IP Think Tank Global Week in Review – 11 January 2008

  Posted on January 11, 2008 By

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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 Think Tank Global week in Review at http://feeds.feedburner.com/DuncanBucknellsGlobalWeekInReview

Highlights this week included:

Global

  • Electronic filing –
    WIPO’s latest notice concerning the Hague system for the international
    registration of industrial designs: (IPKat),
  • Five principles
    considered as basis for IP Annex to UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured
    Financing: (IPKat),
  • Sony and the implosion of
    DRM: (Ars
    Technica    ) (and related coverage from Ars
    Technica    ), (John
    Carroll    ),
  • The indirect approach: (IP
    ThinkTank    ),
  • The whole and the parts –
    IP bundling: (Catch us if
    you can    ),
  • Rights Agent and creative
    commons: (Creative
    Commons Org    ),
  • Protecting and managing
    well-known trade marks: (Thomson
    Scientific    ),
  • But does it work? The
    importance of reduction to practice: (IP
    Directions    ),
  • Realized IP strategy –
    it’s what you did, not what you planned: (IP
    ThinkTank    ),
  • Last chance to patent
    your patent valuation method: (IP
    ThinkTank    ),
  • Does low-cost,
    volume-based patenting really save money?: (IP
    Spotlight    )

Pharma

  • India:
    Trade mark assignment under scrutiny in a case of deceptive similarity – Doctor
    Morepen Limited v Yash Pharma Laboratories Limited    : (Mondaq),

  • Arrow v Merck – An early
    route to market for generics?: (Mondaq),
  • Will China be the next big biotech
    player?: (Biotech
    Weblog    ),
  • Immunomedics obtains
    antibody patent: (SmartBrief),
  • Cyplasin Biomedical
    obtains US patent for protein based cancer treatment: (Patent
    Docs    )
  • Argatroban – Encysive
    Pharmaceuticals Inc., GlaxoSmithKline and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. file
    patent infringement lawsuit to stop Barr Laboratories from producing a
    generic version of the anti-blood clotting drug: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Biaxin (Clarithromycin) –
    Court holds in Abbott Labs v Sandoz that use of Markush group language
    in the specification does not necessarily limit construction of claim
    terms: (Chicago
    IP Litigation    ),
  • Coreg / Dilatrend
    / Eucardic (Carvedilol) – Teva
    Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. drops patent infringement lawsuit against
    Taro Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Draxxin (Tulathromycin) –
    Pfizer gets Indian patent for Tulathromycin: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • Eloxatin (Oxaliplatin) –
    Barr Laboratories challenges of Sanofi-Aventis’ Eloxatin patent: (SmartBrief),
    (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • Gleevec / Glivec (Imatinib)
    – Okasa files opposition to Novartis’ Indian patent application for alpha
    crystal form of Imatinib: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    )
  • Invirase (Saquinavir) –
    Progress of Roche’s AIDS Technology Transfer Initiative: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    )
  • Lipitor (Atorvastatin) – Pfizer
    will appeal Canadian Federal Court decision allowing Apotex to launch
    generic version of its anti-cholesterol drug: (Latest
    Drug News    ), (Generics Web),
  • Lipitor (Atorvastatin) – German Federal Patent Court
    invalidates Pfizer’s Lipitor patent: (Mondaq),
  • OxyContin (Oxycodone) – New York federal
    judge finds that Purdue Pharma LP did not engage in conduct that
    invalidated its patents for OxyContin: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Skelaxin (Metaxalone) – King
    Pharmaceuticals Inc. drops infringement case against CorePharma LLC
    concerning its muscle relaxant Skelaxin, agreeing to grant a patent license
    allowing the defendant to manufacture a generic version of the drug: (IP
    Law360    ), (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • XmAb – Xencor receives US
    patent for its proprietary antibody Fc optimization technology: (SmartBrief)

Canada

  • Copyright
    – Why Canada
    needs more flexible fair dealing: (Michael Geist),
  • CRIA
    calls Songwriters Association of Canada’s P2P proposal a ‘pipe dream’: (Michael Geist),
  • Mainstream
    media picks up where it left off on Canada’s DMCA: (Michael Geist),
    (more coverage by Michael
    Geist    ),
  • Copyright
    reform controversy and activism from community groups: (Michael Geist),
    (more from Michael
    Geist    ),
  • Appeal
    upholds Copyright Board’s decision that the transmission of a ringtone to a
    cellphone is a ‘communication to the public’: (Michael Geist),
  • Federal
    Court of Appeal quashes Copyright Board’s decision to certify tariff on iPods
    and SD cards: (Michael
    Geist    )

China

  • China’s new regulations
    against online video: (China
    Law Blog    ), (Dr
    Shock MD PhD    )

  • IFPI v Yahoo – Beijing
    Higher People’s Court decides Yahoo! China is liable for copyright
    infringement because it provided search and linking services that directed
    users to sound recordings Yahoo! China ought to have known were pirated: (IAM),
  • IFPI v Yahoo
    judgment – Uncertainty is bad for business: (Experience
    Not Logic    ),
  • Court grants ‘well-known’
    status to B&Q’s Chinese trade mark: (Rouse
    & Co. International    ),
  • Transforming intellectual
    property in China and Taiwan:
    (Thomson
    Scientific    )
  • Service of Process in China:
    (IPDragon),

Europe

  • Montenegro gets the long list
    treatment: (IPKat),

  • First must-fit design
    invalidity decision: (Catch
    us if you can    ),

  • Crocs refused European
    community design due to ‘lack [of] individual character’: (IP
    Factor    ),

  • Online content and patent
    reform are key for Europe in 2008: (Intellectual
    Property Watch    ),
  • Hungary ratifies Patent Law
    Treaty: (IPKat),
  • Intel responds to EU
    antitrust charges relating to Intel’s practice of offering hefty discounts
    to Intel-only shops: (Ars
    Technica    ), (Out-Law)
  • European patent troll
    boom? I think not: (IP
    ThinkTank    ),
  • European Commission launches
    consultation on ‘Content Online in the Single Market’: (IPKat),
    (Out-Law), (IPR
    Helpdesk    ),
  • Norway and Croatia join the European
    Patent Organisation: (IP
    Menu News    ),
  • EU joins Hague system for
    the international registration of industrial designs: (Catch us
    if you can    )

India

  • National Knowledge
    Commission calls for an overhaul of India’s patent process: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Creative commons,
    independent music and TempoStand.com: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Interview with Felix
    Ador, key negotiator in bilateral agreement discussion between India and Switzerland: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • The International Music
    Score Library Project faces closure: (Spicy
    IP    )
  • FICCI recommends punitive
    damages for piracy: (Spicy
    IP    )
  • Prime Minister announces
    FICCI to draft Innovation Act within the year: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Companies to get back
    Patent fees: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Innovation in India:
    (Thomson
    Scientific    ),

Israel

Japan

  • Japanese companies continue to miss IP value
    creating opportunities: (IAM)

South Africa

  • Protecting South Africa’s biological and
    cultural diversity: (Mondaq)

United Kingdom

  • Fast track trade mark
    registration in the UK:
    (Filemot),
  • Sections 69 – 74 of the Companies
    Act 2006     (dealing with objections to company names) and sections 82 –
    85 (trading disclosures) take effect on 1 October 2008: (IPKat),
  • Application of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys to register
    the words TRADE MARK ATTORNEY as a certification mark has been withdrawn:
    (IPKat),
  • UK government launches consultation
    on copyright exceptions: (IPKat),
    (Michael Geist),
    (IMPACT),
    (Patry
    Copyright Blog    ), (Out-Law), (Ars
    Technica    ), (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Winemakers E & J
    Gallo sue Fitz & Floyd for trade mark dilution in respect of the Texan
    group’s ceramic chickens sold under the name Gallo de Oro: (IPKat),
  • Patents Court for England and Wales hands down complicated
    cost decision in Monsanto Technology LLC v Cargill International SA and
    Cargill plc    : (IPKat),
  • ‘Opt-in’ or lose out –
    UKIPO’s new system for examining conflicting marks: (Mondaq),
  • Cost effective patent
    actions: (Mondaq),
  • UK dentist firm beats Lacoste
    in trade mark dispute: (Counterfeit
    Chic    ),
  • Threats of IP
    infringement and the amendments to s70 Patents Act: (Mondaq),
  • Domain name dealer beats
    Maestro in dispute over maestro.co.uk domain name: (Out-Law),
  • In re DLP Ltd – English
    Patents Court gives judgment on first appeal against an opinion of the
    Comptroller of Patents under the scheme for the provision of UK Patent
    Office opinions: (Mondaq),
  • CIVC, the French
    champagne wine-growers trade association, wins its complaint before
    Nominet concerning the unauthorized registration of the domain name
    champagne.co.uk: (Mondaq)

United States

  • Chinese Senior Judge
    Yongshun Cheng blasts reforms to US patent law: (IPBiz),
    (Patent
    Prospector    ),
  • Priority right when
    abandoning and refiling applications: (Canada Patent Blog),
  • American National
    Standards Institute calls for comment on global standard for patent
    valuation: (IAM),
  • On the continuing
    question of copyright and the First Amendment: (Lessig),
  • New York Court of Appeals
    rules on question of whether a trademark used only abroad can be the basis
    of an unfair competition claim under New York law in ITC Limited v.
    Punchgini, et al    .: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • American presidential
    elections and IP: (IPEG),
    (IAM),
  • Number of utility patent
    claims issued by USPTO per year has quintupled in 30 years: (Patent
    Troll Tracker    ),
  • Two court of appeals
    opinions on copyright and karaoke – Leadsinger, Inc. v BMG Music
    Publishing     and Zomba Enterprises, Inc. v. Panorama Records, Inc.:
    (Patry
    Copyright Blog    ),
  • New IDS rules to limit
    number of references in application: (Post-Grant),
  • American Intellectual Property
    Law Association and Intellectual Property Owners Association seek summary
    judgment that the retroactive application of PTO rules on continuation and
    claiming practice is poor sportsmanship: (Patent
    Baristas    ),
  • Retroactive copyright
    transfer agreement by one co-author to a third party cannot extinguish the
    other co-author’s accrued infringement claims – Davis v. Blige: (IP
    Updates    ),
  • Ex Parte Matsuoka: my
    case for prima facie non-obviousness: (Benefits
    of Hindsight    ),
  • The KSR decision
    and withstanding the obviousness challenge: (Patent
    Prospector    ), (Philip
    Brooks    ),
  • Architects, profits, and
    hearsay objections – Powell v Penhollow: (Patry
    Copyright Blog    )
  • Green over patents – the
    IRS’s new rule on patents: (Patent
    Prospector    )
  • Acacia – Acacia unit
    drops claims against Verizon Wireless, the last remaining defendant in its
    patent infringement case over technology for transferring address data: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Advanced Micro Devices
    Inc – AMD settles patent dispute with MicroUnity over graphics processing
    unit patents: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Alberta Telecommunications Research
    Centre – ATRC drops patent infringement suits against Rambus Inc, but
    settlement doesn’t cover Rambus licensees: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Apple – Apple sued once
    again for its iPod/iTunes tie-in, with the plaintiff (Stacey Somers) alleging
    Apple iTunes Store has an illegal monopoly over the online music and video
    markets: (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • Artemis Records – Trade mark
    suit over the use of company name Artemis Records to proceed against
    Sheridan Square Entertainment despite plaintiff’s eight year wait to file
    proccedings: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Biax Corp – Biax and
    Fujitsu Computer Systems look to drop allegations against one another in
    Biax’s patent infringement suit over computer server technology: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Bosch – Federal Circuit
    judge vacates jury verdict finding Robert Bosch Tool Corp. infringed
    patents on radio technology held by Black & Decker Inc. and modifies
    the District Court’s claim construction, while leaving other parts of its
    decision intact: (IP
    Law360     ),
  • Bose Corp – US
    International Trade Commission launches investigation into whether Bose
    Corp.’s two patents are being infringed by the importation of
    noise-reducing headphones made by Panasonic Corp., Logitech Inc. and other
    headset manufacturers: (IP
    Law360    ), (Patent
    Prospector    ),
  • Cordis Corporation – US
    Court of Appeals upholds verdicts in favour of Cordis on patents infringed
    by Medtronic, Inc. and Boston Scientific Corporation: (SmartBrief),
    (IP
    Law360    ), (IP
    Updates    ), (Patent
    Prospector    ),
  • Dell Inc. – Dell gets
    sanction against Mass Engineered Design Inc. for violating rules regarding
    depositions on claim constructions: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • eBay – Netcraft’s
    disclosure in specification limits claim term, vitiating infringement: (Peter
    Zura’s 271 Patent Blog    ),
  • Elbex Video Ltd – Court
    rules that clear and unmistakable disavowal of claim scope required for
    prosection history estoppel in Elbex’ patent case against Sensormatic
    Electronics: (Mondaq),
  • eSpeed – Citing Seagate, federal judge overturns willful
    infringement verdict against eSpeed Inc. in its patent dispute with Trading
    Technologies International Inc.: (IP
    Law360    ), (Chicago
    IP Litigation    ), (coverage of minute orders from Chicago
    IP Litigation    ),
  • GraphOn Corp. – Juniper
    fights back against GraphOn’s motion to dismiss inequitable conduct
    counterclaim in patent infringement suit over security and firewall
    technology patents: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Hif Bio, Inc – Federal
    Circuit lacks jurisdiction over remand order on patent-related claims
    where District Court declined supplemental jurisdiction, finds FC in Hif
    Bio, Inc. v. Yung Shin Pharmaceuticals, Ltd    : (Mondaq),
  • Intel – New York AG
    launches antitrust inquiry into whether Intel used its dominant market
    position to force rival AMD out of the computer chip market: (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • Illumina Inc. – Illumina to
    pay Affymetrix $90m to settle litigation between the genetic analysis
    companies in the United States, England and Germany:
    (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Innovative Technologies
    Corp – Innovative Technologies awarded $23 million in damages in trade
    secrets suit against former employees: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Jan Marini Skin Research
    Inc – Jan Marini discontinues its latest eyelash-plumping product, while
    it fights off patent infringement suit and concerns from FDA: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Kodak – Kodak, Matsushita
    end patent suit with licensing pact: (IP
    Law360    )
  • McNeil Nutritionals LLC –
    Court of Appeals affirms in part and reverses in part, the District Court finding
    that the likelihood of confusion factors weighed in favor of McNeil in its
    action against Heartland Sweeteners concerning Splenda’s yellow trade
    dress: (43(B)log),
  • Medtronic – Medtronic has
    trade secrets lawsuit against former employees transferred from Federal
    Court back to State Court: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Microsoft – Supreme Court
    declines to hear appeal brought by Motionless Keyboard Co. in
    long-standing spat with Microsoft over certain joysticks and game
    controllers IP: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Microsoft – $160 Million
    jury verdict against Microsoft stands after unsuccessful challenge in its
    patent dispute with Z4 regarding software piracy prevention technology: (Mondaq),
  • Minerva – Judge dismisses
    Southern Communications Services Inc. from Minerva’s patent infringement lawsuit
    against numerous big players in the cellular industry: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Minerva – Federal judge
    dismisses Minerva’s patent infringement case against 11 cellular phone
    companies: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Monsanto – Supreme Court refuses
    appeal of a Mississippi farmer found to have infringed Monsanto’s patents
    by replanting the agrichemical giant’s soybean seeds: (IP
    Law360    ), (SmartBrief),
    (Patent
    Docs    ), (PLI),
  • Motorola – Motorola and
    Metrologic have agreed to a cross-licensing deal which settles all pending
    patent litigation regarding barcode scanning technology: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • NetRatings – NetRatings
    Inc. reaches licensing agreement and settlement in patent infringement
    action against WhenU.com Inc: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • OK! – OK! Magazine sues
    Heat magazine for copyright infringement concerning its use of quotes from
    OK!’s interview with a celebrity: (Out-Law),
  • O2 Micro International
    Ltd. – O2 Micro seeks to split off the antitrust counterclaims from a
    lawsuit in which it accuses Rohm Co. Ltd. of infringing three patents
    related to liquid crystal display backlighting technology: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Qualcomm – Qualcomm
    sanctioned $8.6m and lawyers referred to State Bar over failure to turn
    over documents in patent infringement trial against Broadcom Corp.: (IPBiz),
    (IP
    Law360    ), (Patent
    Prospector    ),
  • Recording Industry
    Association of America – RIAA copyright infringement suit against Mr
    Howell for copying music to his computer and the surrounding controversy: (Patry
    Copyright Blog    ), (more related coverage from Patry
    Copyright Blog    ), (China
    Hearsay    ), (IP
    Central    ),
  • Sara Lee Corp – LEGSTICK
    confusingly similar to famous L’EGGS mark for hosiery, says TTAB: (TTABlog),
  • Silicon Image Inc. – California
    Federal Court denies request by video microchip manufacturer Silicon to
    stop rival Analogix Semiconductor Inc. from selling chips allegedly based
    on confidential trade secrets: (IP
    Law360    )
  • Sony – Sony drops all claims
    against third-party defendant Microsemi in its patent infringement case
    concerning liquid-crystal-display backlighting technology: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Tessera Technologies Inc.
    – US International Trade Commission grants Tessera’s request to investigate importation of certain
    allegedly infringing semiconductor technology in products that use DRAM: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Test.com – USPTO rejects
    of all sixteen claims of the Test.com Internet test-taking method patent
    [6,513,042] on grounds of obviousness: (IPBiz),
  • Traffic Information LLC –
    Traffic Information sues several manufacturers of global positioning
    system navigation devices for allegedly violating a patent for a traffic
    information system: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • US Philips Corp – Court
    rules notice by related third party triggers damages; even numerical
    ranges have equivalent in US Philips patent infringement case against
    Iwasaki: (Mondaq),
  • Visa – Visa settles suits
    over no-contact credit card patent with California-based patent-holding
    firm: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Wacom – Dispute over
    privilege log resolved by joint CR 37(a)(2)(B) submission in Wacom’s
    patent infringement case against Hanvon Corporation: (Washington
    State Patent Law Blog    ),

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