Insights

Banner image with text: 'Stay informed with the latest IP news' and the following words listed: Insights, Interviews, Webinars.

Fertile grounds for patent applications

By Love Koči | Posted on March 31, 2015

According to a recently published survey by the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV), geographical areas where universities and large companies are present promote innovation, and consequently, also the number of filed patent applications. Some Swedish counties (e.g. Stockholm, Uppsala and Skåne) stand out in the PRV statistics of the number of national patent applications...

Tags: Innovation, PRV, sweden

New IP courts major step forward in China’s judicial reforms

By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on March 24, 2015

In November and December 2014, China announced the long awaited establishment of three specialized IP courts in the Tier 1 cities of Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. These courts are empowered to hear the following cases: First instance civil and administrative cases related to patents, new plant varieties, layout design of integrated circuit, technological secrets and...

Tags: Asia, china, IP court

The Indian Jungle – an IP perspective, part 2

By Michael Bech Sommer | Posted on March 10, 2015

To foreign applicants filing a patent application in India takes place “at the IPO”, but in reality there is a choice of venue which is not trivial. The Indian patent office (IPO) is headquartered at Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) with branches in Chennai (formerly Madras), New Delhi and Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The office of...

Tags: compulsory license, India, Patent

The Indian Jungle – an IP perspective, part 1

By Michael Bech Sommer | Posted on February 27, 2015

“Now these are the laws of the jungle, and many and mighty are they…” – Rudyard Kipling wrote these lines over 100 years ago in his “Law for the Wolves” from the famous Jungle Book. As IP practitioners we are constantly reminded of the complex nature of today’s Indian IP jungle and the many and...

Tags: India, Patent

Swedish Government forms Innovation Council

By Love Koči | Posted on January 28, 2015

According to a recently published article in the Swedish business journal Veckans Affärer, the Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Mikael Damberg, has promised the creation of an Innovation Council during the spring of 2015 which is to be headed by the Swedish Prime Minister. Mr. Damberg states that a Council of this kind has...

Tags: Innovation, sweden

Is there anything morally wrong with “Je suis Charlie”?

By AWA | Posted on January 21, 2015

In continuation of the terrible terror attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, social medias were flooded with the phrase “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) as a message of condolence, outrage and defiance, as well as support for the right to free expression. As expected, this social media wave resulted in a vast...

Tags: OHIM, trademarks

The UPCA Opt-in/Pin-out scenario

By Michael Bech Sommer | Posted on December 16, 2014

The Unified Patent court agreement (UPCA) has been ratified in 2014 by both Denmark and Sweden, so even if the actual advent of the unitary patent and UPC is still some way off, potential patent rights holders in the two countries should already now prepare for the new regime. The coming into force of the...

Tags: Europe, European patent, unified patent court, unitary patent

New Patent Prosecution Highway possibilities for both Danish, Swedish and European applicants

By Troels Peter Rørdam | Posted on November 14, 2014

As the PPH expands further, both Danish, Swedish and indeed European patent applicants are offered new possibilities of speeding up and simplifying examination of their patent applications. In the following the Awapatent IP Blog sums up these new possibilities. To recall, for a given PPH-agreement the PPH allows for requesting accelerated examination at the one...

Tags: GPPH, patent prosecution highway, PPH

Revisions to Canadian Trademark Act

By AWA | Posted on November 6, 2014

Earlier this year Canada’s government proposed Canada major changes to the Canadian Trademark Act and in June the bill (C-31) received royal assent. The changes enable Canada, as one of the last (if not the last) western industrialized countries, to accede to the Madrid Protocol, Nice Agreement and the Singapore Treaty. Some of the most...

Tags: Canada, Madrid Protocol, Nice Agreement, Singapore Treaty, trademarks

European patent validation in Morocco and Tunisia

By Troels Peter Rørdam | Posted on October 31, 2014

Recently, the EPO has initiated work on a new interesting possibility for European patent applicants. Namely, the EPO has reported having signed an agreement with the Tunisian government on the validation of European patents for Tunisia. A similar agreement has previously, in 2013, been signed with the Moroccan government. According to the agreements, European patents...

Tags: EPC, EPO, Europe, Morocco, Patent, Tunisia

Recent contributors

Ai-Leen Lim, Partner and Attorney at Law, Hong Kong SAR

Ai-Leen Lim

Partner, Attorney at Law, Group Vice President

Joanna Lu, Senior Associate and Attorney at Law, Beijing, China

Joanna Lu

Senior Associate, Attorney at Law

Anders Heebøll-Nielsen, Partner and European Patent Attorney, Copenhagen, Denmark

Anders Heebøll-Nielsen

Partner, European Patent Attorney, Certified Danish Patent Agent

Ashley Zhao, Partner and Attorney at Law, Beijing, China

Ashley Zhao

Partner, Attorney at Law, Business Area Manager

Monika Trombitas Andersson, Associate and Attorney at Law, Lund, Sweden

Monika Trombitas Andersson

Associate, Attorney at Law, European Trademark and Design Attorney

Emily Chamberlain, Senior Associate and Patents, Stockholm, Sweden

Emily Chamberlain

Senior Associate, Patents