7th Novemberr , 2009

TSMC wins patent infringement case against SMIC

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) has won a lawsuit against China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMI) on patents and trade secret infringement in a court in California. TSM is yet to decide on how much damages are to be claimed from SMIC.

TSMC had filed the lawsuit to seek compensation from SMIC in 2006 for damages caused for violation of a 2005 settlement, and an injunction to prevent SMIC from using certain patents and trade secrets to compete unfairly against TSMC.

In their settlement made in 2005 SMIC had approved to pay TSMC US$175 million over a six-year period and the two warring companies agreed to cross-license each other's patent portfolio through December 2010.

Chrysler to have a new logo ?

Chrysler, the automaker is going to have a fresh new look with a new badge under the stewardship of the Fiat Group of Italy. Chrysler has filed a trademark application with the USPTO. A low-resolution image of the badge consists of a silver winged logo with blue center with the word ‘Chrysler’ placed in the center between the wings.

Chrysler is reviving its American lineup with smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles. The company has filed an “intent to use” trademark application to the patent office for a new badge design and “that does not necessarily mean that particular image will be the new Chrysler logo”, according to a Chrysler spokeswoman.

The U.S. Patent Office has approved a new streamlined logo that compresses the winged symbol that Chrysler vehicles have used since the mid-1990s.

Spring Design seeks injunction barring Nook sales

Spring Design, a start-up company has sought financial damages from Barnes & Noble (B&N) and is also is trying to get an injunction barring sales of the Nook. In a lawsuit filed by Spring Design, it claims that its trade secrets were misappropriated by Barnes & Noble.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Jose, California and seeks both monetary damages as well as a halt to sales of the Nook.

The Nook, a competitor to Amazon's Kindle, is due to go on sale this month for $259. It is an e-reader, like Spring Design's Alex and it is a combination of a color touch screen with an e-ink display; both readers use the Android operating system. Spring Design claims to have shown its plans for the Alex to Barnes & Noble, which was interested in the product but gave no hint that it was also working on a similar device.

This legal tussle may have an impact on the launch of Nook this month.

Sublime band members cannot use the name

A Los Angeles judge has turned down an effort by former members of the ska-punk band Sublime to perform under the same name.

A trademark lawsuit was filed by the estate of frontman Bradley Nowell, who died of a drug overdose in 1996; the preliminary injunction was issued in the lawsuit.

Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh, the existing band members who had continued to perform as the Long Beach Dub Allstars, wished to perform under the name Sublime. The Nowell's family opposed to this and the Bradley Nowell estate and merchandising entity filed a trademark infringement suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

On the band's MySpace page,  the Nowell family had posted that "It was Brad's expressed intention that no one use the name Sublime in any group that did not include him, and Brad even registered the trademark 'Sublime' under his own name."

The Judge agreed with the family and issued the injunction citing the estate's likelihood of prevailing on its trademark claim.

Sanofi sues Sandoz for infringing cancer drug patent

Sanofi-Aventis (SA), the French drugmaker has approached a U.S. federal court to block a Novartis unit from selling a generic version of its cancer drug in the United States. Sanofi-Aventis claims that its patent is being infringed by Novartis, according to court documents.

Sanofi has asked the federal court in Delaware to find that an application filed by Sandoz, the generic business of Novartis would violate its patents for Taxotere.

Sanofi will have to face an enormous knock to its revenue when its Taxotere cancer drug and Plavix blood-clot treatment begin to face competition from cheap generics. Other drugmakers are going to face similar competition in the form of major patent expirations over the next few years.

ICFAI, Hyderabad accused of trademark infringement 

The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI), Hyderabad has been accused for trademark infringement by the US CFA.

The CFA has accused ICFA of unfair competition and trademark infringement as ICFA had used the "CFA" trademark in the U S. The ICFAI was asked to refrain from using the "CFA" trademark in the US and Canada and to pay $1 million.

The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India still, wants to go further and appeal in the court of law. An ICFAI team member mentions, "We are not going to sit tight on the matter. We will file an appeal on this in the court.”