Patent Eligibility of Blockchain Inventions
The Australian Patent Office recently handed down a decision clarifying the patent eligibility of blockchain inventions, at least so far as Australian law is concerned. Blockchain is a kind of…
Unitary Patent in Europe
Since the 70’s there have been various attempts to replace individual European country patents with a unified patent good throughout participating countries. As it currently stands, there is a partially…
Trademark Registration Protection in the US and Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has determined that registration of a trademark is a complete defense against claims for infringement and passing off. Travelway, a Canadian luggage distributor, owns…
Good News – Chinese Trademark Office Starting to Enforce Against Squatters
In the wake of Chinese athletes’ excellent performance at the Tokyo Olympic Games, there has been a surge in trademark squatting, in an attempt to take advantage of the athletes’…
Australian Design Patent Statute Amendment
The Designs Amendment Bill 2020 passed both houses in Australia on August 30 and is now waiting Royal Assent.This bill introduces a 12-month grace period for design patents, bringing it…
China implements stronger punitive damages
China has recently made some changes to the legal system allowing up to five times the punitive damages for intentional and serious intellectual property infringement. This is part of an…
Patent Prosecution Highway- Phase II
The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) approved phase II of its Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program, which commenced on January 1, 2021. The PPH program is a bilateral agreement…
The Inventive Step in Chinese Patent Law
While China is becoming an increasingly attractive patent filing destination for foreign companies, foreign counsels are often confused by the country’s inventive step requirement. Indeed, Chinese patent examiners often use…
Standards Essential Patents
Standards Essential Patents (SEPs) claim inventions that must be complied with to satisfy a technical standard. Think for example, MP3 music compression technology. Given that essentially everyone needs to license…
FRAND (Fair Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory licensing)
In May, the German Federal Court of Justice recently issued a landmark, 41-page decision that could well make Germany the “go-to” venue for patent owners in future FRAND licensing disputes. …