AWA Point
Decision by the USPTO puts the spotlight on the “real party in interest”
By Joacim Lydén | Posted on July 1, 2014
One of the ways that companies in patent dense industries, such as consumer electronics, try to fend off claims from patent holders is by requesting assistance from patent risk management firms. Patent risk management firms generally assist their clients by acquiring patents, tracking litigation outcome, or by acting to remove questionable patents from the landscape....
Filed under: Insights
Tags: patent risk management, USA, USPTO
Important judgement on business method patent in the United States
By Joacim Lydén | Posted on June 24, 2014
On 20 June 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an important decision, Alice v. CLS Bank, clarifying the extent to which business methods can be patented. The earlier stages of the proceedings have been well covered in the media as this is one of relatively few times the Supreme Court has interpreted 35 U.S.C....
Patenting software in the US
By Lasse Henze | Posted on June 17, 2014
On June 11, 2014 Awapatent hosted a seminar about software patenting in the US. The seminar was arranged by Danish-American Business Forum (DABF). US patent Attorney Eric S. Barr from Sughrue Mion PLLC was invited to give a talk about recent developments within this field. Eric gave a very informative and inspiring talk where he...
Filed under: Insights
Protecting the FIFA brands
By Hanna Hansson | Posted on June 10, 2014
With the 2014 FIFA World Cup coming up in Brazil times are busy for organizer The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, FIFA. FIFA continuously takes action against ambush marketers, advertising or promoting around the World Cup without authorization. The preparations of the 2014 FIFA World Cup were initiated several years ago and an important part...
Filed under: Insights
Tags: FIFA, trademarks
Adopting a stricter view on ethics?
By Vibeke Warberg Rohde | Posted on June 3, 2014
The everyday work of an IP attorney may seem to amount largely to pencil pushing, but it does in fact involve a surprisingly large number of decisions, where moral issues have to be considered. For instance, can I take on this new client without risking to step on existing clients’ toes? Events of the last...
Filed under: Insights
The life sciences patent maze – USA
By AWA | Posted on May 27, 2014
ON MARCH 4, 2014, the US Patent Office issued new guidelines on how to evaluate the patentability of inventions reciting or involving “laws of nature/natural principles, natural phenomena, and/or natural products”. Considering the fact that the first federal patent statute of the United States was established in 1790, one might be inclined to believe that...
Filed under: Insights
Tags: life science, patents, USA, USPTO
The new unitary patent opens many opportunities
By Eva Carlsson | Posted on May 19, 2014
One of the most significant issues within the European patent industry concerns the unitary patent and the courts which will belong to the new system. In December 2012 the EU made the historic decision on introducing a new patent system, but many detailed issues still need to be resolved. The current system, the European Patent...
Introduction of fee reductions for small entities before the EPO
By Troels Peter Rørdam | Posted on May 15, 2014
Effective 1 April 2014 the Administrative Council (AC) of the EPO has changed the rules for obtaining reduction on certain fees charged in relation to the procedure before the EPO . The requirement that the applicant must be a resident of or have principal place of business is in an EPC contracting state with an...
PCT to the rescue
By AWA | Posted on April 22, 2014
According to Wikipedia, “time to market is the length of time it takes from a product being conceived until its being available for sale“. However, the success of the product can often not be determined until the product has been on the market for a period of time. For some products, the success is immediate,...
Filed under: Insights
Tags: EQE, European Patent Attorney
The (trade) secret of success
By AWA | Posted on April 8, 2014
We have all heard of success stories such as the Coca-Cola recipe and the Google search algorithm. Many companies value their trade secrets and consider them important for competitiveness and innovative performance. Although the general understanding is that trade secrets are good for business, there seem to be many incorrect assumptions about their legal protection....
Filed under: Insights
Tags: EU, trade secrets
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