Posted by: Michael Kondoudis in USPTO, US on
Aug 25, 2008
The United States Congress has been debating whether to amend the patent laws currently in Title 35 of the United States Code. If respective patent reform bills pass the House and the Senate, this would represent the first comprehensive patent law reform by Congress since the Patent Act of 1952.
The Senate Bill has been shelved for this session but will likely be reintroduced next year. The House Bill, however, has passed, mirrors the Senate Bill, and includes the following major changes to current U.S. Patent Law and practice:
1. A switch from a first-to-invent system to a first-to-file system. The current U.S. "first to invent" system would be replaced with a "first to file" system.
2. A mechanism for third parties to submit art directly to Examiners. Under current U.S. practice, the
New services are developed and provided to keep pace with the ever-increasing usage and importance of the internet. One such service is the online distribution of TV programs. This service typically entails a provider (an internet venture company, in many cases) using servers for the recording or real-time streaming of TV programs. The provider then transmits such data through the internet to users who view the TV programs on their individual PCs. As might be expected, the provider, due to the provision of these services, may face copyright infringement claims by the copyright owners of such TV programs.
On June 20, 2008 the Tokyo District Court rendered a decision regarding real-time streaming of TV programs (“Maneki-TV”). The Court ruled
that such service did not infringe the copyrights.
Every day, the intellectual property assets of businesses increase their importance. They are not, and should not, seen any longer as a by-product, but as a fundamental asset for the survival, well-being and prosperity of businesses.
Employees and their activity are a very important source of intangible assets, so adopting a clear, well supported and fair policy in connection to the intellectual property generated by employees should be considered as strategic in any innovative business. Further, an inadequate intellectual property policy inside a business organization may lead to potential liability issues and reduce the value of the company.
Mexican copyright and patent law are similar to the laws of other jurisdictions concerning the exclusivity rights stipulated for the
Posted by: Jacob Tomkins in Untagged on
Aug 15, 2008
WORLDLeaders International IP Awards 2008 - The most prestigeous and respected international Intellectual Property awards ceremony is taking place on the 19th November 2008 in London, and is hosted by IP World - Informa Law.
The winners are decided by vote - the IP community chooses the winners.
View nominations and cast your vote now at www.ipworldleaders.com! Voting will be open until the 5th September 2008.
The black-tie event will play host to some of the best known and most respected individuals in the international IP market. A drinks reception commences the night, followed by the gala dinner awards ceremony and entertainers, and to finish there will be a complimentary networking bar and "fun casino" for all attendees to enjoy. Come and rub shoulders with the industry thought leaders
Innocent infringement of Copyrights reduces damages for the Infringer:
US Court reduced damages for infringement of copyrights by downloading of music over the notorious KaZaA , to a good 200$ per downloaded infringed song (the 750$-30,000$ per song normally allowed under the Copyright Act) in the case of Whitney Harper a sixteen year old of innocence.
The Judge has claimed that since the infringement was "an innocent infringement" the damage per each infringed song track downloaded is significantly reduced.
To read more about it you can enter this
In its review of the Japan Patent Office (JPO)'s decision in The Coca Cola Company v. Japan atent Office (IP High Ct., May 29, 2008), the IP High Court overruled the JPO's rejection of Coca Cola's application to register the shape of its returnable bottle, and held that Coca Cola's eturnable bottle shape would be registered and protected as a three-dimensional (3D) trademark. 3D trademarks were introduced into the Japanese rademark Act in 1996. 3D trademarks had also been protected by the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, but only if they were famous. In he Coca Cola case, the court found on the facts that Coca Cola's returnable bottle shape had acquired distinctiveness through Coca Cola’s use.
These facts include: (i) the Coca-Cola returnable bottle shape's long history in Japan (since
Posted by: Jinbang Han in China on
Aug 07, 2008
The New Law became effective on August 1.
Around the same time, the Anti-Monopoly Committee was established under the State Council. The Committee is responsible for (a) researching and drafting policies on competition; (b) organizing the investigation and assessment of the overall competition situations in the market and publishing assessment reports; (c) promulgating and issuing anti-monopoly guidances; (d) coordinating the administrative enforcement of the anti-monoly law and regulations; and (e) other responsibilities that the State Council assignes.
Besides the Anti-Monopoly Committee, which is basically a research and coordinating institution, anti-monopoly enforcement institution (s) have also been established respectively under the State Administration of Industry and
Posted by: Arturo Reyes in trademark, Trade Marks, Reyes Fenig, non use, Mexico, Maintenance Fees, law, lack of use, intellectual property, Cancellation on
Aug 06, 2008
There are two frequent questions I receive from foreign colleagues and Mexican businessmen regarding maintenance of Mexican trademark registrations.
One is if it is required to file evidence of use of a trademark with the Mexican Patent and Trademark Office (MPTO) from time to time in order to keep a trademark registration alive. The answer is ‘no'.
The other question is: If it is not required by the statute, why some Mexican trademark lawyers insist in this filing every three years?
Since 1991 it is not necessary to file statements or evidence of use of a trademark with the MPTO in order to keep a trademark registration in force. It does not mean, however, that stopping using a registered trademark would not have negative consequences. If the use of a registered trademark is interrupted
The Minister of Communications of Colombia aproved the Resolution 001652 (on July 30th), with the new policies for delegation of domain names under cctld .co
The new policies are part of the documents for the process to designate the new ccTLD .co Administrator.
The resolution [in spanish]: http://www.mincomunicaciones.gov.co/mincom/src/user_docs/Noticias/res0284de2008.pdf
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El Ministerio de Comunicaciones informa a la comunidad en general que la política del ccTLD .co fue aprobada el pasado 30 de julio mediante Resolución 001652 de 2008.
Las nuevas políticas son parte de los documentos para el proceso de designación del nuevo Administrador del ccTLD .co
La Resolución en:
http://www.mincomunicaciones.gov.co/mincom/src/user_docs/Noticias/res0284de2008.pdf
Source / Fuente:
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