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 us know if you think we’ve missed something important, or if there is a source you think should be monitored.

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Chairman Leahy announces ‘tentative agreement in principle’ on Patent Reform Bill (Patent Docs) (IP Watch) (Patently-O) (IAM)

CAFC reverses ITC finding of non-infringement of design patent: Crocs, Inc v ITC (Inventive Step) (ITC Law Blog) (Class 99) (IP Frontline)

Flawed property index names best and worst countries for IP protection (IAM)

Despite tough times, customers still keep trying out well known brand names (Name Wire)

The sale of Polaroid’s Collection: The end of a photography era (IP finance)

 

Inventors doesn’t need patents, they just need a market (Innovationpartners)

Could Patent Trolls save innovation? (IP Osgoode)

New study reinforces value of patents in venture capital investment (IP Asset Maximizer Blog)

 

New ACTA leak: U.S., Korea, Singapore, Denmark do not support transparency (Michael Geist)

ACTA transparency scorecard (Michael Geist) (Michael Geist)

 

IP litigation in Africa: the WIPO magazine reports (Afro-IP) 

‘Easter bunnies case’ back at the Austrian Court of First Instance: Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG v Franz Hauswirth GmbH (Class 46)

Appeal lodged in Men at Work ‘Down Under’ decision (IP Whiteboard)

FCA holds similarities that existed between Baco’s and Nutrientwater’s enhanced water products could not ground an action in passing off (IP Whiteboard)

Conference Board of Canada report: Intellectual Property in the 21st Century (IP Osgoode)

Canada leads U.S. in International Property Rights Index (Michael Geist)

Counterfeit products exceed half a million (IP tango)

Quandary for Chile’s wine brands (IP tango)

Beijing subsidies for foreign patents: allowed or not? Smart or not? (IP Dragon)

Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court:Konica’s claim dismissed: Konica Minolta Holdings Inc v. Trademark Review and Appraisal Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (China Blawg)

Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court: TRAB ordered to re-decide TUAN TOURAN review application: Volkswagen Inc v Trademark Review And Appraisal Board Of The State Administration For Industry And Commerce Of The People’s Republic Of China (China Blawg)

Just Do It? Protecting advertising slogans in China Part I (China Law Insight)

Notice concerning the enforcement of the amended Patent Law (China Blawg)

China trademarks: when similar ain’t so similar (China Hearsay)

China trademarks. Where your name is an image. Think like a Chinese consumer. (China Law Blog)

IP in Danish ethanol technology (Innovationpartners)

Europe takes step closer to single EU patent and patent court (Patent Docs)

Hungarians delegation’s ‘Ten good reasons for not distributing the OHIM’s surplus to “users”’ (IPKat)

Why can’t Europe find a new EPO president? (ipeg) (IP Watch)

Holding up products at EU borders using patents (ipeg)

Improving the links between ESOs and the European Patent Office (IP:JUR)

General Court affirms earlier Board of Appeal’s decision that "James Jones" is confusingly similar to "JACK & JONES", in connection with clothing in Class 25 (Class 46)

Clutter on the Community Trademark Register (SOLO Independent IP Practitioners)

No strange aroma, but will Longkou Fen Si pass the test? – Application for GI protection for Chinese pasta (Class 46)

‘Pemento do Couto’ PGI registered for Spanish peppers, altered ‘Prosciutto di Parma’ PDO packaging change (Class 46)

CEIPI response on the Lisbon Agreement now published (Class 46)

Hong Kong budget report: new benefits for inventors (China Law Insight)

Montblanc undertakes to not sell ‘Gandhi’ pens (Spicy IP)

Rin v Tide I: What is the law? – Comparative advertising (Spicy IP) (Spicy IP)

Reforms at the IP office (Spicy IP)

Patents and innovations (Spicy IP)

Andhaakaanoon: An obtuse copyright exception for the disabled? (Spicy IP)

India trendy on IP matters! (Spicy IP)

Israel Commissioner limits possibility of filing divisional applications to lifetime of the parent application (IP Factor)

Israel Court rejects request to dismiss charges for copyright infringement concerning screening UEFA Cup in pizza parlour: Charlton v Pizza Pazza & Ors (IP Factor)

Versace 83 LTD. sues Maariv newspaper for libel over allegation that celebrity was wearing fake Versace logo (IP Factor)

Community designs a good fit for G Star (Class 99)

Trans continental IP deal over Kenyan resource – sale of Kwale Mineral Sands Project (Afro-IP)

Norway takes necessary steps to join Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement (Class 99) (IPKat)

Slovak Republic signs up for Singapore Treaty (Class 46)

Girona Court of Appeals orders Spanish company to pay damages to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over sale of fake Oscar statuettes (Class 46)

Stockholm District Court: Partial win for both parties in patent infringement, invalidity proceedings, both parties to bear own costs: Vanserum Vision AB v. SICK IVP AB (EPLAW)

EWHC (Pat): Mixed fortunes for hearsay evidence notices served out of time: Intervet UK Ltd v Merial, the Queen’s University of Belfast and the University of Saskatchewan(PatLit)

Firecraft: the danger of estoppels following Trade Mark Registry proceedings (JIPLP)

EWHC (Ch): Cipriani appeal emphasises limits of ‘own name’ defence: Hotel Cipriani SRL & Ors v Cipriani (Grosvenor Street) Ltd & Ors (IPKat)

EWHC (Ch) rules in favour of plaintiff in MG trade mark dispute: Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation & Ors v MG Sports and Racing Europe Ltd & Anr (IP finance) (Property, intangible) (IPKat)

James Dyson sues VAX for infringement of registered design (Class 99)

Copyright infringement – Harry Potter style (Trademark Blog of the Trademark Lawyer’s Mind)

Brands key to growth, says IP Minister (Managing IP)

Are UK Patent Courts patentee unfriendly? (ipeg)

Copyright Tribunal: more lovable from 6 April (1709 Copyright Blog)

Intellectual Property Institute and Centre for Commercial Law Studies sign MoU (IPKat)

Watch out for the patent that never was! (IPKat)

Litigate or Twitigate? – battle between designer ‘Hidden Eloise’ and Paperchase (Class 99)

Should USA black list itself on its Special 301 List? – Interview with Howard Knopf (Excess Copyright)

Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator seeks public comment on its priorities (Public Knowledge) (Ars Technica) (TorrentFreak)

Did you know…Respondents can stay parallel District Court actions under 28 U.S.C. § 1659? (ITC Law Blog)

District Court N D Illinois: No equitable estoppel where parties never communicated: Integrated Cards, LLC v McKillips Indus., Inc (Chicago IP Litigation Blog)

Chairman Leahy announces ‘tentative agreement in principle’ on Patent Reform Bill (Patent Docs) (IP Watch) (Patently-O) (IAM)

Patent reform is so NOT sexy, it hurts… (Patent Baristas)

More opposition to patent reform (Inventive Step)

Upcoming symposium and the role of patent applicant incentives in Patent Office (PTO) reform (Patently-O)

Patent system woes (IP Directions)

USPTO interim procedure for Patent Term Adjustment recalculation (I/P Updates)

USPTO announces revised patent prosecution highway pilot programs with JPO and IPOS and new PPH pilot for PCT work products (Patent Docs)

CAFC: Standard for reviewing BPAI obviousness decisions: In re Chapman (Patently-O)

CAFC: When does an Ordinary Order become a Preliminary Injunction?: Duhn Oil Tool, Inc v Cooper Cameron Corp (not precedential) (Patently-O)

CAFC reverses ITC finding of non-infringement of design patent: Crocs, Inc v ITC (Inventive Step) (ITC Law Blog) (Class 99) (IP Frontline)

CAFC: Visiting Judge explains potential downfalls of De Novo standard of claim construction review: Trading Techs. Int’l, Inc. v. eSpeed, Inc (Gray on Claims)

District Court N D Illinois: ‘Consisting of’ and ‘consisting essentially of’ are not substantially identical: Kim v Earthgrains Co. (Docket Report)

District Court N D Illinois: Jurisdiction over declaratory patent claims based upon location of enforcement: Chicago Bd. Options Exchange Inc. v. Realtime Data, LLC d/b/a IXO (Chicago IP Litigation Blog)

District Court N D Illinois: False marking false marking false marking all at up to $500 per offense: Simonian v. Blistex, Ciba, Pfizer, 3M, Edgecraft, Darex, Cisco, Bunn-O-Matic, Oreck, Novartis, Merck, etc. (Patently-O)

District Court Delaware: Federal Circuit’s en banc review of written description requirement does not constitute ‘intervening change’ or alter ‘existing standards’: Cordance Corporation v. Amazon.com Inc (Docket Report)

District Court S D Ohio: ‘Offer to sell liability does not apply to claims of infringement of a method patent’: In re: Bill of Lading Transmission and Processing System Patent Litigation (Docket Report)

District Court E D New York: Disclosure cut-and-pasted from another patent leads to malpractice claim: Cold Spring Harbor Lab v. R&G(271 Patent Blog)

District Court N D California: 99% of the time, is not ‘always’: Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Network Appliance (Docket Report)

ITC issues public version of opinion in certain semiconductor chips with minimized chip package size involving Tessera as complaint against 18 respondents (ITC Law Blog)

AMD – Opti v. AMD case settles before closing statements (EDTexweblog.com)

Applied Materials – Defendants appeal from finding of unenforceability due to inequitable conduct before PTO and sanction under § 285 and inherent powers: Applied Materials v. Multimetrixs (PATracer)

Humanscale Corporation – ITC initial determination finding violation of Section 337 in certain adjustable keyboard support systems imported and sold by CompX and Waterloo Furtniture (ITC Law Blog)

LG – Termination of investigation as to Funai in certain video displays (ITC Law Blog)

Princo – Federal Circuit to hear en banc arguments in Princo appeal (2007-1386) (ITC Law Blog)

Marvel Entertainment – Pow! Biff! Bam! Copyright dust-up over superhero rights – Marvel and Jack Kirby heirs’ copyright dispute  (IP Whiteboard)

US Air Force Reserve – The White Stripes threaten legal action against US Air Force Reserve over alleged unauthorised use of song (IP Whiteboard)

Senate Bill proposes study on trademark bullies (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

The Top 10 TTAB decisions for 2009 (TTABlog)

District Court N D Illinois: Close balance of harms prevents TRO, but expedited discovery granted: Scala’s Original Beef & Sausage Co., LLC v. Alvarez d/b/a Michaelangelo Foods (Chicago IP Litigation Blog)

District Court W D Washington: ‘Worm Factory’ bench trial results in permanent injunction: Cascade Manufacturing Sales, Inc. v. Providnet Co. Trust (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

District Court E D Washington: Information about trademarks not protectable as a trade secret: K.S. ex rel. Isserlis v. Ambassador Programs, Inc. (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

District Court S D New York: Demand letters, declaratory actions and the first to file rule: Catherine Fandino v Amalgam Entertainment (The Trademark Blog)

District Court E D New York: One way of getting to $2 million in damages: Rolls-Royce plc and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited v Rolls-Royce USA, Inc (The Trademark Blog)

Precedential No 5: TTAB finds CAPITAL CITY BANK and CITIBANK not confusingly similar, dismisses 2(d) and dilution-based opposition: Citigroup Inc. v. Capital City Bank Group, Inc (TTABlog)

Precedential No. 6: TTAB spanks opposer who failed to serve initial disclosures: Dating DNA, LLC v. Imagini Holdings, Ltd. (TTABlog)

TTAB finds JOJOBA BUTTER BEADS generic for… guess what?:  International Flora Technologies, Ltd. v. Desert Whale Jojoba Company, Inc (not precedential) (TTABlog)

DCAEV – Adult entertainment company DCAEV sues Intelius over ‘Date Check’ trademark (Seattle Trademark Lawyer)

New Balance – Trade dress suit re lacrosse helmets: Sport Helmets Inc v New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc and Warrior Sports Inc (The Trademark Blog)

Ozzy Osbourne – Judge allows Ozzy Osbourne to continue lawsuit against Tony Iommi over BLACK SABBATH (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

United Black Fund – Parties respond to TTAB order in oldest pending case: United Black Fund v. National Black United Fund, Inc (TTABlog)