Indianapolis, Indiana – On April 10, 2014, the Robert H. McKinney School of Law will host
“IP Jurisprudence in the New Technological Epoch: The Judiciary’s Role in the Age of Biotechnology and Digital Media.” The program will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will provide 6.5 hours of continuing legal education.
Speaker: Robert A. Armitage, Consultant, IP Strategy & Policy
Location: Wynne Courtroom and Atrium, Inlow Hall, 530 W. New York Street, Indianapolis, Indiana
Geneva, Switzerland – A new World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) report shows that in 2012 global patent filings increased at their strongest rate in nearly two decades as industrial-design registration notched its best-ever rate of growth. Intellectual 
property (“IP”) filings have sharply rebounded since a 2009 decline at the height of the financial crisis.
The report shows patent filings grew by 9.2% (2.35 million applications filed) in 2012. Utility model (“UM”) filings increased by 23.4%, industrial design filings by 17%, and trademark filings by 6.0%.
The 2013 edition of the World Intellectual Property Indicators also shows that, for the first time, China tops the ranking for both the source (filings by China) and the destination (filed in China) for the four types of IP (patents, utility models, trademarks and industrial designs). Of the top five IP offices worldwide, the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (“SIPO”) was alone in recording double-digit growth for each of the four types of IP. Continued rapid filing growth in China is the main driver of global IP growth.
Washington, D.C. – A new law allows applicants to file a single international design application to acquire global protection.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) recently announced a proposal to amend the rules of practice in patent cases to implement the provisions of Title I of the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (also known as “PLTIA”). The law, which serves as the implementing legislation for both the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (“the Hague Agreement”) and the Patent Law Treaty, will allow applicants to file a single international design application to acquire global protection.
When the Hague Agreement comes into effect in the United States, U.S
. applicants will be able to file a single application for protection of an industrial design which will have effect in more than 40 territories.
Alexandria, Virginia – On Wednesday, October 23, 2013, the U.S. Patent Office (“USPTO”) will hold a one-day seminar on using the Madrid Protocol for filing an international application and maintaining an international registration.
The target audience is practitioners who are already familiar with and have used the Madrid Protocol. The purpose of the seminar is to provide practical information on common issues that arise during the processing of the application, as well as maintaining and managing the resulting international registration. Seminar highlights include: resources of the World Intellectual Property Organization; issues to consider when preparing to file and actually filing an international application; the USPTO review process for certification of the international application; International Bureau review of the international application; and issues related to changing and renewing the international registration. A detailed agenda will be provided at a later date.
The event will be held in the Global Intellectual Property Academy at the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with a lunch break). To attend in person, please send your name to TMFeedback@uspto.gov no later than close of business Friday, October 18, with the subject line “Madrid Protocol advanced training.” The seminar will also be webcast. Webcast instructions and an agenda will be posted on the USPTO website in advance of the event. There is no need to register if you only plan to view the webcast. If possible, the USPTO will attempt to make a version available for viewing at a later time.
Geneva, Switzerland – The World Trade Organization (“WTO”) has granted its permission for the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda (“Antigua”) to disregard intellectual property rights granted by the United States (i.e., patents, copyrights and trademarks). The decision follows nearly ten years of negotiations and litigation pursuant to a 2003 complaint to the WTO by Antigua.
In the United States, there are three separate federal laws (the “Wire Act,” the “Travel Act” and the “Illegal Gambling Business Act”) and various state laws promulgated by Louisiana, Massachusetts, South Dakota and Utah that prohibit certain means of delivering gambling services, most particularly the interstate delivery such services. The dispute centered on the conformance of these laws with an international trade agreement when the laws restricted online gambling services offered in the U.S. by Antigua. [NB: Other WTO members participated as complainants but, by 2009, the U.S. had negotiated agreements with each of them.]
Via its attorneys, Antigua alleged that, together, the federal and state restrictions amounted to discrimination against foreign companies and constituted a breach of the United States’ agreement under the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (“GATS”). Antigua stated that its economy, which had, without the restrictions, included a substantial volume of online gambling services offered to the residents of the U.S., had been significantly damaged.
Washington, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutionality of the Uruguay Round Agreements regarding copyright protection for foreign parties. In 1994, Congress enacted Uruguay Round Agreements Act, which implemented negotiations in the World Trade Organization’s Marrakech Agreement. 
The law in question restored foreign copyrighted works that had previously been in the public domain back to the private domain and granted U.S. copyright protection for those works. Copyright attorneys for Golan and a group of musicians who had used foreign works while the works were in the public domain had filed this lawsuit against United States Attorney General Eric Holder, arguing that the Act violated the U.S. Constitution’s Copyright Clause and violated the First Amendment Rights of those who had free access to the works that were restored to private domain.
The Supreme Court rejected these challenges and affirmed the constitutionality of the Act. The Court’s opinion emphasized that the Act brought the United States’ law into harmony with that of other nations. The SCOTUSblog has links to all the parties’ and amicus briefs as well comprehensive coverage of this case.
The Court’s opinion affirmed the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decision and the decision of Judge Babcock of the United States District Court of Colorado.
Practice Tip: The U.S. Supreme Court has a long trend of strenuously protecting the rights of intellectual property owners. This case is yet another example.
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Indiana Intellectual Property Law News