Patent & IP news for April 30, 2015

EPO president reportedly threatened to resign; Dutch diplomat concedes concern over bad press from www.fosspatents.com

Today's EPO staff demonstration in Munich (see my previous post) turned out a lot more interesting than expected.

An estimated 700 protesters marched from one of the EPO's Munich buildings (the closest one ...

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Patent drafting tip: be noncommittal in the specification from ocpatentlawyer.com

Bottom line: Characterizing the invention as “may be” having a particular feature is generally effective in maintaining the breadth of a claim. By being noncommittal, the courts are less likely to import those particular features ...

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Quest Diagnostics and Inserm Launch BRCA Data-Sharing Initiative from www.patentdocs.org

By Donald Zuhn -- Last week, diagnostics services provider Quest Diagnostics and Inserm, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research institution, announced the launch of BRCA Share, a new datashare initiative that will provide ...

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Promise of union recognition insufficient to solve conflict at European Patent Office: new protests from www.fosspatents.com

By promising (after approximately four decades) formal recognition of EPO staff unions, the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation extended an olive branch, presumably due to a combination of political (with some key member ...

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BREAKING NEWS - EPO consults on proposed structural reform of Boards of Appeal from ipkitten.blogspot.com

Merpel has just noticed that today the European Patent Office has published on its website an on-line consultation on the proposals for the reform of the administration and structure of the Boards of Appeal.  As ...

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Chile: Study On Pharma Patents Shows Foreign Ownership from www.ip-watch.org

In Chile, pharmaceutical patents are almost exclusively the domain of foreign companies. Only a subset of drugs is protected by patents, while a much larger number of products is protected by trademarks, a study finds ...

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How the EPO's sick leave policy stacks up internationally from ipkitten.blogspot.com

In a post earlier this week on the continuing unrest at the EPO, Merpel mused on whether the EPO’s proposals to reform sick leave and long term invalidity policies were really so very different ...

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PTAB indefinite trademark programming language from allthingspros.blogspot.com

PTAB reverses indefiniteness rejection of claim using trademark Java
Takeaway: The Examiner rejected as indefinite the phrase "parsing the at least one Java annotation" on the grounds that Java was a trademark. The Examiner referred ...

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New Job Postings on Patently-O Jobs from patentlyo.com

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is looking for Patent Agent or Prosecution Associate in its Seattle Office. Loza & Loza, LLP is looking nationwide to hire experienced patent attorneys. Dunlop Bennet & Ludwig is seeking an experienced patent ...

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Pharma Offers View On How To Slow Antimicrobial Resistance, Boost Research from www.ip-watch.org

the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) provided its recommendations on how to slow down antimicrobial resistance and boost antibiotic research and development. In addition, the association organised a forum on the subject today.

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Louisiana Challenge’s AstraZeneca on Antitrust Claims for Asserting Invalid Drug Patents from patentlyo.com

In March 2015, the state of Louisiana filed suit against AstraZeneca alleging antitrust violations based upon the company’s actions of using its patent rights to keep generic versions of Toprol-XL off the market in ...

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Debunking Common Myths about Copyright Term Extension for Sound Recordings and Performances: Why Longer is Better from www.iposgoode.ca

The Canadian Government announced last week that it is amending the Copyright Act to extend the term of protection for performers and makers of sound recordings from its current 50 years to 70 years. This ...

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US app 20150118735 to Heliae: METHODS OF CULTURING MICROORGANISMS IN NON-AXENIC MIXOTROPHIC CONDITIONS from ipbiz.blogspot.com

First claim of --METHODS OF CULTURING MICROORGANISMS IN NON-AXENIC MIXOTROPHIC CONDITIONS --

A method of culturing Chlorella in non-axenic mixotrophic culture conditions, comprising inoculating an aqueous culture medium with a culture comprising Chlorella in an open ...

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US app 20150120045 to Michigan State: GLIDING ROBOTIC FISH NAVIGATION AND PROPULSION from ipbiz.blogspot.com

First claim of --GLIDING ROBOTIC FISH NAVIGATION AND PROPULSION --

A robotic submersible comprising: a housing including a body and a tail; a pump and a pump tank adjusting a buoyancy of the housing; a first ...

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US app 20150120833 to InterDigital: OPTIMIZATION OF PEER-TO-PEER CONTENT DELIVERY SERVICE from ipbiz.blogspot.com

First claim of -- OPTIMIZATION OF PEER-TO-PEER CONTENT DELIVERY SERVICE --

device, comprising: a processor configured to: receive a request for a peer list from a first wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU); determine one or more peer ...

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Cornyn/Schumer "PATENT ACT" does not have presumption of "loser pays" from ipbiz.blogspot.com



From the Wall Street Journal Law Blog :


The bill requires plaintiffs bringing patent suits to make their initial allegations with more clarity and specificity. It also places limits on the amount of discovery a patent-holder ...

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Microsoft's US Patent 9,019,174: Wearable emotion detection and feedback system from ipbiz.blogspot.com

The first claim of -- Wearable emotion detection and feedback system --

A see through head mounted display apparatus, comprising: a see through, head mounted display; a plurality of sensors cooperating with the display to detect audible ...

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UCLA Bruin trashes choice of Myhrvold as commencement speaker from ipbiz.blogspot.com


Complaints about patent trolls have reached into university selection of commencement speakers.


In an editorial titled "Students need a voice in commencement speaker decisions," Ara Shirinian doesn't specifically call for Myhrvold to be disinvited ...

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Federal Circuit Ranks Lowest Among Circuit Courts in Regard to Judicial Complaints from www.717madisonplace.com

The U.S. Judiciary keeps track of complaints filed against federal judges.  During the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2014, six judicial complaints were filed against judges under the administration of the Federal Circuit ...

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