Saturday, March 22, 2008 4:00am — IP THINKTANK GLOBAL WEEK IN REVIEW

IP Think Tank Global Week in Review - 21 March 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 the Subscribe page: http://duncanbucknell.com/subscribe/

Highlights this week included:

• Google fails to obtain pan-EU trade mark protection for ‘Gmail’ due to confusingly similar German trade mark: (Class 46), (Ars Technica),
• UK High Court overturns UKIPO decision to refuse computer program patent application in Symbian’s Patent Application, UKIPO announces it will appeal (equivalent patent granted by EPO): (IPKat), (Out-Law), (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog), (IPEG), (Techdirt), (IP Law360), (IP Factor),
• India considers Bayh-Dole type legislation: (IAM), (PLI), (Spicy IP),

Global

Global - General

• WIPO Director General hails 125th anniversary of Paris Convention: (WIPO)
• Global - Trade Marks / Domain Names / Brands
• WIPO: domain ‘pradagirls.com’ registered in bad faith: (Class 46),
• INTA Advanced Trademark Symposium: (Report 1 - IPKat), (Report 2 - IPKat), (Report 3 - IPKat), (Report 4 - IPKat), (Report 5 - IPKat), (Report 6 – IPKat), (Report 7 – IPKat), (Catch Us If You Can!!!),
• INTA roundtable on ‘Internet domain names: A trademark practitioner’s point of view’ - Manhattan, 14 April: (The Trademark Blog),
• INTA trade mark conference, Sydney: OHIM President offers to host roundtable to cut red tape facing businesses attempting to obtain worldwide IP protection: (IPwar’s)
• Domain tasting: why are IP owners silent?: (IP finance),
• ICANN proposes new anti-domain tasting solution: (Out-Law),
• Three strikes, three countries:France, Japan and Sweden: (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

Global - Patents

• TRIPS Council: Half of WTO membership backs biodiversity amendment: (Intellectual Property Watch),
• The costs and benefits of patents to innovators: (Patently-O), (response from Patent Prospector),
• Discussion of ‘Patent Failure: How Judges, Bureaucrats, and Lawyers Put Innovators at Risk’ by economists Bessen and Meurer: (IAM), (Technological Innovation and Intellectual Property), (Techdirt),
• The wonderful world of patent drafting: (IP ThinkTank),
• Innocentive: open innovation marketplace: (Spicy IP),
• E-IP, LLC (www.TechTransferOnline.com) becomes the place to go for IP: (Philip Brooks)

Global - Copyright

• Sound copyright: (Creative Commons),
• WIPO: Panellists outline strategies on exceptions and limitations to copyright: (Intellectual Property Watch),
• WIPO Copyright Committee considers many proposals for 2008 Work Program: (IP Justice),
• ISPs and P2P: (Michael Geist),
• File-sharing, LimeWire, identity thieves, and 9-year-olds: Solutions are needed: (IPcentral.info),
• WIPO panel sees tension between IP and human rights: (Intellectual Property Watch),
• DRM gets another lease of life – reports that iTunes will launch scheme allowing unlimited downloads for a monthly fee: (IMPACT)

Pharma & Biotech

Pharma & Biotech - General

• Are generic medicines inferior compared to branded medicines?: (Generic Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• EU: Counterfeit medicines in the EU: a new consultation: (Class 46)
• Thailand US Trade Representative to ‘talk’ to Thai government: (Generic Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• US: Cellectis SA files suit against Precision BioSciences, alleging infringement of two patents relating to materials used to make genome modifications in certain types of organisms: (IP Law360),
• US: PharmaBiotech IP Summit 28-30 May, Philadelphia will address patent reform and its potential impact on IP practitioners within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries: (Patent Baristas),
• US: Legislators introduce Follow-on Biologics Bill: (IP Law360), (Patent Docs),
• US: Want generic biotech? You might wait 14 more years: (GenericsWeb),
• US: Hypocrisy at FTCR?: (IPBiz),
• US: Two remaining challenged WARF embryonic stem cell patents upheld in ex parte reexamination: (Holman's Biotech IP Blog),

Pharma & Biotech - Products

• Aricept (Donepezil) – USV wins appeal against USPTO decision: (Spicy IP),
• Celerex (Celecoxib) – CAFC decision in Celebrex patents dispute between Pfizer and Teva will cut patent term by one and a half years: (Patent Baristas),
• Inersan – Ranbaxy in-licenses Inersan to CD Pharma to market in India and Nepal: (Generic Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• Lipitor (Atorvastatin) – Federal Court of Appeal in Canada upholds Lipitor enantiomer patent, Decision prevents launch of generic product by Ranbaxy until 2010: (SmartBrief),
• Mircera (Methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta) – In defiance of Kinik, Federal Circuit rules 271(e)(1) safeharbour applies to ITC action against importation of product made by patented process: Amgen v ITC and Roche Diagnostics: (Patently-O), (Patent Prospector), (IP Updates), (IP Law360), (Patent Circle),
• Strattera (Atomoxetine) - US District Court of Virginia dismisses patent dispute between Eli Lilly & Co. and Synthon Laboratories despite objections from one of Synthon's co-defendants facing similar claims in another district: (IP Law360),
• Sutent (Sunitinib) / Tarceva (Erlotinib) – Roche expected to assert its right to attend compulsory license hearing at Delhi Patent Office: (Intellectual Property Watch),
• Tarceva (Erlotinib) – Delhi High Court allows Cipla to continue manufacturing Erlotinib until a final ruling is given in its case against Roche: (Spicy IP), (Generic Pharmaceuticals & IP), (IP Law360),
• TriCor (Fenofibrate) - 18 states and District of Columbia file lawsuit alleging Abbott Laboratories and Fournier Industrie et Sante conspired to delay a generic version of TriCor reaching the market by filing a series of frivolous patent infringement lawsuits: (IP Law360), (GenericsWeb), (Therapeutics Daily),
• Uroxatral (Alfuzosin) – Sanofi-Aventis sues Wockhardt over Uroxatral patent in US: (IP Law360),
• Valcyte (Valganciclovir) – US District Court dismisses Ranbaxy’s motion for summary judgment in patent infringement suit launched by Roche Palo Alto over Roche’s patent for Valcyte: (IP Law360),
• XenaDerm – US District Court refuses to dismiss Healthpoint and DPT Laboratories’ lawsuit accusing Allen Pharmaceutical and another of wrongly claiming their product is a generic equivalent of XenaDerm: (IP Law360)

Africa

• South Africa Supreme Court of Appeal decision on security of costs: D W Zietsma Electronic Media Network Limited: (Afro-IP),
• Namibia Industrial Property Draft Bill circulated for comment: (Afro-IP),
• Who owns ‘Africa money’?: (Afro-IP)

Australia

• Professor Fitzgerald’s opinion article ‘It’s vital to sort out ownership of ideas’: (IP:KCE)

Brazil

• Brazil wrestles with decision on GM corn, seed patenting: (Intellectual Property Watch),
• PTO recognized as international patent search authority: (International Law Office)

Canada

• Trade mark statistics - CIPO 2006-2007 Annual Report: (Canadian Trademark Blog)
• IP injunctions in Canada: (ipblog.ca),
• Professor Ariel Katz’ research project on copyright collectives: (Michael Geist),
• Claude Brunet keynote address at Access Copyright meeting: (Creators’ Copyright Coalition),
• Responding to the International Intellectual Property Alliance’s ‘inaccuracies and hyperbole’: (Michael Geist),
• Canadian PTO’s new position on signal claims: (IP Law360),
• Statscan reports Canadian music industry maintains profitability: (Michael Geist),
• CBC to release program DRM-free via BitTorrent: (Michael Geist), (Ars Technica),
• Canadian courts get tough on counterfeiters: (International Law Office),
• SAC defends proposal to legalise file-sharing: (Michael Geist),
• Industry Committee launches new study on science and technology: (Michael Geist)

China

• Sobering thoughts from China IP protection statistics and projections: (IAM),
• Obviousness under Chinese patent law: (IP Updates),
• Interview with WorkTools cofounder regarding experience with Chinese and Taiwanese patents: (IP Dragon), (IP Dragon),
• The IPR Crises: (Ezine @rticles)

Europe

• Eurostat publishes new edition of report ‘Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe’: (IPR-Helpdesk)
• Data protection of children: ensuring consent as children mature: (Out-Law), (Techdirt),
• COMMUNIA conference on public domain in the digital age – Belgium, 30 June to 1 July: (opencontentlawyer.com),
• Martini SpA enjoys double victory against Martini & Rossi before the OHIM Board of Appeal: (Class 46),
• OHIM: Google fails to obtain pan-EU trade mark protection for 'Gmail' due to confusingly similar German trade mark (Class 46), (Ars Technica),
• EC holding inquiry into trade mark system in Europe: (IPwar’s),
• Results of OHIM User Satisfaction Survey 2007: (Class 46), (BLOG@IP::JUR)

France

• More counterfeit goods seized in 2007: (Class 46),
• News from patent attorneys and lawyers professions merger deliberations: (BLOG@IP::JUR)

Germany

• Current issue of PMZ with Federal Patent Court statistics: (Class 46),
• German government unable to correct London Agreement implementation law in due time: (BLOG@IP::JUR),
• German court tightens up ISP, phone data retention rules: (Ars Technica)

India

• Two Kerala rice varieties get GIs: (Spicy IP),
• India considers Bayh-Dole type legislation: (IAM), (PLI), (Spicy IP),
• ‘Gillette defence’ used in Indian patent case J Mitra and Co Pvt Ltd v Kesar Medicaments: (International Law Office),
• Content owners join forces to combat low revenue shares, piracy: (Content Sutra),
• Indian government issues IP Enforcement Rules: (Spicy IP),
• Spicy IP interview with Director General of CSIR, Dr Samir K Brahmachari: (Spicy IP)

Ireland

• Irish ISP, Eircom, sued by record labels over file-sharing by users: (Out-Law)

Israel

• Israel rebukes US: Our copyright laws are fine, thanks: (Ars Technica), (IP Factor),
• Trade mark for ‘Bladeless Razor’ rejected for descriptiveness: (IP Factor)

Italy

• Italian Supreme Court decides compatible bricks for Lego systems ‘not unfair competition’: (Class 46),
• Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma crackdown on fake Parma hams sold in Italy: (Class 46)

Japan

• ISPs to take on downloaders: (IPKat)

Lithuania

• Supreme Court decision clears way for Lithuanian collecting society to claim levies from all Lithuanian importers of blank media: (IPKat)

Netherlands

• District Court in The Hague dismisses trade mark claims brought by Andy Scott of British pop band The Sweet against Galaxy Music BV: (Class 46)

Norway

• EFTA guidance on international exhaustion requested in L’Oreal Norge AS v Smart Club Norge AS: (Class 46)

Poland

• No confusion between MAKROTERM and MAKRO: (Class 46),
• High fees for trade marks: (Class 46)

Serbia

• New Serbian .rs domain name is a success: (Class 46)

Sweden

• Sweden becoming less friendly to file sharing: (Techdirt),
• Swedish Pirate Party rejects Swedish plan to enable courts to order ISPs to reveal IP addresses of file-sharers: (Ars Technica)

Switzerland

• Lower fees for trade marks: (Class 46),
• Revision of Swiss copyright law raises moderate protest: (Intellectual Property Watch)

United Kingdom

• Yahoo! – UK decision on sponsored linking and trade mark infringement: (Rouse & Co International),
• Worldwide piracy crackdown threatens ISPs: (IMPACT),
• High Court overturns UKIPO decision to refuse computer program patent application in Symbian’s Patent Application, UKIPO announces it will appeal (equivalent patent granted by EPO): (IPKat), (Out-Law), (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog), (IPEG), (Techdirt), (IP Law360), (IP Factor),
• JK Rowling sues to block fan site’s Harry Potter book: (Out-Law),
• DSS’s UK patent invalidated in European Central Bank v Document Security Systems Inc: (IPKat),
• Scottish Court hands down judgment in passing-off case Wise Property Care Limited v White Thomson Preservation Limited & Ors: (IPKat),
• Government must take data protection more seriously, says Parliamentary committee: (Out-Law),
• Personal data: Information Commissioner to focus on reducing risk, not enforcement: (Out-Law)

United States

US General

• IP litigation at the ITC: Recent developments and best practices: (Philip Brooks)

US Patent Reform

• Crossroads ahead?: (Patent Prospector),
• S 1145 and reexamination: (Patent Prospector),
• Compromise on Patent Reform Bill, or mere delusion?: (IPBiz),
• Amendments to s 1145: (Patent Docs),
• Abbott spent $4.4 million on 2007 lobbying effort: (Patent Docs),
• Nortel spent $560,000 lobbying for patent legislation in 2007: (Patent Prospector),
• Moving to first-to-file: (Patently-O),
• US Senate moves toward vote on reform to patent regime: (Intellectual Property Watch),
• Forbes article on US patent reform by Mr Shun-Kuo Su of Taiwan: (Patent Prospector),
• Patent re-exams improve patent quality; so why does Congress want to limit them?: (Techdirt),
• No reform stone left unturned: (IP Law360)

US Patents

• Patent litigation statistics: Number of patents being litigated: (Patently-O), (response from Patent Prospector),
• PWC patent litigation statistics: (Patent Prospector), (more from Patent Prospector),
• Georgia-Pacific factors for royalty determination: (Patent Prospector),
• In defense of offense… defending against patent trolls: (phosita),
• Strategic use of a deficient office action (or why a call to an examiner might not be in an applicant’s best interests): (Patentably Defined),
• Spark-IP: Patent search tool: (Patent Librarian’s Notebook),
• Does decreasing the allowance rate improve the quality of US patents?: (IP Spotlight),
• USPTO patent allowance rates down to 54%: (IP Updates),
• Troll Tracker suit removed to Eastern District of Texas: (EDTexweblog.com),
• USPTO news: Change in procedure for withdrawing from representation: (Patent Docs), (IP Updates), (Anticipate This!), (PLI),
• Defunding the trolls: Attacking the damages claim: (IP Law360),
• Is information a patentable business method ‘product’?: (IP Directions),
• Senate amends 2009 budget to condemn diverting funds from the USPTO: (Patent Prospector), (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog),
• Some are experts, others just provide opinions: Seitz v Envirotech Sys: (ISinIP),
• Why has the US Supreme Court been so interested in patent cases?: (phosita),
• Admissibility of settlement communications in patent infringement rule 11 proceedings: (Philip Brooks),
• Don’t feel so restricted – MPEP802.02 restriction practice: (Patent Prospector),
• Patent trolls: a selective etymology: (IP Law360)

US Copyright

• The unpleasantries of service of process: (Patry Copyright Blog),
• US: Pirates turned enforcers?: (Afro-IP),
• FCC commish: Net neutrality shouldn’t extend to illegal acts: (Ars Technica),
• MPAA to Congress: Filtering is in college’s best interests: (Ars Technica),
• Antigua says it’s going to start ignoring US copyrights (for real this time): (Techdirt),
• Photographs are not derivative works (Part II): (Patry Copyright Blog),
• Monetising file-sharing: collective licensing good, ISP tax bad: (Electronic Frontier Foundation),
• Hollywood’s record year shows MPAA’s piracy folly: (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

US Trademarks

• USPTO requires written description in application for trade marks containing non-standard characters: (IP Spotlight), (IP Updates),
• New trade mark description rule to take effect 13 May 2008: (Daily Dose of IP),
• Trade mark declaration audits for fraud remediation: (IP Updates)

US – Companies / Entities

• Apple – Apple sued by Mirror Worlds over document streaming patents: (IP Law360), (Ars Technica), (IPBiz),
• Barnes & Noble - Illinois federal judge allows infringement case against Barnes & Noble and Aeropostale to proceed after denying claims that MedCom USA's patent for prepaid phone and gift card technology is invalid: (IP Law360),
• BrainLAB – Although Medtronic’s patent suit was dismisses last year, the company faces a request from BrainLAB to pay $6M for legal fees: (IP Law360),
• Cardica - Federal judge refuses to dismiss patent interference suit brought by Cardica against Integrated Vascular Interventional Technologies over patents covering an apparatus for minimally invasive bypass surgeries: (IP Law360),
• Citigroup Credit Services – Court dismisses copyright case brought against Citigroup Credit Services and its counsel by FM Industries over program used to manage debt collection information: (IP Law360),
• Citrix – Citrix wins stay in patent dispute with Communique, pending patent re-examination: (IP Law360),
• Cook – Court rules endovascular grafts manufactured by Cook do not infringe Edwards Lifesciences patents: (IP Law360),
• Dime Group International – Court stays Dime’s trade mark infringement claims pending international arbitration in Russia: Dime Group Int’l, Inc v Soyuz-Victan USA, LLC: (Chicago IP Litigation Blog),
• Dell – Dell fails to invalidate Mass Engineered Designs’ patent relating to multiscreen display units: (IP Law360),
• Dupre – Spitzer call girl, Ashley Dupre, threatens news outlets over copyright: (Techdirt), (43(B)log), (Patry Copyright Blog),
• eBay – Split decision for eBay refines internet trade mark infringement standards: Purfumebay.com v eBay: (Intellectual Property Law Blog),
• Finjan – Finjan awarded $9 million upon finding that Secure Computing Corp willfully infringed three web antivirus patents: (IP Law360),
• Guatanamera Cigars – TTAB decides GUATANAMERA geographically misdescriptive for cigars: Corporacion Habanos, SA v Guatanamera Cigars Co: (IP Updates),
• IBM – Harry&David bring patent suit against IBM over WebSphere and Net Commerce software: (IPBiz),
• ImagePoint – CAFC reverses noninfringement ruling in patent dispute over menu board technology: LSI Industries, Inc v ImagePoint, Inc: (IP Law360), (Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog), (Patent Prospector),
• iParadigms (Turnitin) – Court rules that plagiarism detection is fair use in case brought by four students over use of archived student works: (43(B)log),
• Medsafe Technologies – Medsafe files suit against Becton Dickinson & Co and Retractable Technologies for infringement of safety syringe patent: (IP Law360),
• Microsoft – Veritas invalidates Microsoft’s data base patent: (Washington State Patent Law Blog),
• Motorola – USPTO refuses to register Motorola radio’s chirp as a trade mark: (IP Law360),
• Nortel – Remittitur granted from $28 million to $11.82 million in QPSX patent case against Nortel: (EDTexweblog.com), (Patent Prospector), (IP Law360),
• Nymex - Supreme Court denies petition for writ of certiorari filed by the New York Mercantile Exchange, affirming an appellate court’s ruling that Nymex’s settlement prices for oil and gas futures cannot be copyrighted: (IP Law360),
• Palm – Canadian residents, Howard B Rosen and Robert M Nelson sue Palm for patent infringement relating to wireless phone automatic dialing technology: (IP Law360),
• PharmaStem Therapeutics – High Court denies writ of certiorari in blood storage patent suit brought by PharmaStem against ViaCell: (IP Law360),
• Qualcomm – Appellate judge refuses to block lower court's permanent injunction barring Qualcomm from importing and selling chips and devices that allegedly infringe three Broadcom patents: (IP Law360),
• RIAA – RIAA awarded $23,250, or $750 in statutory damages for each of the 31 songs named in the lawsuit, plus $420 in court costs: Atlantic v Anderson: (Ars Technica),
• RIAA – Tanya Andersen refiles class action against the RIAA alleging racketeering, fraud, illegal spying: (Techdirt), (The IP ADR Blog),
• Sony – ITC probes Sony in LED patent case: (IP Law360),
• Strom – District Court holds breached settlement agreement does not create patent jurisdiction in Strom v Strom Closures, Inc: (Chicago IP Litigation Blog),
• TiVo – Dish Network asks CAFC to reconsider damages award to TiVo for patent infringement: (IP Law360), (Patent Prospector),
• Zimmer – Hudson Surgical Design sues Zimmer alleging infringement of two patents relating to knee replacement implants and surgical techniques: (IP Law360)

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