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

Highlights this week included:

CAFC nixes 25% ‘rule of thumb’ application for estimating patent damages: Uniloc v. Microsoft (271 Patent Blog) (IP Osgoode) (PatLit) (IAM) (IP finance) (Intellectual Property and Tech Law Reports)

Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf finds RapidShare’s measures against piracy are sufficient (TorrentFreak) (ArsTechnica) (IPKat)

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.

Global

Global – Copyright

Copyright 2.0 Show – Episode 180:  Wikileaks may have killed Spanish copyright reform; Mass P2P lawsuits suffer major setback (Plagiarism Today)

Apple users forced to pirate VLC player? Whatever next? (TorrentFreak)

More music sold than ever before, despite piracy (TorrentFreak)

Huge BitTorrent porn sites permanently shut down (TorrentFreak)

Global – Trade Marks & Domain Names

Report shows IP rightsholders being left behind online (IP Watch)

Top sites for fakes mainly ‘located in Western Europe and North America’ (IPKat)

Global – Patents

The intersection of electronic lab notebooks [ELN] and intellectual property (IPBiz)

Shadow boxing the LTE Patents (IP finance)

Intels bow to Nvidia costs $ 1.4 billion – announce cross-licensing agreement (Innovationpartners)

Microsoft, with all its patents, afflicted by ‘innovator’s dilemma’? (IPBiz)

Australia

Patentology Newsbytes – including Uniloc’s Aussie inventor responds to appeal decision in Microsoft case (Patentology)

Canada

Supreme Court will lead tech law in 2011 (Michael Geist)

Apps, Bots and Workarounds – Part 2: Research in Motion Ltd. v Kik Interactive Inc (IPblog)

Apps, Bots and Workarounds – Part 3: Fraser Beach v. Toronto Real Estate Board (IPblog)

China

China bans downloads of unlicensed foreign music (China Hearsay)

Chinese crackdown on piracy enters the digital domain (TorrentFreak)

 ‘Software copyright protection applications’ surge in China, whatever that means (China Hearsay)

Europe

Wintersteiger 1: the facts; Wintersteiger 2: the mechanism for commenting on Court of Justice references; Wintersteiger 3: the legal grounds (IPKat) (IPKat) (IPKat)

Lionel Bentley on ECJ Bezpečnostní softwarová asociace ruling (IPKat) (1709 Blog)

France

Damages in France: is there a sign of an upward trend? Re Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF) (IP finance)

Germany

Atari vs RapidShare – Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf finds RapidShare’s measures against piracy are sufficient (TorrentFreak) (ArsTechnica) (IPKat)

After Google France: OLG Braunschweig decides in AdWord case (IPKat)

Portugal

Pirate Party slams anti-piracy outfit for filing ‘illegal’ complaints (TorrentFreak)

United States

US Patent Reform

Tech insiders pessimistic about comprehensive patent reform in 2011 (271 Patent Blog)

US Patents

Apps, Bots and Workarounds – Part 1: MDY Industries v. Blizzard Entertainment (IPblog)

USPTO patent grants up 31% (IPBiz)

US Patents – Decisions

CAFC nixes 25% ‘rule of thumb’ application for estimating patent damages: Uniloc v. Microsoft (271 Patent Blog) (IP Osgoode) (PatLit) (IAM) (IP finance) (Intellectual Property and Tech Law Reports)

CAFC: Rejected claim construction does not render case ‘objectively baseless’: iLOR v. Google (Patently-O)

CAFC requires agency relationship or contractual obligation for joint infringement: Akamai Techs. v. Limelight Networks (Filewrapper)

CAFC reversal cites patent reexamination claim interpretation: St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants v Canon (Patents Post Grant Blog)

District Court C D California: Microsoft Word does not infringe patent claiming user interface that is ‘continuously responsive to user input’ even though the accused interface ‘from the user’s standpoint… remains continuously responsive’: Walker Digital, LLC v. Microsoft Corporation, et. al. (Docket Report)

AST anti-trust case dismissed by Delaware court (IAM)

Rambus appeal denied at USPTO (Patents Post Grant Blog) (Reexamination Alert)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Apple – Apple’s US 7,868,582 on solar power package (IPBiz)

Apple – HyperMac sidesteps Apple patent headache with DIY solutions (ArsTechnica)

Cablevision – ALJ Gildea denied Cablevision’s motion for summary determination of non-infringement of U.S. patent nos. 6,367,078 and 7,561,214 (ITC 337 Update)

Funai – Attack on famous Funai Digital TV patent (Re-examination requests filed week of 3 January 2011) (Reexamination Alert)

Global-Tech – Respondent and additional amicus briefs: Global-Tech v. SEB (Patently-O)

IBM – The ultimate patent troll patent: Get sued when you file a patent – IBM patenting the intellectual property management process…. (Conceivably Tech)

Microsoft – Is the sky really falling? Microsoft v. i4i (Patently-O)

Novell – CPTN (Microsoft/Apple/etc) backs off Novell patent purchase (IPBiz)

Panasonic – ALJ Charneski grants motion to add unenforceability defense in Certain Large Scale Integrated Circuit Semiconductor Chips (337-TA-716) (ITC Law Blog)

Qimonda – CAFC to hear oral argument in Qimonda Appeal on January 14 (ITC Law Blog)

Tessera – CAFC to hear oral argument in Tessera Appeal On January 14 (ITC Law Blog)

US Copyright

Library of Congress gets first big gift of major label music (ArsTechnica)

MegaUpload fights back against MPAA and RIAA propaganda (TorrentFreak)

RapidShare: We’re dedicated to fighting online infringement (TorrentFreak)

Accuracy, nuance big casualties in latest War on Piracy salvo (ArsTechnica)

US Copyright – Decisions

Supreme Court: online music price-fixing lawsuit can proceed: Sony Music Entertainment v. Kevin Starr (ArsTechnica)

US Copyright – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Liberty Media Holdings – Biggest ever BitTorrent piracy settlement is intriguing (TorrentFreak)

Pink Visual – Porn company rejects mass lawsuits, goes after torrent sites (TorrentFreak)

Sony – Sony sues over Playstation 3 security hack (IP Osgoode)

US Copyright Group – Forget Hurt Locker; P2P lawyers lower sights to Massive Asses 5 (ArsTechnica)

Viacom – The Viacom appeal: Viacom v YouTube (IPKat) (IPKat)

US Trade Marks & Domain Names – Decisions

7th Circuit rules that sovereign immunity shields state from TM infringement counterclaim in action for review of TTAB decision: Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Phoenix International Software, Inc. (TTABlog)

US Trade Marks & Domain Names – Lawsuits and strategic steps

1-800 Contacts – Utah District Court rejects 1-800 Contacts Google Adword lawsuit against Lens.com: 1-800 Contacts v Lens.com  (Las Vegas Trademark Attorney)

ICG – Search engines sued for accepting keyword advertising on ‘Cheese of the Month Club’ trademark: Pathak v. ICG America (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

Microsoft  – Microsoft says Apple’s ‘App Store’ trademark too generic to exist (ArsTechnica) (Innovationpartners)

Soaring Helmet – Keyword advertiser headed to trial: Soaring Helmet v Nanal (Technology & Marketing Law Blog)