As matters of intellectual property begin to transcend borders more frequently in a globalized economy, a joint study from the International Intellectual Property Institute and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has provided a valuable resource for all stakeholders. Researchers have conducted a first-of-its-kind analysis that consolidates information pertaining to specialized IP courts around the world into one centralized resource.
Local IP laws and regulations within more than 190 countries were reviewed to classify nations and regions in terms of the scope and maturity of their specialized IP litigation channels. This intelligence is expected to be of particular interest to companies and sole inventors pondering the merits of IP protection as they venture into new markets, as well as nations plotting investment in stronger IP management frameworks.
"Effective rule of law is essential to the stability of the global intellectual property rights system," IIPI president Bruce Lehman explained. "This study provides countries considering implementing specialized court regimes with the accumulated knowledge of the world's most effective intellectual property institutions."
This research goes on to draw a clear link between strong, efficient IP systems and economic development as established regulatory structures signal to foreign investors that the target country will take their rights seriously.
Intellectual Property Activities and Management
It is not unusual for website owners to register domain names that look to benefit off of the buzz generated by another party. In fact, trademark holders filed more than 2,750 complaints related to "cybersquatting" last year alone. However, Apple is responding with unique vigor this time in its effort to protect its brand equity and secure control for the www.iphone5.com domain name.
As it stands, the website is an online forum where fans of the Apple brand come to speculate on the rumored innovations of the next generation of iPhones. In a complaint filed with the WIPO, the mobile manufacturer has requested control of the domain name.
This is not the first time Apple has pursued this course of action, as complaints were filed regarding similar misappropriations of product names following the launch of the iPhone 4S. However, the company only secured custody of those domain names long after the new smartphone had been on the market. In this case, Apple is using a preemptive strategy to protect a name it may or may not use in its future product catalog.
"Given that Apple typically doesn't pursue domain names for its products until after they launch, lest their name be revealed ahead of time by the negotiation process, it seems odd that Apple is already seeking to gain control of iPhone5.com," Mac Rumors columnist Eric Slivka noted.
According to PCWorld, Apple may receive some unexpected assistance in this matter from a traditional intellectual property litigation foe. Thanks to Google's proprietary filtering features, there is a good chance that searches for the iPhone 5 will ultimately be redirected to a category page established by Google that aggregates only the most legitimate and relevant websites.
Commercialization and Licensing Processes and Management
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Law School Clinical Certification Pilot program enables students from participating law schools around the country to practice either patent or trademark law before USPTO examiners with limited guidance from faculty advisors. This week, the agency has opened up 15 additional spots in the program for universities to apply for, nearly doubling the current enrollment.
Participating students are given "limited recognition" to practice in front of USPTO examiners, drafting and filing patent or trademark applications for clients of their respective university's law school clinic. The interaction with examining attorneys continues after the applications have been filed as well, providing valuable experience in responding to USPTO actions.
"USPTO is fully engaged in providing real-world experience for law students," USPTO director David Kappos stated. "The expansion of this pilot program will provide more law students with the tools necessary to tackle the complexities of trademark law. Those tools are critical to today's innovation economy."
Officials will be accepting applications from universities interested in participating for the upcoming fall semester through July 2, with additional plans to open 10 spots specifically for the program's patent law track.
Innovation Processes and Management
Since its establishment in 1970, the Patent Cooperation Treaty has enabled inventors to gain intellectual property protection at a global level by filing a solitary application. To bolster the procedural framework of this system and reassert its value, the World Intellectual Property Organization and European Patent Office have pledged their commitment to a new cooperative three-year initiative.
This move represents the first deal of its kind between the two offices and is expected to go a long way toward making the PCT route more approachable for applicants. Issues related to the patent search process, efficiency of review and open access to information will each be directly addressed in the coming months and years.
"As leading international authorities in patents and IP, our organizations have a particular responsibility to promote the development of efficient structures and procedures in the international patent system in order to facilitate the grant of high-quality patents," EPO president Benoit Battistelli explained.
One of the key projects mapped out by the new partners will be the establishment of a "fully electronic exchange" of PCT information open to all stakeholders in order to eliminate lingering technical barriers to efficiency and innovation.
Intellectual Property Activities and Management
Colorado State University continues to be one of academia's leading advocates for the commercialization of intellectual assets, as its technology transfer office ranks among the most active in the nation. It seems as though these principles have spread throughout the campus community lately, following reports that the student government is invoking the defense of its members' intellectual property rights in relation to several university campaigns.
CSU Ventures, a foundation that serves as a link between university researchers and local entrepreneurs, has consistently provided students with a clear blueprint on how to nurture an idea from conception to commercial application. Just this week, CSU Ventures partnered with the Innovation Center of the Rockies to extend the potential of university research innovations into the nonprofit sector.
With similar stories often circulating campus newspapers, intellectual property awareness may be uniquely elevated among the student body. This month, class officers will be applying the principles on a smaller level as they aim to prove students have not been appropriately rewarded for their creative contributions to school events and marketing campaigns.
"CSU protects the use of the CSU logo and the Ram's head," student government president Eric Berlinberg told the Rocky Mountain Collegian. "That is exactly what we are trying to do here, but with our intellectual property."
According to the news outlet, much of the controversy stems from an environmental awareness event created by the student group in 2003 that they now believe has developed significant brand equity and could be usurped by the administration to use for the benefit of admissions brochures and other promotional materials.
Commercialization and Licensing Processes and Management
Popular file sharing website the Pirate Bay has long been considered one of the internet's primary distribution channels for infringing content, leaking everything from major motion pictures to proprietary software. The Swedish-based website has been able to secure safe harbor through a variety of complex legal maneuvers, but its days could be numbered following a British court ruling that will require internet service providers in the country to block access to the Pirate Bay.
According to Time, leading ISPs, including O2 and Virgin Media, have already agreed to comply with the bold copyright enforcement strategy as other leading companies consider whether or not to challenge the verdict. There has been plenty of both speculation and objection to suggest digital piracy may impact both the domestic labor market as a whole and artistic ambitions in particular, according to the news magazine, but there is still debate over who the responsibility to enforce intellectual property protections ultimately falls to.
Civil liberties advocates have cited potential for such precedents to inspire wider regulatory efforts that could be tantamount to censorship. These claims have been echoed in debates in the United States as well, as legislators attempt to involve ISPs in national cybersecurity efforts.
According to the Guardian, the sustainability of the strategy mandated by British officials hinges on regulators' ability to ensure the burden and expense of enforcement efforts placed on private companies and citizens do not outweigh the potential disruption to digital piracy syndicates.
Intellectual Property Activities and Management
Microsoft has been one of several big-name technology manufacturers engaging in protracted patent infringement cases in recent months. However, the software giant has decided to settle its dispute with Barnes & Noble and instead partner with the bookseller to establish a new subsidiary designed to deliver innovative digital publishing solutions.
The joint venture, codenamed Newco in the company's communications, will see Microsoft pledge $300 million in investment for Barnes & Noble's Nook tablet platform in an attempt to close the gap on Amazon and Apple in the market for digital reading technologies.
"Microsoft's investment in Newco, and our exciting collaboration to bring world-class digital reading technologies and content to the Windows platform and its hundreds of millions of users, will allow us to significantly expand the business," said Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch.
As the bookseller leverages Microsoft's vast intellectual assets to develop cutting-edge solutions, the software firm will be granted a 17.6 percent equity stake in the new venture. According to eWeek, this royalty-bearing licensing agreement will settle any outstanding patent litigation between the two companies and allow Microsoft to gain a foothold in what is expected to be a dynamic, lucrative market in the coming years.
Commercialization and Licensing Processes and Management
Intellectual property protections have secured a path to success for many of the nation's most important innovations. But to keep this reputation intact, it is becoming apparent that patent and copyright systems will have to evolve in step with emerging digital business practices.
The publishing world – traditionally one of the strongest advocates for copyright protection – has been showing signs of dissatisfaction lately with the IP framework established as a result of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Digital Rights Management technologies essentially prevent electronically published works from being modified or shared without their publishers' consent. But according to BBC News, MacMillan subsidiary Tor is planning to abandon DRM in the coming months to align with its business goals.
One of the unexpected consequences of DRM is the fact that content cannot be reformatted for viewing on multiple devices. Thus, producers are essentially locked into distributing their works through a single platform – such as the Kindle or iPad – and putting them in an adverse business position.
Similar concerns have been aired in the software community as manufacturers suggest that the initially noble goals of patent protection have been corrupted by license holders aiming to limit competition and stifle true innovation. According to Wired, the exclusivity period typically afforded to patent holders may not make sense in an industry that evolves at such a rapid pace. As such, experts are wondering how the system may be amended in the coming months and years to better align with emerging realities.
Intellectual Property Activities and Management
With April 26 marking the 12th occurrence of World Intellectual Property Day, leaders around the world have felt compelled to reflect upon history near and far and look for signs of what the future may hold.
Despite the growing exposure of intellectual property matters through hot-button issues like smartphone patents and digital music copyrighting, there is still a lingering concern that the inner workings and original spirit of the IP community are not yet common knowledge.
"Fundamentally, intellectual property rights – embodied in patents, trademarks and copyrights – are designed to promote innovation by incentivizing businesses and creators with the guarantee of legal protection for their creations," explained Global Intellectual Property Center executive vice president Mark Eliot. "When a strong IP rights system is in place, innovators and creators can secure the resources needed for the research, production and distribution processes."
These issues encompass everything from lifesaving medicines and drought-resistant crops to the ideas in one's favorite novel. According to Eliot, they could affect something as small as a solitary inventor or something more substantial like spurring employment growth and economic recovery.
While there have been notable advances in recent memory brought on via patent- and copyright-protected innovations, World Intellectual Property Organization director general Francis Gurry asserts that there is still much work to be done. Issues like eradicating disease and establishing new technological frontiers will all come down to a delicate balance of how innovations are protected, used and shared.
Innovation Processes and Management
Digital content producers may have secured an important victory following a German court ruling that has instructed Google to install a series of filters that will detect and prevent playback of copyright-infringing materials on its popular video-streaming platform, YouTube.
Despite its mainstream exposure, YouTube has often been a haven for digital pirates hoping to share copyrighted materials, including popular songs and movie clips. Although the court conceded that YouTube is not exclusively responsible for the submissions of its users, the ruling could set an important legal precedent by which intellectual property protection advocates could call on separate online media platforms to govern their content more proactively.
"Today's ruling confirms that YouTube is a hosting platform and cannot be obliged to control all videos uploaded to the site," Google officials stated. "The ruling is a partial success for the music industry in general, for our users as well as artists, composers, YouTube and other web platforms in Germany."
According to ZDNet, it is unlikely any retroactive royalties will be sought, but Google could be asked to pay for the rights to any copyrighted materials that it would like to remain on YouTube moving forward.
Commercialization and Licensing Processes and Management
