IP Think Tank Global Week in Review – 25 January 2008

  Posted on January 25, 2008 By

 1 Comment

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:

Global

  • Funhouse mirror:
    distorting the perception of patents: (Patent
    Prospector    ),
  • What to do with orphan
    IP?: (IP
    ThinkTank    ),
  • Who owns your IP – who
    should?: (IP
    ThinkTank    ),
  • IBM patents and defensive
    publishing: (Securing
    Innovation    ),
  • Stockholm Network paper
    on developing nations and pharmaceutical patents: (IPcentral
    Weblog    ),
  • Good and bad news for the
    IP industry if recession does bite: (IAM),
  • Business Software Alliance: Piracy
    economic impact is tens of billions of dollars: (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • IP portfolio costs – when
    less is more: (IP
    ThinkTank    ),
  • IP protection: Competitive
    market default: (The
    Fire of Genius    ),
  • Creative Commons licences
    are useful but oversold: (Dilanchian),
  • OECD releases new
    research on emerging national innovation practices in member countries: (IPcentral)

Pharma

  • EC’s pharma sector inquiry
    over misuse of patents: (IPKat),
    (IP
    Law360    ), (more from IP
    Law360    ), (Mondaq),
  • FDC Reports launches
    PharmaAsiaNews.com to capture pharma news from India, China and Japan: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • GSK letter to Senators
    Leahy and Specter regarding the Senate Judiciary Report on the Patent
    Reform Bill: (PLI),
    (Patent
    Prospector    ), (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Indian government to weed
    out ‘irrational’ patent and proprietary drugs: (Spicy
    IP    ), (Medindia.com),
  • Recommended reading:
    Economic Times article on patents in the pharma sector and how small
    companies are using patents: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • Elli Lilly warns drug
    imports to US would boost counterfeit medicines: (BIO
    SmartBrief    ),
  • Supreme Court declines to
    review ruling by the CAFC that there is no constitutional right to access
    experimental drugs: (California
    Biotech Law Blog    ),

  • India: Kaul J reserves
    judgment in J Mitra v Span Diagnostics patent infringement/invalidity
    proceedings related to Hep C diagnostic technology: (Spicy
    IP    ),

  • Europe:
    Jacob Fleming conference on pharma and biotech IP and litigation in February:
    (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),

  • US: FDA removes teeth
    from exclusivity forfeiture: (IP
    Law360    )

 

  • Aptivus (Tipranavir) –
    Boehringer decides not to register Tipranavir in Brazil?: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • Arava (Leflunomide) –
    Sanofi-Aventis loses bid to dismiss Louisiana Wholsesale Drug Co’s
    antitrust claims accusing S-A of unlawfully blocking generic competition
    for Arava by filing a sham Citizen Petition with the USFDA: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Ciprofloxacin – CIPLA
    issued notice by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority for allegedly
    overpricing its antibiotic Ciprofloxacin (especially of note because CIPLA
    is objecting to Roche’s high price for Tarceva in Roche v CIPLA
    patent suit before the Delhi High Court): (Spicy
    IP    )
  • Crestor (Rosuvastatin) –
    Torrent brings pre-grant opposition against AstraZeneca’s anti-cholesterol
    drug Rosuvastatin but unclear against which application the opposition has
    been made: (Patent
    Circle    ),
  • Exelon (Rivastigmine) –
    Dr Reddys settles US patent dispute with Novartis over dementia treatment Exelon: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ), (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Imitrex (Sumatriptan) –
    Ranbaxy settles US patent dispute with GSK over migraine drug Imitrex: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ), (BIO
    SmartBrief    ), (IP
    Law360    ), (GenericsWeb),
  • Kaletra
    (Lopinavir/Ritonvair) – Developments on Kaletra/Abbott’s registration
    withdrawal in Thailand:
    (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • Kytril (Granisetron) –
    FDA issues response on generic Kytril; Teva’s argument takes the day and
    the company gets 180-day exclusivity: (FDA
    Law Blog    ), (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • Nexium (Esomeprazole) –
    AstraZeneca commences patent infringement action against Dr Reddy’s
    Laboratories to block generic version of the heartburn drug: (IP Law360),
  • Ortho Tri-Cyclen
    (Norgestimate/Ethinyl Estradiol) – Barr Pharmaceuticals in negotiations
    with Johnson & Johnson unit to resolve four-year patent dispute over
    oral contraceptive pill Ortho Tri-Cyclen: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Prevacid (Lansoprazole) –
    Teva announces USFDA’s tentative approval of generic Prevacid: (GenericsWeb),
  • Protonix (Pantoprazole) –
    Teva agrees to extend standstill agreement with rivals Altana Pharma AG
    and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. while the companies work to settle dispute
    over Teva’s generic version of Altana’s heartburn drug Protonix: (IP
    Law360    ), (GenericsWeb),
  • Risperdal (Risperidone) –
    Teva seeks relisting of Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal patent and
    asserts right to 180-day exclusivity: (Orange
    Book Blog    ),
  • Seasonique (Levonorgestrel/Ethinyl
    Estradiol) – US Patent Office issues patent for Barr Pharmaceuticals’
    extended cycle oral contraceptive: (BIO
    SmartBrief    ),
  • Tarceva (Erlotinib) –
    Roche patent infringement action against CIPLA before Delhi High Court over
    Tarceva patent: (Spicy
    IP    ), (Patent
    Circle    ), (21 Jan update – Spicy
    IP    ), (22 Jan update – Spicy
    IP    ), (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ), (24 Jan update – Spicy
    IP    ), (Patent
    Circle    ),
  • Tarceva (Erlotinib) –
    Roche’s Tarceva patent infringement action against CIPLA before Delhi High
    Court and the impact of Bajaj: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • Valcyte (Valganciclovir)
    – Update/correction on patent for Valganciclovir: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • Viread (Tenofovir) – US
    Patent Office rejects key HIV/AIDS drug patents at Public Patent
    Foundation request: Government finds prior art submitted by the Foundation
    invalidates all of Gilead Sciences’ claims: (Public Patent
    Foundation    ), (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ), (GenericsWeb),
    (IP
    Law360    )

Africa

  • Recent
    article of interest: ‘Staving off expungement: the ‘engineered’ use of a
    trademark in South African, UK and EC Law’: (Afro-IP),
  • Botswana calls on United Nations to take a more forceful
    role on free trade in Africa focusing on
    global trade and IP regimes: (Afro-IP),
  • Africa
    preferred route for Chinese counterfeits to Europe:
    (IP
    Dragon    ),  
  • Tanzania increases powers to seize counterfeits: (Afro-IP),
  • Zimbabwe re-launches Anti-Piracy Organisation: (Afro-IP)

Australia

  • Atorney-General releases
    new copyright issues paper on private copying of films and photos: (LawFont.com),
    (IPwar’s),
    (Michael Geist),
  • Government publishes  ‘Biotechnology Business Indicators
    November 2007’, including statistics about market capitalisation, clinical
    trial announcements and approvals and patents granted: (IPwar’s),
  • IP Australia publishes
    Position Paper following public consultation on incorporation of patent
    and trade marks attorney practices: (IPwar’s),

Brazil

Canada

  • Access Copyright updates
    public domain registry plans: (Michael Geist),
  • Privacy Commissioner
    warns against weakening privacy through Canadian DMCA: (Michael Geist),
    (Out-Law), (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • Copyright columns by
    Michael Geist: ‘Fair copyright provides Prentice with reform roadmap’ and
    ‘Copyright reform a potential threat to privacy’: (Michael Geist),
  • The Creators’ Copyright
    Coalition on copyright reform: (Michael Geist),
  • Canadian Copyright Lobby
    seeking mandated ISP filtering: (Michael Geist),
  • Canadian labels: We get
    ‘absolutely zero credit’ for not suing fans: (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • The copyright MPs: (Michael Geist),
  • CIPO adopts US
    electronic signature format, tests patent prosecution highway: (IP
    Updates    ),
  • IFPI’s focus on ISPs and
    the push for content blocking: (Michael Geist),
  • MPAA acknowledges major
    error in much-promoted study about the impact of movie piracy: (Michael Geist)

China

  • Applications and grants on
    the rise in China:
    (IAM),
  • China gets ready for National
    IP Strategy: (Philip
    Brooks    ), (IP
    Updates    ),
  • Microsoft defends unregistered
    ‘Windows’ trademark in China,
    claiming the mark is famous in its battle with a Ningbo eye-glass company: (China
    Law Blog    ),
  • Chinese company Zhongyi
    Electronic sues Microsoft for alleged patent infringement relating to
    technology that converts Roman characters to Chinese characters: (Jurist),
    (China Hearsay), (IP
    Dragon    ),
  • Louis Vuitton fails to
    invalidate LOUYIVEITEN trade mark in China: (Post-Grant)

Europe

  • Copiepresse may sue EC
    for copyright infringement in respect of its links to agency websites: (IPKat),
  • Microsoft ruling may not
    bolster Europe’s new case, warns lawyer:
    (Out-Law),
  • Rambus Inc. fails in its
    attempt to save most of its patent for a memory-chip design, the validity
    of which was challenged by Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Micron Technology
    Inc.: (IPKat),
  • AG confirms distribution
    requires transfer of ownership in C-456/06 Peek & Cloppenberg:
    (IPKat),
    (Out-Law),
  • The Greens/European Free
    Alliance advocate file-swapping with ‘I wouldn’t steal’ campaign: (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • IP addresses could become
    ‘personal information’ in Europe: (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • Proposed EU ISP filtering
    and copyright extension shot down: (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • EU appears to ditch plans
    to extend the term of sound recordings, and also to require ISPs to filter
    content: (IPKat),
  • Google accuses EU of
    attempting to use antitrust laws to tackle privacy issues in connection
    with its proposed acquisition of advertising company DoubleClick: (Out-Law),
  • Protecting privileged
    information in EU investigations: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • EU rules that Crocs shoes
    lack distinctive character: (IP
    Factor    ), 
  • Slovenia ’s plans for European
    IP: (IPKat),
  • European Patent Office starts
    pilot project aimed at translating manually the abstracts and claims of
    Chinese utility documents: (IP
    Updates    ), 
  • Europe quietly ramps up its copyright enforcement: (IP
    Law360    )

India

  • Hasbro and Mattel demand
    closure of Scrabulous gaming website: (IP
    Factor    ), (Patent
    Librarian’s Notebook    ), (contentSutra),
    (Anticipate
    This!    ),

  • India gets International
    Search Authority status: (Spicy
    IP    ),

  • Paper on the Madras High
    Court’s decision in Novartis’ challenge of the TRIPS compatibility and
    constitutionality of s 3(d) of India’s patent regime: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Is Indian patent law
    TRIPS compliant?: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Number of Indian patent
    grants in 2007: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Bajaj-TVS patent dispute:
    An update from the Supreme Court: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Geographical indications
    make their mark in Bihar & Orissa: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Herbal cure for diabetes
    II granted patent: (Spicy
    IP    ), (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP    ),
  • Brittania gets the better
    of Unibic in Court in its comparative advertising case: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Launch of Indian Kanoon –
    free online resource for Indian judgments: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • LegalAdda: new Indian
    legal portal launched: (Spicy
    IP    ),
  • Bombay High Court rules
    that trade mark cannot be claimed for common, descriptive English words in
    battle between ITC and GTC: (Mondaq),
  • A patent problem for India:
    (IAM),
  • IP disputes resolved
    through out of court settlement: (Mondaq),
  • Prima facie legal right
    required for interim protection: (International
    Law Office    )

Israel

Italy

  • For the first time
    Italian Courts exercised their jurisdiction as Community Trade Mark Courts
    in two cases regarding the protection of the Vuitton monogram: (Catch
    Us If You Can!!!    )

Japan

  • Japan to block imports of some Nanya DRAM chips after Fujitsu complaint: (Philip
    Brooks    )

Malaysia

Spain

United Kingdom

  • How agreements lead to
    disagreements: Satyam Computer Services Ltd v Upaid Systems Ltd: (IPKat)
  • Beware: The ICO will take
    enforcement action against infringers of the Data Protection Act: (Mondaq),
  • Patent and trade mark attorneys
    to pay a high price if they want to be considered part of the legal
    profession as a result of the failure of the professional bodies to agree
    merger terms: (Filemot),
  • Competition defence to go
    ahead in Football Association Premier League Ltd and others v LCD
    Publishing Ltd     concerning unauthorised publication of photos football
    club members and Football Association Premier League Ltd v QC Leisure &
    Ors     concerning the contractually prohibited providence of non-UK
    decoder cards to UK pubs: (IPKat),
    (coverage of FAPL v QC also at Out-Law),
  • Court of Appeal reverses
    lower court’s decision in Cinpres Gas Injection Ltd v Melea Ltd, a
    patent infringement case involving allegedly fraudulent evidence: (IPKat),
  • Murdoch v Branson in UK
    TV patent battle relating to interactive program guide technology: (IPKat)

United States

 

  • Abbott – Court of Appeals
    for the Federal Circuit hands down judgment in Abbott and Innogenetics’
    patent dispute relating to Hepatitis C Virus genotyping technology: (Patent
    Baristas    ), (Patent
    Docs    ), (IP
    Updates    ), (more from IP
    Updates    ), (Patently-O),
  • Alexsam – Alexsam files
    suit against Shell Oil Co, Peir 1 Imports and Metromedia Steakhouses Co
    for infringement of patent related to multifunctional card technology: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Amazon – Court maintains DJ
    jurisdiction over Amazon’s counterclaim in patent dispute with Cordance
    Corp over software related to personal address books: (Delaware IP Law Blog),
    (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Baldwin – CAFC delivers findings
    on claim construction in Baldwin
    Graphic Systems v Siebert    : (Anticipate
    This!    ),
  • Biomedical Patent
    Management – CAFC rules that a state’s waiver of Eleventh Amendment
    sovereign immunity in an earlier action that is dismissed ‘does not extend
    to the separate lawsuit’ of Biomedical Patent Management v State of
    California    : (Patent
    Baristas    ), (Peter
    Zura’s 271 Patent Blog    ), (Patent
    Prospector    ), (Patently-O),
  • CytoLogix: 1st Circuit
    dismisses appeal to combine patent infringement and antitrust lawsuits
    against Ventana Medical Systems: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Diomed – Total Vein
    Solutions files for bankruptcy before hearing in long-running patent
    dispute with Diomed over endovascular laser treatment technology: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Gawker Media –
    Scientologists threaten Gawker with legal action over use of video
    depicting Tom Cruise touting Church
    of Scientology: (Trademark
    Blog    ),
  • Google – Google drops
    defense lawyers in Viacom copyright infringement case: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • IBM – Taiwanese company,
    CpuMate commences patent infringement action against IBM over
    heat-dissipation device used in computers: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • IBM – Former IBM engineer
    has sued several companies over his patents for fixing computer data
    errors allowed to add a claim of trade secrets misappropriation against
    three defendants for allegedly passing infringing material to defendant
    Sony Electronics Inc: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Illumina – Summary
    judgment denied in patent dispute between Applera and Illumina: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Junction Solutions –
    Court finds different harms allow re-litigation of trade secret
    misappropriation in Junction Solutions v MBS Dev: (Chicago
    IP Litigation Blog    ),
  • LG Electronics – Supreme
    Court hears argument in Quanta v LG regarding exhaustion of patent
    rights: (Mondaq),
    (another article from Mondaq),
  • LG Electronics –
    Whirlpool files ITC action against LG over technology used refrigerators:
    (IPBiz),
    (The IP
    Factor    ), (IP
    Law360    ),
  • LG Electronics – LG and
    others sued by Ennova Direct for allegedly infringing the company’s flash
    memory drive patent: (IP
    Law360    )
  • Microsoft – Microsoft and
    JVC enter into patent cross-licensing agreement to foster mutual
    innovation and collaboration: (PR
    Newswire    ),
  • Minerva – Minerva asserts
    new patent relating to cellular technology against Apple and numerous
    others: (Patent
    Troll Tracker    ), (IP
    Law360    ), (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • Negotiated Data Solutions
    (known as N-Data) – Federal Trade Commission claims authority to enforce
    against a N-Data for allegedly charging excess licensing royalties for
    standardized Ethernet patents:  (IP
    Law360    ), (Ars
    Technica    ), (IP
    Updates    ), (PLI),
    (Peter
    Zura’s 271 Patent Blog    ), (Patently-O),
  • Oculus – $6.6m awarded to
    Oculus in trade secret suit against Nofil Corp: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Qualcomm – Court sets
    baseline for electronic discovery programs for in-house and retained
    counsel in Qualcomm v Broadcom Corp: (Mondaq), (IP
    Law360    ), (IP
    Updates    ), (Philip
    Brooks    ),
  • Recording Industry
    Association of America
    – P2P defendant argues RIAA identified an IP address, not a person
    involved in alleged infringing activities in Atlantic v Njuguna: (Ars
    Technica    ),
  • Retractable Technologies
    – Federal Judge agrees to sever Retractable’s antitrust claims from the
    patent infringement claims it brought against rival
    medical-technology-maker Becton Dickinson and Co: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Samsung – ITC to
    investigate Samsung’s claims that Japan-based Sharp Corp. and its U.S.
    subsidiaries are infringing LCD patents through the importation of
    televisions, laptops and cell phones: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Sprint Nextel – Sprint
    Nextel asserts VOP patents against mobile service providers, Big River
    Telephone Co., Broadvox Holdings LLC, NuVox Communications Inc. and Paetec
    Communications: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Synergetic – Eye surgery
    equipment maker, Synergetics, settles with former employees over trade
    secrets and patent infringement dispute: (IP
    Law360    ),
  • Visto – Magistrate Judge defines email patent claims
    in Visto case: (IP
    Law360    )

 Category: Pursue Excellence

One Comment on “IP Think Tank Global Week in Review – 25 January 2008”

  1. Hi, I am a blogger from India covering updates from Indian patent law. Jjust wanted to bring my blog in your notice, and would request you to consider adding to your Blogroll.
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