AWA Point
Trade Mark User Requirements Tightened Following US Supreme Court Ruling
By AWA | Posted on December 3, 2009
Following a key US Supreme Court ruling earlier this year we announced that the practice in regard to the fulfilment of the user requirements for trade marks has been tightened in the USA. Consequently, an entire trade mark registration can be cancelled if the owner can only prove use of trade mark for a part...
Software related inventions at the Enlarged Board of Appeals
By AWA | Posted on October 14, 2009
It is now almost a year since the President of the EPO referred four questions relating to the patentability of software related inventions to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (G03/08). The hope is of course that the EBA finally may put several issues to rest, issues that have been debated in and out of the...
Tags: inventions, patentability, Software, software patenting
Is the era of cascading divisionals coming to an end?
By AWA | Posted on October 6, 2009
Filing a divisional used to be a common procedure before oral proceedings as well as before grant of a patent. But for European applications this possibility has now been drastically restricted, and new rules concerning divisionals (rule 36 EPC) will be in place from April 1, 2010. Until recently there were considerable uncertainties regarding the application...
Changes to the German Intellectual Property Laws
By AWA | Posted on September 24, 2009
A series of changes to the German intellectual property laws was recently passed by the German parliament. The reforms enter into force on 1 October 2009. Of greatest importance are the changes to the patent law regarding patent invalidity proceedings. The changes aim at speeding up the process by limiting the possibility of making changes...
Tags: fee, filing, german intellectual property, patent application
Utility models are not what they used to be, at least not in Germany
By Kim Garsdal Nielsen | Posted on September 7, 2009
The German Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) has ruled that there cannot be any difference between patents and utility models in the requirement for inventive step. Consequently, it will in most cases no longer make any sense to branch off a German utility model from a patent application if the latter is rejected because of lack of...
Filed under: Insights
Tags: Germany, patents, utility models
Is your supplier really cheap or just a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
By Ole Bokinge | Posted on August 19, 2009
It is well known that many companies, for cost reasons, choose to manufacture and buy products in low-cost countries, such as China. The possibility of manufacturing in low-cost countries is now being offered widely to Swedish companies through agents. These agents are often Swedes, who themselves have worked in production, procurement and logistics in such...
Centocor (Johnson & Johnson) awarded the largest patent verdict in U.S. history
By AWA | Posted on July 6, 2009
1.67 billion U.S. dollars, $1.16 billion in lost profit, and $504 million in royalties. That’s what Centocor is awarded in damages for infringement of their patents. On Monday, June 29, a jury found that Abbott Laboratories had willfully infringed two patents covering antibodies against tumor necrosis factor owned by Centocor. Abbott’s drug Humira was found...
Filed under: Insights
Tags: Infringement, Patent, verdict
What are the consequences of the decision from the Federal Circuit on the new USPTO regulations?
By AWA | Posted on April 7, 2009
In August 2007 the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a rules package intended to limit the number of patent claims in a single patent application to 25 (including a maximum of 5 independent claims) and also to restrict the possibility of filing what are known as “continuation applications”. The main aim of...
Filed under: Insights
Tags: federal circuit, patent application, patent claims, uspto regulations
2 years to file EPC divisionals
By Eva Carlsson | Posted on April 6, 2009
The European Patent Office has decided to restrict the possibility for filing divisional applications. Under the current Rule 36 EPC a divisional application may be filed up to the grant of the parent application. According to the adopted amendments to Rule 36 (1) EPC the applicant has a basic right to file one or more...
Filed under: Insights
New patent law in China
By Vibeke Warberg Rohde | Posted on March 17, 2009
As mentioned on this IP blog on 30 October 2008, a new Chinese patent law has been anticipated for some time. On 27 December the law was finally passed and it will come into force on 1 October 2009. Some of the most important changes seen from a European point of view will be summarized...
Filed under: Insights
Tags: bolar exemption, china, patent law
Recent contributors
Counsel, AU and NZ Patent Attorney
Senior Associate, China Patent Attorney
Associate, Attorney at Law
Counsel, European Patent Attorney
Partner, Attorney at Law, Business Area Manager
Partner, European Patent Attorney