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Friday, January 18, 2008 1:00am — IP THINKTANK GLOBAL WEEK IN REVIEW
IP Think Tank Global Week in Review - 18 January 2008
Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly
selection of top 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 me 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 Thinktank Global week in Review at http://feeds.feedburner.com/DuncanBucknellsGlobalWeekInReview Highlights this week included: - The European antitrust
raids on Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Glaxo, Sanofi-Aventis: (IP
Law360), (Wall
Street Journal Health Blog), (IAM),
(IPEG),
(SmartBrief),
(In
the pipeline),
- Hasbro and Mattel alleged
trade mark infringement and demand shut down of Scrabulous, a free online
gaming site allowing users to play a version of Scrabble: (Spicy
IP), (IPKat),
(Patry
Copyright Blog), (Trademark
Blog), (John Caroll),
(contentSutra),
(phosita),
(IPLaw360),
- Quanta v LG Electronics –
Supreme Court hears oral argument in patent exhaustion case between Quanta
and LG: (Post-Grant),
(IP
ThinkTank), (Patent
Troll Tracker), (IP
Law360), (Patent
Prospector), (Patently-O),
(Peter
Zura's 271 Patent Blog), (Anticipate
This!), (Chicago
IP Litigation Blog), (more from Chicago
IP Litigation Blog), (Washington
State Patent Law Blog), (Harold Wegner),
Global - 101 reasons for not
selling your unused trade marks: (IPKat),
- ICANN to battle domain
name tasting: (Trademark
Blog), (related coverage from Trademark
Blog),
- Is a patent a monopoly?:
(Against
Monopoly),
- Structuring a
decentralized world – Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies: The
necessity of open biotechnology: (Patent Lens),
- A skeptical look at the Automated Content Access
Protocol: (Ars
Technica),
- 5 practical things to incorporate in a corporate
IP strategy: (IP
ThinkTank),
-
Legal models for online content enforcement: (OpenContentLawyer),
- Germany,
Chinese copies and misdirected ‘strategy’: (IP
ThinkTank)
Pharma - Roche patent over AIDS
drug in India
– Need for transparency: (Spicy
IP),
- Teva to branch into
Japanese generic drug market: (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP),
- EU antitrust raid on Pfizer,
AstraZeneca, Glaxo, Sanofi-Aventis: (IP
Law360), (Wall
Street Journal Health Blog), (IAM),
(IPEG),
(SmartBrief),
(In
the pipeline),
- India’s new patent regime and
its impact on the global pharmaceutical industry: (Mondaq),
- Canada and the export of ARV
drugs: (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP)
- Fosamax (Alendronate) –
Patent protection to end Feb 2008, so Merck organizes authorized generic
version of drug with unidentified company: (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP), (IP
Law360),
- Gemzar (Gemcitabine) - Eli
Lilly and Co. resumes action against Mayne Pharma (USA) Inc. for
infringement of two patents related to chemotherapy drug Gemzar: (IP
Law360),
- Gleevec/Glivec (Imatinib)
- Okasa files pre-grant opposition to Novartis’ Indian patent application
for alpha crystal form of Imatinib: (Spicy
IP), (related coverage from Spicy
IP), (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP),
- Gleevec/Glivec (Imatinib)
– Novartis’ crystalline form strategy: (IP ThinkTank),
- Kytril (Granisetron) –
Teva receives exclusivity for Granisetron from FDA: (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP),
- Lipitor (Atorvastatin) –
USPTO issues first communication in the reexamination of the ‘893 basic
patent for Lipitor, initially rejecting the patent’s claims: (Pfizer.com),
(Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP), (IP
Law360), (Reuters),
- Miacalcin (Calcitonin) –
30 day stay for Miacalcin patent infringement case so Novartis and Apotex
can attempt to reach a settlement: (IP
Law360),
- Namenda (Memantine) - Forest
Laboratories Inc. file patent infringement lawsuits against Teva, Barr and
others seeking to sell generic versions of Namenda, a treatment for
Alzheimer’s disease: (The
IP Factor), (Spicy
IP), (SmartBrief),
(IP
Law360),
- Namenda (Memantine) –
Barr challenges Forest Laboratories’ Namenda patent: (SmartBrief),
(Generics
Web),
- OxyContin (Oxycodone) –
District Court finds no inequitable conduct by Purdue in antitrust
litigation: (Patent
Docs),
- Saquinavir - Roche
Holding AG entering into four new cost-free technology transfers with
local manufacturers in Africa, helping
them make generic HIV medicine: (Afro-IP),
- Solodyn (Minocycline) – Impax
challenges Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp.'s patent for popular acne
medication in hopes of launching a generic version of the drug: (SmartBrief),
(IP
Law360),
- Sustiva (Efavirenz) –
Grant of licences to produce generics fail to bring price of key HIV drug
down in South Africa:
(Afro-IP),
- Tarceva (Erlotinib) –
Cipla going ahead with launch of generic despite Natco’s failed pre-grant
opposition to Roche’s Indian patent: (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP),
- Tarceva (Erlotinib) – Natco
seeks India’s first ‘Doha style’ compulsory license to export Roche’s
anti-cancer drug to Nepal:
(Spicy
IP), (Patent
Circle), (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP),
- Trileptal (Oxcarbazepine)
– Taro Pharmaceutical Industries and Breckenridge Pharmaceutical settle
patent litigation over oxcarbazepine with Novartis: (IP
Law360), (Generics Web),
- Valcyte (Valganciclovir)
– Discussion of news report regarding Chennai Patent Office granting
Valganciclovir patent to Roche, when a corresponding US application was rejected in the USA:
(Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP)
Africa - Filmmakers
of Nigeria USA working toward reduction of piracy of Nigerian films: (Afro-IP),
- World
Customs Organisation warns that Africa, not China,
is main concern in Europe’s fight against
counterfeit goods: (Afro-IP),
- Establishment
of interim measures for the regulation of bio-trade activities in Namibia:
(Spicy
IP),
- Dispute
over use of ‘Adventist’ trade mark in Rwanda: (Afro-IP),
- South
African headquartered De Beers to pay $295m in class action settlement after it
was accused of unlawfully monopolising the supply of diamonds, conspiring to
fix diamond prices and issuing false and misleading advertising in the United States:
(Afro-IP)
Australia - Lleyton Hewitt’s ‘C’mon’
trade marks may overreach: (Australian
Trade Marks Law Blog),
- Federal Court finds
copyright in files comprising source code, but no infringement: Dais
Studio Pty Ltd v Bullet Creative Pty Ltd: (Mondaq),
- Trade Mark Office allows
registration of 'InFocusDVD.com.au',
despite opposition by InFocus Corporation: (Mondaq),
- Patent Office finds in
favour of Nektar on the issue of fair basing in Alkerme’s opposition to
Nektar’s patent relating to the use of perforated microparticles for delivery
of an immunoactive agent: (Mondaq),
- Designs Office finds that
confidentiality was lost once patent application made in Dennis
Gravolin and Trailer Vision Pty Ltd v Locmac Holdings Pty Ltd as trustee
for Locmac Trust: (Mondaq)
Canada - US provisionals and the
priority year: (Canada Patent
Blog),
- Alberta Premier Ed
Stelmach demands blogger Dave Cournoyer hand over domain name
edstelmach.ca: (Now, why
didn’t I think of that?),
- Local ‘Fair copyright for
Canada Facebook’ groups take off: (Michael Geist),
- Federal Court of Appeal
quashes Copyright Board’s proposed iPod levy: (Ars
Technica),
- DMCA used to sue over bad
movie review: (Michael
Geist),
- A new copyright pledge
for MPs: (Michael
Geist),
- Press coverage of
copyright debate: (Michael Geist),
(Michael Geist),
(Michael Geist),
- Michael Geist’s fair
copyright for Canada
principles: (Michael
Geist), (Ars
Technica),
- CBC radio interview with
Michael Geist discussing copyright: (Michael Geist)
China- China Trade Mark and Patent
Office rejects Microsoft’s opposition to registration of WINDOWS by Ningbo eye glass
company: (China
Business Law Blog), (China
Hearsay),
- Big brands and counterfeits
– Could a surge in luxury brand purchases by domestic consumers play a
positive role in the fight against counterfeits?: (China Hearsay),
- IFPI ‘illegal music
download’ case against China Yahoo! breaks new ground: (Rouse
& Co International),
- Stopping China online content theft: (China
Law Blog),
- Taking depositions in China:
(Part 1 - Experience
Not Logic), (Part 2 – Experience
Not Logic), (Part 3 – Experience
Not Logic).
- IP re-education a Sisyphean
task: (China Hearsay),
- Patent challenge in China:
What’s the state of the art?: (IP
Dragon),
- China acts to boost patents on
publicly funded research: (Intellectual
Property Watch),
- Fighting local
protectionism: (China Hearsay),
- Proposed changes to trade
mark law: (International
Law Office)
Denmark Europe - Croatia and Norway ratify European Patent
Convention: (The
IP Factor),
- Crucial EPO ‘Future
workload’ report finally made public: (IAM),
- EU launches new antitrust
investigation against Microsoft concerning interoperability of some of
Microsoft’s products and tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows
operating system: (Ars
Technica), (Out-Law),
(Copyfight),
- Punitive fees for excess
claims from 1 April 2008:
(Mondaq),
(Peter
Zura's 271 Patent Blog),
- AG Colomer issues decision
in Adidas v H&M concerning the role of the need to keep certain
marks free for other traders once a mark has acquired distinctiveness, and
on the role of consumers' perceptions that the mark is an embellishment: (IPKat), (Catch
Us If You Can!!!),
- Document Security Systems
has French patent revoked in its dispute with European Central Bank regarding
anti-forgery technology: (IPKat),
- European Communities’
deadline to comply with WTO Panel Decision on approval and marketing of
biotech products, including an end to national bans on GM products
otherwise approved by the EU as a whole: (Patenting
Lives),
- Court of First Instance
finds no likelihood of confusion between word mark AMPLITUDE and
figurative mark consisting of the word ‘Amply’ for eyeglasses in Kabushiki
Kaisha, v OHIM, Indo Internacional SA: (IPKat),
- CFI dismisses IKEA’s appeal in Case T‑112/06,
Inter-Ikea Systems BV v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal
Market, Walter Waibel deciding there was no likelihood of confusion
between the IKEA and IDEA figurative marks registered for identical goods
and services: (IPKat),
- Further steps in EU patent policy under Slovenian EU presidency: (IP::JUR)
India- Controller of Patents upholds
Bilcare's patent in post grant opposition proceeding despite High Court’s
leaning toward patent invalidity: (Spicy
IP),
- Bajaj v TVS - India
plugging ahead on patent litigation highway: (Spicy
IP),
- Will India become the new Vanguard
of the open source movement?: (Spicy
IP),
- Moral rights under
copyright laws: A peep into policy – 3: (Spicy
IP),
- Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry launches IP newsletter: (Spicy
IP),
- Candico loses
longstanding ‘Big Bubble’ trade mark dispute with Perfetti: (Spicy
IP),
- High Court rules ‘no use
of ‘Magnum’ as trade mark’ in ITC v GTC Industries: (Spicy
IP), (IP
Factor),
- Encore Electronics Ltd
v Anchor Electronics and Electricals Pvt. Ltd: deceptive similarity
between ‘Encore’ and ‘Anchor’ trade marks in vernacular script: (Mondaq),
- Nandhini Deluxe v
Nandhini: Prior use favours registration as trade marks: (Mondaq),
- Delhi High Court allows
organisers of "Durga Puja", a hindu festival, to use images from
JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels: (Mondaq),
- .asia domain name ‘land
rush’: A gold mine for cybersquatters: (Mondaq),
- Hasbro and Mattel allege
trade mark infringement and demand shut down of Scrabulous, a free online
gaming site allowing users to play a version of Scrabble: (Spicy
IP), (IPKat),
(Patry
Copyright Blog), (Trademark
Blog), (John Caroll),
(contentSutra),
(phosita),
(IPLaw360),
- Pills, potions and IPR:
Tales from folk medicine: (Spicy
IP),
- Deceptive similarity: Is
an interim injunction really necessary?: (International
Law Office)
Ireland - Irish Supreme Court rules
that Irish courts can demand data mining in electronic discovery: (Out-Law)
Japan - JPO to cut patent and
trade mark fees: (IP
Updates)
Lithuania Philippines Russia - New Russian Civil Code that came into effect 1 January 2008 makes Russian
patents unenforceable: (The
IP Factor), (IP
Spotlight)
Singapore - Registered trade mark – use it or lose it!: (Mondaq)
Sweden United Kingdom - UK
public consultation on copyright exceptions: (LawFont),
(Intellectual
Property Law Blog), (Mondaq),
- UK
restoration requirements, and why they were changed (UK Patent Office decision
BL 0/357/07): (IPKat),
- British software pirate faces up to 10 years in
jail: (Out-Law),
- New ‘fast track’ trade mark service: (Out-Law), (IP
Menu), (IPR
Helpdesk),
- New version of online patent filing system: (IPR
Helpdesk)
- UK Court of Appeal
explains that when considering whether a community design has been
infringed, the court must take the position of an objective ‘informed user’
in Procter & Gamble Co v Reckitt Benckiser (UK) Ltd: (Mondaq),
United States - Quanta v LG Electronics –
Supreme Court hears oral argument in patent exhaustion case between Quanta
and LG: (Post-Grant),
(IP
ThinkTank), (Patent
Troll Tracker), (IP
Law360), (Patent
Prospector), (Patently-O),
(Peter
Zura's 271 Patent Blog), (Anticipate
This!), (Chicago
IP Litigation Blog), (more from Chicago
IP Litigation Blog), (Washington
State Patent Law Blog), (Harold Wegner),
- Student challenges Barack
Obama’s use of the phrase ‘Change Rocks’, claiming he registered the
phrase as a trade mark and uses it for jewellery: (IPKat),
- Troll call and other
statistics for December 2007: (Patent
Troll Tracker),
- US Supreme Court allows ‘Dykes
on Bikes’ trade mark: (The
IP Factor),
- Licensing professionals
in the US and Canada
not greatly concerned about litigation but worried about a growing anti-IP
environment: (IAM),
- US Court of Appeals affirms
ruling that where the product on which a mark is affirmed cannot be seen
by a customer, there is no likelihood of confusion - Custom Mfg. &
Eng’g, Inc. v Midway Services: (Mondaq),
- Tafas v Dudas: The need for presidential appointment of
patent experts to lead the patent system: (Harold Wegner),
- Wegner’s 2008 top ten
patent cases: (Harold Wegner),
- 2007 – An exciting year
for patent law: (Intellectual
Property Law Blog),
- Frank Zappa’s estate
sends cease and desist letters to blogs, tribute bands and a European
memorial concert celebrating Zappa’s musical works: (IPKat),
(Patry
Copyright Blog),
- Buddy Holly’s widow asserts rights in her late
husband’s name, image, trade marks to halt Peggy Sue from publishing memoirs: (IPKat),
- Does plagiarism require intent? –Bhavin Mehta
PhD v Ohio University: (IPBiz),
(related coverage from IPBiz),
- The future of the RIAA: (Ars
Technica), (Copyfight),
(related coverage from Copyfight),
- Debate over whether there has been a reduction in
patent litigation: (Against
Monpoly), (Peter
Zura's 271 Patent Blog),
- New York Times article sets the stage for
upcoming patent reform debate renewal: (Patent
Troll Tracker),
- Senate Committee on the Judiciary urges Senate
to pass the controversial Patent Reform Act of 2007: (IP
Law360),
- Expect patent reform legislation of some sort: (PLI)
- Draft report on Senate Patent Reform Bill
circulated: (Patent
Docs), (more from Patent
Docs), (Anticipate
This!), (Peter
Zura's 271 Patent Blog), (Patent
Prospector), (FileWrapper),
- Patent reform discussion: (PLI),
(IP
Updates), (Patently-O),
(e^(IP)),
- Patent and copyright reform proposals lead US IP
issues for 2008: (Intellectual
Property Watch),
- Post Twombly, form 16 takes on new
significance: (IP
Law360),
- High-volume patent procurement may cost more: (IP
Law360),
- Technology firms including IBM, Nokia and Sony launch
project to share green patents: (IP
Law360), (Out-Law),
(Patent
Prospector),
- Election of statutory damages may be bar to
attorney’s fee award: K and N Engineering, Inc v Bulat: (Counterfeit
Law Blog),
- New rules for Information Disclosure Statements:
(Mondaq), (PLI),
- House proposes creation of an IP enforcement
czar, seeks stronger trade mark and copyright enforcement: (Mondaq),
- Senate seeks to prohibit grant of future patents
to tax planning inventions: (Mondaq),
- File fee request within deadline or no costs for
prevailing party: JCW Investments, Inc., v. Novelty, Inc: (Mondaq),
- Wikipedia: More than a footnote in trade mark
suits: (IP
Law360),
- Top 10 TTAB decisions of 2007: (Part 1 - TTABlog),
(Part 2 – TTABlog),
- Patent values in the US on the decline: (IAM),
- Does following the rules matter?: (Chicago
IP Litigation Blog),
- Is the Supreme Court reviving the exhaustion
doctrine?: (PLI),
- Injunction prohibiting use of unidentified trade
secrets found to be too vague: Patriot Homes, Inc v Forest River
Housing: (IP
Law Observer),
- Does ‘up to’ include zero?: Ex parte Framtome
ANP: (Benefit
of Hindsight),
- 66 precedential decisions issued by the TTAB in
2007: (TTABlog),
- Claim substantiation research not privileged in Procter
& Gamble Co v Ultreo Inc false advertising case: (43(B)log),
- Level of skill and long-felt need: Notes on a
forgotten future (Essay on KSR decision): (The Fire of
Genius),
- Various comments on KSR v Teleflex: (The
Fire of Genius),(CanadaPatentBlog),
(Philip
Brooks), (PLI),
- Director of the Office of Enrollment &
Discipline, announces that OED is going to investigate attorneys who file a
large number of references where those references could be used to reject a
substantial number of the claims presented: (PLI),
(Patent
Docs), (more at Patent
Docs),
- The death of Markush – how/whether to go
forward: (PLI),
- The devil’s advocate: What is a patent troll?: (PLI),
- IFI releases top patent filers for 2007: (Peter
Zura's 271 Patent Blog),
- The Chicago Tribune and David Donoghue on
strategic patenting: (Chicago
IP Litigation Blog),
- The secrets within: What the PCT file holds: (PLI),
- What claim interpretations are so broad that
they are beyond reasonable?: (Benefit
of Hindsight),
- Copyright debate: should ISPs be roped into
enforcement?: (Ars
Technica),
- The disconnection between IP and data retention
policies: (Securing
Innovation),
- Revisiting foreign infringing activity in CNET
v Etilize: (Patently-O),
- US District Court Judges express narrow view of
patent claims: (IP
Spotlight),
- Patent prosecution highway pilot program extends
to include Canada, Korea, Japan
and Hong Kong: (Patently-O),
- Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
decides on first ‘beyond reasonable’ case: Ex parte Jeff Alton Shaw: (Benefit
of Hindsight), (related coverage from Benefit
of Hindsight), (more from Benefit
of Hindsight),
- Groundwork is being laid for a new source of law
to bolster copyright owners’ rights: human rights: (Patry
Copyright Blog),
- Early assessment of IP damages can prove
beneficial: (Mondaq)
- Contractually dividing patent rights: might no
one have standing to bring suit?: (Mondaq),
- How to effectively litigate a case of active
inducement: (Philip
Brooks),
- USPTO duty of candor includes ‘clearly
established’ trade mark rights?: (IP
Updates)
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