In this week’s patent news – Punjab University organizes Patent Search and Filing Workshop, MSME Development Institute at Dimapur holds awareness program on IP Rights, Indian Patent Office releases list of Withdrawn Patent Applications, WIPO Academy opens Registration for – General Course on Intellectual Property Rights: DL 101, BlueMail sues Apple Inc. for Patent Infringement, Nike institutes design patent law suit for infringement of its design patent against Sketchers, Electronic Arts faces patent infringement suit, Amazon launches Intellectual Property Accelerator, 59th Series of Meetings of WIPO Assemblies culminate.
Indian Patent News
Punjab University organizes Patent Search and Filing Workshop
IP Chair, established by Punjab University recently hosted a workshop with the theme – Patent Search and Filing, in Chandigarh. The event was held in collaboration with DST-Centre for Policy Research (DST-CPR) and Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC). During the one day event, a number of workshops were held by IP experts to disseminate the importance of protecting intellectual property rights. Apart from topics related to patent search, discussions were also based on different forms of intellectual property protection in India, namely – Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, Geographical Indications.
MSME Development Institute at Dimapur holds awareness program on IP Rights
On October 3rd, 2019, MSME Development Institute established at Dimapur organized an awareness program on Intellectual Property Rights. The one day event was held in association with Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM), DPIIT, Ministry for Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India. A number of eminent dignitaries including the Managing Director of NIDC, CM Lotha, graced the occasion. The awareness program saw discussions being held on the importance of IP protection, difference between inventions and discovery for patents, patentability requirements, protecting IP under industrial designs and trademark registration.
Indian Patent Office releases list of Withdrawn Patent Applications
On 4th October, 2019 the Indian patent Office published a list of patent application that have been withdrawn through Form 29. According to the list, over 300 application have been withdrawn. Click here to access the list.
Patent courses, workshops, Seminars and conferences
WIPO Academy opens Registration for – General Course on Intellectual Property Rights: DL 101
WIPO Academy has opened registrations for their distance learning Introductory program on Intellectual Property Rights. The online course – General Course on Intellectual Property Rights: DL 101, builds on the foundation laid by IP Primer: DL – 001 by delving deeper into the fundamentals of IPR. The General Course contains 12 Modules that deal with various form of IP including WIPO Treaties, Unfair Competition, The WIPO Development Agenda and more. While WIPO does not charge a fee to pursue the course, it is important to register in advance. Registrations will remain open until 24th October 2019 and sessions will begin from 25th October. A Final Examination will be held on the 6th and 7th of December and on successful completion of the same, a Certificate will be provided by the Academy. Click here for more information on the course.
Patent Disputes / Infringements / Settlements/ Licensing
BlueMail sues Apple Inc. for Patent Infringement
Blix, the parent company of BlueMail has instituted a suit for infringement against Apple Inc. for its new feature called ‘Sign in with Apple.’ The new feature was released by Apple during the World-Wide Developer Conference on 3rd June 2019. In addition to the suit for patent infringement, the company has alleged that Apple Inc. removed BlueMail from its MacOS App Store thereby preventing it from reaching consumers; which has been perceived as a monopolistic move by Apple.
Electronic Arts faces patent infringement suit
Electronic Arts (EA) has been served with a legal notice asking the company to appear before the United States district court of Texas over at least two counts of patent infringement. The lawsuit has been filed by one Stone Interactive Ventures (SIV), a Baltimore based company who holds two patents related to management and ownership of virtual properties, and distribution and sale of program objects. The lawsuit does not mention any sum in specific being sought as damages. The case documents may be accessed here.
Nike institutes design patent law suit for infringement of its design patent against Sketchers
Earlier this week, Nike filed a suit in the Federal Court, USA, against Sketchers for infringing the Air Max 270 and Vapor Max designs owned by the footwear giant. Nike has alleged that Sketcher’ Sketch-Air Atlas, Sketch-Air 92, Sketch-Air Blast Shoes & Sketch-Air Stratus expressly infringes its designs. Nike’s Air Max 270 and Vapor Max designs recently gained attention for its distinctive air bubble sole. Apart from this suit, Nike has two other law suits pending against Sketchers for copying a design from Converse and another for its Flynit and Nike Free design.
International Patent News
Amazon launches Intellectual Property Accelerator
On 1st October 2019, Amazon launched a new program called the Intellectual Property Accelerator to provide an opportunity for brands to obtain and protect their IP rights in Amazon stores. According to the company, the program was specifically created for small and medium scale businesses to offer easy and cost effective means to protect their creations. IP Accelerator paves a path for businesses to connect with and seek expert advice from trusted intellectual property law firms at a cost-effective rate. The e-commerce giant has carefully curated a list of IP firms by analyzing their expertise and experience, these participating firms have agreed to offer IP services at a predetermined and subsidized cost. The services offered by the firms range from trademark filing to search, copyrights registrations, filing of industrial design applications and other protection strategies. A spokesperson from Indigo Paisley said “We’re very excited Amazon has a list of legal firms that can advise us in our trademark needs. We have struggled finding counsel for trademark specific questions as we are a small company and work with limited budgets.” Click here to access the official page for additional information.
59th Series of Meetings of WIPO Assemblies culminate
The 59th Series of Meetings of the WIPO Assemblies which began on 30th September 2019 culminated on the 6th of October 2019. Numerous meetings with specific agendas were held throughout the week at the Annual event.
India’s Permanent Representative, Rajiv K. Chander addressed the member countries at the event and stated that “India has a well-established legislative, administrative and judicial framework to safeguard IPR, which meets its international obligations while utilizing the flexibilities provided in the international regime to address its developmental concerns.” He then went on to speak about the progress of the country and highlighted certain aspects like the adaptation of the National IPR Policy 2016, India’s increased partnership with WIPO in addition to being a signatory to five IPR treaties in the last 12 months and the recent launch of the Global Innovation Index, in New Delhi. Further, India expressed its complete support in respect of the WIPO Coordination Committee that will soon be established. The establishment of the Committee was proposed earlier by the Asia Pacific Group. Click here for more information on the Meeting.
Authored and compiled by Vibha Amarnath & Gaurav Mishra
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