New role of ISPs combatting trade mark infringement
Fourteen years after the adoption of the Directive on Electronic Commerce of 8 June 2000, relating to the liability of the ISPs within the EU, the roles of ISPs have evolved significantly and they no longer work in a solely technical capacity.
In principle, ISPs do not have any say on the content matter, they are simply offering a technical service. This task has however become required across a much broader spectrum since the emergence of Web 2.0, as users now have more opportunity to post and retrieve content on an interactive level.
ISPs which are merely acting as hosts benefit from a special status on non-responsibility. However, the legal obligations of ISPs have increased and in addition to the normal rules of liability, International and European Law have imposed on ISPs obligations to act against trade mark infringement by cooperating with the trade mark owners and the authorities. (more…)
‘Expectation of Success’ as Part of Inventive Step Analysis
This is the second in a series of articles on biotech inventions (the first article can be found here). The present article discusses ‘expectation of success’ which is often considered as part of assessment of inventive step for biotech inventions and also in other life science areas such as pharmaceuticals. Whilst this article is written from the perspective of how the test is used at the European Patent Office (EPO) and in the UK Courts, ‘expectation of success’ is also applicable in other territories. (more…)
Unitary Patent and the UPC: a talk by Neil Feinson at the Westminster Legal Policy Forum
I was fortunate enough to attend last week’s seminar of the Westminster Legal Policy Forum in London. An overview of the seminar will appear on IPcopy later. This post will instead focus on one of the keynote addresses given by Neil Feinson, Director of International Policy, IPO and UK Representative, UPC Preparatory Committee.
“A cross-border, public sector IT Project. What could possibly go wrong?” * (more…)
Unitary patent: AG’s Opinion (Spanish Challenges) Re-scheduled for November
The CJEU court diary has just been updated* to show that the Advocate General’s opinion relating to the Spanish challenges to the unitary patent package (in cases C-146/13 and C-147/13) is now scheduled for 18 November 2014.
An early Christmas present beckons for either Spain or the EPO…..
The CJEU court diary can be accessed here. Screengrab below. (more…)
Clarity referral to the Enlarged Board – the EPO issues a clarifying notice (G3/14)
Referral G3/14, which relates to the issue of clarity objections in Opposition and Appeal Board proceedings, is currently pending before the EPO. As noted in an earlier IPcopy post the issues concerned are fairly fundamental and have the potential to impact many post grant proceedings via the possibility of the staying of proceedings.
The EPO has recently issued a Notice concerning the staying of proceedings due to the referral of G3/14. (more…)
An Overview of Biotech Patenting
This is the first in a series of articles about biotech inventions. The articles will explore how Patent Offices deal with biotech inventions and how the demands of biotech research and financing impact on patent strategy.
The present article provides an overview of the issues that are relevant in patenting biotech inventions. (more…)
UPC Ratification Progress in the Czech Republic & the Polish Economic Report
Back in July we reported that although there was a political will in the Czech Republic to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement, there was likely to be a delay until an economic impact assessment could be carried out. Such an assessment in turn could not happen until details of the renewal fees, court fees etc. were published.
The Kluwer Patent Blog is now also reporting that, in addition to the economic factors, there is an issue over the quality of machine translations into Czech. (more…)
Unitary patent: Spain stops play?
On Monday we posted an update on the progress of the two actions before the CJEU from Spain in respect of the Unitary Patent Package (short summary: the Advocate General’s decision has been delayed). We subsequently received a notice from Dr Ingve Stjerna relating to his latest paper on the unitary patent (Regular readers will be aware that Dr Stjerna has written a number of articles on the unitary patent system which can be accessed here). (more…)
Unitary patent: Advocate General’s opinion on the Spanish Challenge is delayed
Set phasers to “Wild Speculation”.
As has been widely covered, Spain is challenging the Unitary Patent Package via two actions at the CJEU ( C-146/13 and C-147/13 against the European Parliament and the European Council). In what has been a relatively quiet few months for news relating to the unitary patent and the unified patent court, IPcopy was looking forward to 21 October 2014 which was when the Advocate General was expected to publish the AG’s opinion on the two Spanish actions.
However, the IPO’s monthly newsletter IP Connect is now reporting that publication of the AG’s opinion will not take place in October and no revised date has been given (see page 5 of the October IP Connect). What does this mean? Perhaps the AG is just busy but maybe there are issues with the opinion and its potential impact on the Unitary Patent Package or perhaps the EPO’s role in the system. We’ll keep an eye out for further news on this issue but if anyone knows more please feel free to chime in below in the comments section.
Mark Richardson 6 October 2014
Revised EPO Guidelines now available (valid from 1 Nov 2014)
The EPO is revising its Guidelines for Examination and these are already available on the EPO website (I know, be still your beating hearts). This early publication of the Guidelines can be accessed here. The EPO has thoughtfully included a Track Changes option which can be toggled on and off via a check box in the top right of the screen. Once switched on additions appear on a green background and deletions in red strikethrough font.
One of the more notable changes is to the EPO’s searching practice on applications entering the regional phase. (more…)
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