IP Think Tank Global Week in Review – 4 January 2008

Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly
selection of top intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and
internet.

Highlights this week included: ISO moving to create a global standard for
patent valuation, Vonage and Nortel settling their patent suit and the establishment press taking on the RIAA.

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

Global

  • Coming out of copyright –
    some notable deaths from 1937: (IPKat),
  • Design patents: No longer
    the province of individual inventors: (Patently
    O
    ),
  • Fail fast, ready fire aim
    and Stanford v Cal:
    (IP
    Think Tank
    ),
  • Walls, Alexander the Great
    and Partha Bose: (IP
    Think Tank
    ),
  • A fair use primer for
    online content creators: (Ars
    Technica
    )
  • ISO moves to create global
    standard for patent valuation: (IAM),

Pharma

  • Top 15 stories covered in
    Patent Docs relating to pharmaceutical and biotech patent law: (stories 1
    to 5
    , 6
    to 10
    , 11
    to 15
    – Patent Docs)
  • Another dismal year in drug
    approvals: (in
    vivo
    ),
  • Altace (Ramipril) – 180 day
    exclusivity for Cobalt triggered: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP
    ),
  • Crestor (Rosuvastatin) –
    AstraZeneca sues Mylan over Crestor patent: (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Lipitor (Atorvastatin) –
    Pfizer loses Canadian Federal Court bid to block Apotex from marketing a
    generic version of Lipitor: (IP
    Law360
    ), (SmartBrief),
  • Omnicef (Cefdinir) –
    Japanese Supreme Court dismisses Taiyo’s appeal in its patent dispute with
    Astellas: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP
    ),
  • Pantoprazole (Protonix) –
    Sun/Caraco launching generic pantoprazole: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP
    ),
  • Stalevo (L-DOPA and
    carbiDOPA) – Sun amends Stalevo ANDA: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP
    ),
  • Tarceva (Erlotinib) –
    Indian patent granted for Erlotinib: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP
    ),
  • Valcyte (Valganciclovir) – Investigation
    into Chennai’s grant of Valcyte patent to F Hoffmann-La Roche without hearing
    an opposition filed by a patient group: (Generic
    Pharmaceuticals & IP
    )

Africa

  • Patents,
    morality and the WTO; The African question: (IPKat)

Australia

Canada

China

  • Danone / Wahaha: Both
    parties agree to truce: (Managing
    the Dragon
    ),
  • Both Baidu.com and Yahoo China provided deep links to pirated mp3’s,
    Baidu won in court, while Yahoo China lost. What are the
    differences?: (IP
    Dragon
    ),
  • IFPI wins the ‘illegal
    music download’ cases against Yahoo! China: (IPKat),
  • Progress in collecting
    karaoke royalties: (IP
    Dragon
    )

Europe

  • Sir Nicholas Pumphrey 1957-2007:
    (IPKat),
    (ipeg),
    (IPFactor),
  • OHIM decision renders
    Crocs’ foam clog Registered European Community Design invalid: (Washington
    State Patent Law Blog
    ),
  • UK dentist firm beats Lacoste
    in trade mark dispute: (IPKat),
    (IP
    Factor
    ),

  • Patent Trolls statistics,
    will Europe escape the trolls?: (IPEG),
  • EU CORDIS launches a new web
    service for joint research initiatives: (IPR
    Helpdesk
    ),
  • EC announces plan to create
    single, EU-wide market for online music, films, and video games: (Ars
    Technica
    )

Germany

  • Germans shun patents, but
    press for patent valuation ISO: (IPKat)

Hong Kong

India

  • Blawging our way to the
    front pages of Business Standard: (Spicy
    IP
    ),
  • Bootleg baloney: It’s music
    to the ears: (Spicy
    IP
    )

Spain

  • Spanish parliament passes new private copying
    levy: (Michael Geist)

United Kingdom

  • Use of term ‘buried in
    computer’ not a trade mark infringement (RX Works Ltd v Hunter (T/a
    Connect Computers
    ): (IPKat),
  • Compo for HMRC data breach
    – no sure thing: (IMPACT),
  • An increasingly militant
    climate on data protection: (IMPACT),

United States

  • Long felt, unmet need – And
    level of skill in the art?: (The
    Fire of Genius
    ) (and related articles (1)
    and (2)
    at The Fire of Genius),
  • Common misunderstandings:
    ASCAP on creative commons: (Lessig.org),
  • Another school refused to
    pass Recording Industry Association of America pre-litigation letters
    along to students: (Ars
    Technica
    ),
  • The establishment press
    takes on the RIAA in connection with its copyright infringement dispute
    involving the University
    of Oregon: (Patry
    Copyright Blog
    ), (Against Monopoly),
    (Trademark
    Blog
    )
  • RIAA sues Howell for keeping a collection
    of music recordings on his personal computer: (IPKat),
    (IMPACT),
  • A look at the Trademark
    Dilution Revision Act of 2006: (Chicago
    IP Litigation Blog
    ),
  • Senators Leahy and Hatch
    address Patent Reform Act for 2008: (Peter
    Zura’s 271 Patent Blog
    ),
  • US patenting trends among
    the G8 countries: (Patent
    Librarian’s Notebook
    ),
  • US patent and published
    applications stats for 2007: (Patent
    Librarian’s Notebook
    ),

  • Review of patent law news
    in 2007: (Patent
    Prospector
    ),
  • Patent troll activity to
    look out for in the new year: (Troll
    Tracker
    ),
  • Iran and copyright – the impact of the lack of copyright relations between Iran and the US: (Patry
    Copyright Blog
    ),

  • After Seagate,
    counsel is optional – but advisable: (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • US & Japan – Patent Prosecution Highway to
    continue on full-time basis: (IP
    Organisers
    ),
  • US & Japan – trial of New Route for
    obtaining patents in foreign countries: (IP
    Organisers
    ), (PLI),
  • Fewer IP lawsuits filed in
    2007: (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Foreign trade marks are
    capable of protection under New
    York competition law under theory of misappropriation:
    (Mondaq.com),
  • Another objectionable part
    of the Pro-IP bill: (Patry
    Copyright Blog
    ),
  • Appeals court affirms lower
    court decision that karaoke machine makers cannot print or display song
    lyrics by merely obtaining a compulsory license from the copyright holder
    or by citing the fair use doctrine: (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Courts, not Congress, shaped
    patent law in 2007: (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Cases to watch in 2008: (Patently-O),
    (Patent
    Prospector
    ),
  • Wikipedia references in
    issued patents: (Patent
    Librarian’s Notebook
    ),
  • USPTO discontinues paper
    version of its ‘Patent and Trademark Office Notices’ publication: (Patent
    Librarian’s Notebook
    ),
  • How patent examiner
    performance appraisal may affect allowability: (IP
    Updates
    ),
  • Reexamination pendency
    continues to rise: (Patently-O),
  • The USPTO has issued eight
    new classification orders since 1 October 2007: (Patent
    Librarian’s Notebook
    ),
  • The National Association of
    Patent Practitioners has written Senate leaders to set them straight about
    proposed patent legislation: (Patent
    Prospector
    )
  • Acacia – Sprint settles
    with Acacia over GPS tracking: (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Acacia – Patent troll
    tracker update on new patent suits commenced by Acacia and its
    subsidiaries: (Troll
    Tracker
    ),
  • Apple – Apple settles
    video-on-demand patent dispute with Intertainer Inc.: (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Crater Corp – For the third
    time, a judge has axed the trade secrets claims in Crater Corp.’s suit
    against Lucent Technologies Inc. and AT&T Inc. over an underwater
    coupler for the U.S. Navy: (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Crown Packaging – Summary
    judgment granted to Reexam Beverage Co finding patent infringement by
    Crown: (Delaware
    IP Law
    ),
  • eBay – District Court held
    that likelihood of confusion analysis is not limited to the goods or
    services for which mark was registered in Applied Information Sciences
    v eBay
    : (IP
    Law Observer
    ),
  • Global Patent Holdings –
    GPH files another patent infringement case regarding their JPEG on a
    website patent: (Troll
    Tracker
    ),
  • Google – Appellate Judge
    vacates district court order stating Google Inc.’s AutoLink service does
    not infringe a HyperPhrase patent: (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Illumina – USPTO orders
    reexamination of Affymetrix patents asserted against Illumina: (Patent
    Docs
    )
  • Kinetic Concepts Inc – Kinetic
    launches suit against Innovative Therapies Inc and three of its principals
    (former Kinetic employees) for allegedly stealing its vacuum-assisted
    technology for treating chronic wounds:
    (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • LANCOR – LANCOR sues
    non-profit charity One Laptop Per Child project for $20m for patent
    infringement: (Ars
    Technica
    ),
  • Limelight – Level 3 files patent infringement
    suit against Limelight: (Philip
    Brooks
    ),

  • McNeil Nutritionals -The maker of Splenda allowed
    to go forward with a trademark infringement lawsuit against rival Heartland
    Sweeteners: (IP
    Law360
    ),

  • Motorola – Motorola and Metrologic settle patent
    discord: (Philip
    Brooks
    ),

  • Parallel Networks – PN is suing Netflix Inc.,
    E*Trade Financial Corp. and John Wiley & Sons Inc., accusing them of
    infringing two patents related to real-time Web page generating technology: (IP
    Law360
    ),

  • Qualcomm – Broadcom wins
    injunction against Qualcomm in patent infringement case: (IP
    Law360
    ), (Philip
    Brooks
    ), (Patent
    Prospector
    )
  • Rosenruist-Gestao E Servicos – Rosenruist-Gestao attempting to
    register a mark in contested proceedings against Virgin Enters. Ltd before
    the TTAB could be compelled to produce corporate designee witness pursuant
    to District Court subpoena: (IP
    Law Observer
    ),
  • SanDisk – SanDisk settles
    flash memory disputes with PNY Technology: (IP
    Law360
    ), (Patent
    Prospector
    ),
  • Vizio – Vizio reaches settlement
    in Positive Technologies Inc.’s suit over plasma display television patents:
    (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Vonage – Vonage and Nortel settle
    patent suit: (IPBiz),
    (Philip
    Brooks
    ), (Patent
    Prospector
    ), (IP
    Law360
    ),
  • Wacom – Wacom cries foul
    over recent claim construction order in its suit against Hanvon Corp: (Washington
    State Patent Law Blog
    )

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