJUR.com)

Is ANDROID descriptive of computers and mobile devices? Google v OHIM to be appealed to ECJ (Class 46)

Open source software as prior to art in patent oppositions – Amicus submission in G3/08 (IPKat)

Spotify – music’s holy grail or a tune destined to fail (1709 Copyright Blog)

Finland

Pirate Party condemns $5.4m claim against P2P operator (TorrentFreak)

France

Sarkozy government allegedly caught red-handed infringing DVD copyrights (IP Watch) (IP Factor)

Germany

Illegal downloads 150x more profitable than legal sales according to pirate tracking outfit DigiRights (TorrentFreak)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attacks Google’s book project (The 1709 Copyright Blog)

UseNeXT threatens litigation against blogger over post titled ‘UseNeXT: Legitimate downloading of pirated movies’ (TorrentFreak)

India

Madras High Court vacates ex-parte interim injunction against Google’s Adword policy (Spicy IP)

Japan

Winny developer acquitted - Japanese Court quashes conviction over file-sharing software (Lenz Blog) (Managing IP) (Innovationpartners)

Sweden

Court of Appeal says “no” thrice to The Pirate Bay (TorrentFreak)

Reservella: the shadowy company behind The Pirate Bay (Ars Technica)

Fabricated anti Pirate Bay evidence leaks onto... The Pirate Bay (TorrentFreak)

First IPRED case - alleged pirate walks free (TorrentFreak)

Switzerland

Metro Group obtains metrobar.ch, but not metro-express.ch (Class 46)

United Kingdom

Government data, innovation and UK plc (Tangible IP)

UKIPO to adopt OHIM’s ‘case handling’ software (Class 46)

United States

US Patents – Decisions

CAFC issues summary affirmance on favour of eBay and Skype in patent infringement suit brought by Peer Communications (IP Frontline)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Acceris - EFF challenges dangerous patent on VoIP systems (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

Apple - Patent case transferred: Prust v Apple Inc (EDTexweblog.com)

Facebook - Facebook ensnared in two social networking patent disputes (Ars Technica)

Microsoft - Microsoft asks Federal Circuit to reconsider presumption of patent validity: Lucent v Gateway, Dell and Microsoft (Inventive Step) (Patently-O)

US Copyright

Question for discussion: The Ralph Lauren DMCA as object lesson (The Trademark Blog)

RIAA and MPAA can’t stop Bit Torrent, study finds (TorrentFreak)

New wave of pirates has psoriasis, frat boy hair; no peglegs – Ars profiles two recent cases of commercial copyright infringement over the internet (Ars Technica)

US Copyright – Decisions

District Court S D New York: Court rules that phones ringing in public don’t infringe copyright: USA v ASCAP (Electronic Frontier Foundation) (Ars Technica)

US Copyright – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Font Bureau – Font Bureau clashes with NBC over font licensing (Ars Technica) (IPKat)

MOG – Will MOG’s sub float? - planned subscription music-streaming service for US customers (1709 Copyright Blog)

YouTube – YouTube’s internal emails reported to be the smoking gun in copyright infringement cases brought by Viacom and Premier League (IPKat)

US Trade Marks – Decisions

District Court N D California decision in Louis Vuitton Malletier v Akanoc Solutions et al - ISPs not just tubes (IP Osgoode)