Google wins a key copyright victory in Germany
German lawmakers in the lower house of parliament approved a copyright bill that would protect the Internet search giant from having to pay fees for displaying links to news articles. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post
Pandora CEO to step down, but the company’s future depends upon Congress
A year and a half ago this blog asked analysts how they would value Pandora, the popular internet music-streaming company, a company with costs perpetually (as in, that’s their business model) exceeding revenues and whose management proclaimed in SEC filings that it was unsustainable at the current and planned royalty schedules for played music. (The [...]
Tomorrow the “first-to-file” gets the patent instead of “first-to-invent”
The key premise of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act that harmonizes the U.S. patent system with the rest of the world and authorizes USPTO to issue patents to the “first-to-file” a patent application (instead of determining who was the “first-to-invent”) goes into effect on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare [...]
Do IP policies adopted by Congress benefit foreign corporations at the expense of U.S. consumers?
This is the question a paper released on www.inforjustice.org attempts to answer. Authors Jonathan Band and Jonathan Gerafi examined the ownership of firms in IP-intensive industries and discovered some key facts: Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post
New legislation introduced to reign in NPE activity
On Wednesday, 02/28/2013, Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced legislation that would make plaintiffs liable for defendants’ legal costs should a patent lawsuit be unsuccessful. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post
USPTO publishes final rules and guidance to implement first-inventor-to-file provision
Yesterday the USPTO published final rules and guidance in the Federal Register implementing the first-inventor-to-file provision. This provision becomes effective on March 16, 2013. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post
IP ownership issues hit compulsory education
A proposal by the Prince George’s County (Maryland) Board of Education to copyright works created by teachers and students for school use has raised some eyebrows. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post
Trade secrets protections strengthened by the Clarification Act
On December 28, 2012, President Obama signed into law the Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012, which essentially expanded the definition of trade secrets under Section 1832 of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 in two ways with this clause: [related to] “a product or service used in or intended for use in [...]
The nature of the patent infringement defense of “prior commercial use” has changed with AIA, affecting patent values
AIA expanded the prior commercial use defense in patent litigation from just applying to business methods to now including other categories of patents. The defense also now requires commercial use more than one year prior to the patent’s filing or disclosure date. Finally, the defense has been broadened to include affiliated companies. W. Edward Ramage of [...]
Europe now has its unitary patent
Ratification was expected, and this week the European Parliament approved the unitary (or unified) patent, expected to lower costs for filing for a patent in European countries by over 80%. Under the new framework, a patent issued by the European Patent Office will be valid automatically in 25 countries (Spain and Italy are holdouts) and will be [...]
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