IP Law News

New record number of fillings at the European Patent Office in 2012: 258 000 filings (+5.7% over 2011) and 65 700 granted patents (+5.8%)

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Tue, 2013-01-22 07:37

According to the preliminary figures at EPO, in 2012 the European Patent Office (EPO) achieved new record number of fillings with received 258 000 patent applications. This represents a 5.7% increase over 2011 (244 000). In 2012 , the EPO published 65 700 granted patents, 5.8% more than in 2011 (62 115).

At WIPO, A Complex Fight Against Counterfeiting, Piracy

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Thu, 2013-01-17 13:10

The fight against counterfeiting and piracy was at the heart of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on enforcement.

USPTO and EPO Announce Launch of Cooperative Patent Classification System

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Sat, 2013-01-12 09:04

The U.S. Commerce Department’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) dated Janyary 2nd 2013 announced the formal launch of the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) system, a global new classification system for patent documents that includes best classification prcatices from USPTO and EPO.

EU-wide unitary patent rules approved by the European Parliament

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Fri, 2012-12-21 15:04

The European Parliament has at December 17th, 2012  approved the so-called “EU patent package” (unitary patent, language regime and unified patent court).
Some formalities remain, but the path is clear for the system to come into effect on 1 January 2014.
 
According to the new regulation  the inventors across the European Union will soon be able to get a unitary patent. After long talks of over 30 years, a new regime will cut the cost of an EU patent by up to 80% This will make European patent  more competitive compared to the US and Japan.

WIPO, potential new treaty on Industrial Design

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Mon, 2012-12-17 15:40

The World Intellectual Property Organization meeting dedicated solely to a potential new treaty on industrial design law and practice.  The delegates at the meeting agreed to continue working on the draft instrument at the next session. But at the next meeting the delegates will also have to address divergent views on how to integrate technical assistance and capacity building into the treaty.

The 28th session of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) met from 10-14 December.

Russia is entering in New Reforms of the IP Law. Will It increase the number of Startups?

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Thu, 2012-12-13 11:49

The government of Russia  is intending to reform the intellectual property law in the country, which  could have an effect on how many patents get registered, and on the number of startups in the country. Russia is very well  known for its star engineers, but unfortunatelly the country lacks of business people who can execute and commercialize those ideas.

Samsung wins Korean battle in the patent war against Apple

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Mon, 2012-12-03 12:17

South Korea's Samsung won a home court ruling in its global smartphone battle against Apple , when judges in Seoul Court stated the company didn't copy the look and feel of the Apple's iPhone, and that Apple infringed on Samsung's wireless technology.

The panel also said Samsung violated Apple technology behind the bounce-back feature when scrolling on touch screens, and ordered both sides to pay limited damages.

Important benefit for U.S. patent applicants who subsequently file a European patent application

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Fri, 2012-10-05 08:37

We want our clients (especially the U.S. clients) to be aware of an important service the USPTO provides to help U.S. patent applicants comply with European Patent Office (EPO) rules, when they are also filing an application with the EPO after first filing it with the USPTO. The service creates an important exemption that saves time and money for all U.S.

In the USA, Harvard’s OncoMouse has gone into the public domain

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Fri, 2012-09-21 12:39

Harvard's patented OncoMouse not only made the headlines in its early days; the invention has proven to be a blockbuster for cancer research.  In the mid 1980s Harvard researchers inserted a heritable cancer-causing gene into a mouse, and created a great model system for studies of drugs against cancer.

Monsanto wins patent lawsuit over DuPont, with a staggering US$1 billion in damages

Submitted by Bratislav Stankovic on Tue, 2012-08-07 08:44

The world's single most infamous genetically modified agriculturist won a tremendous court verdict.  Last week, a federal jury awarded $1 billion in damages to the world’s crop biotechnology leader Monsanto.  The jury found that Monsanto’s arch rival DuPont had willfully infringed a patent covering Roundup Ready soybeans. DuPont is to pay out $1 billion in patent infringement damages to the biotech giant, a staggering patent loss.

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