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Croatia to join EU July 2013 – Impact on Community Trade Marks and Designs
Territorial Expansion of the Community Trade Mark and Community Design Systems
On 1 July 2013, Croatia will join the European Union with the result that, from that date, existing and new Community Trade Marks (CTMs), as well as unregistered and Registered Community Designs, will have their coverage expanded to that country.
This expansion of protection will occur automatically, without the need for owners of CTMs and Community Designs to take any action, nor pay any fees.
Amazon’s “Gift order” patent: The EPO Looks a gift patent in the mouth
It has been several weeks since we’ve seen a good bout in the Apple vs Samsung patent war. Fortunately, this cavernous gap in our lives has been filled, at least for a little while, by Amazon’s escapades before the EPO’s Opposition Division this week.
The case is a long one (If you’ve a lot of time to spare, you can check out the EPO register entry here), so IPcopy is here to give you a whistle-stop tour.
Unitary Patent Package – Final texts
The final text of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court has now been published by the Council of the European Union. The two regulations relating to the unitary patent have already been published. Links to all three documents are below and also on our unitary patent package page.
1) Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2012 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection – here.
2) Council Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012 of 17 December 2012 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection with regard to the applicable translation arrangements – here.
3) Agreement on a Unified Patent Court – here. Corrections to Agreement here and here.
Mark Richardson 17 January 2013
Disappearing Brands – but what becomes of the trade marks?
HMV has become the latest high street victim to collapse into administration after 92 years on UK high streets. More than 4000 jobs and 236 stores are at risk unless a suitable buyer can be found by administrators. This news comes just days after camera retailer Jessops announced that it was unable to continue trading. As a result, all of its 187 stores were closed down. The company stated in 1937 when Frank Jessop opened his first shop in Leicester. Both HMV and the Jessops trade marks have been well known to the public following many years of use …. but what will become of the names now and can the trade marks be saved by anyone?
ITMA calls for evidence regarding proposed Chinese Trade Mark Law revisions
The Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) is in the final stages of a process of revision of the Chinese Trade Mark Law that – if implemented – should have positive implications for foreign trade mark owners.
The UK Patent Box – Reducing corporation tax
This is not just any box. This is an HMRC Patent Box
On 1 April 2013 the UK will introduce a new preferential tax regime, the so called “Patent Box”, that will potentially reduce the amount of UK corporation tax that a company will be liable for.
If you’re interested in finding out more, then grab a highly caffeinated beverage of your choice (we are going to be talking about patents and tax in the same post after all!) and read on.
Stem Cell Patent Decision Prompts Questions in Parliament
Questions have been asked of Prime Minister David Cameron concerning the British Government’s position in relation to Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) decision in the Brüstle v Greenpeace case. It seems IPCopy’s earlier posting on this matter reflects the concerns of many with interests in the future of regenerative medicine that such EU-wide decisions are profoundly damaging, especially when they undermine the decision of a member state to fund such research with taxpayers’ money.
America Invents Act (AIA) – IP Summit Brussels
As noted in an earlier post, the unitary patent and unified patent court in Europe was a hot topic of conversation at the IP Summit in Brussels recently. However, the unitary patent package was not the only major law change discussed and on 7 December 2012 I attended an informative session on “Filing Scenarios Before and After March 16, 2013” in relation to the America Invents Act (AIA).
This session was chaired by Eric Raciti from Finnegan with Malcolm T Meeks (Infineon Technologies AG) and Prof. Herb Munsterman (IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law) on the panel. The session focused on changes to the scope of prior art under AIA and also covered changes to the US grace period and new post-grant procedures that will be available to challenge granted US patents.
Design Treaty Comes of Age
For many The Hague Agreement for the international protection of industrial designs is one of those backwaters of IP law, a bit of a niche interest like the UPOV treaty for protection of plant varieties. However, this modest sibling of the PCT and Madrid Protocol won a major endorsement on 18 December 2012 when President Obama signed it into US law as part of the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act.
So what happens now to human ES Cell patents in Europe?
Now that the dust has settled after a decade of uncertainty IPcopy surveys the scene to try and determine what the state of play is on patenting of human pluripotent stem cells in Europe.
IPcopy 