IP OWNERS UNITE IN INDIA
IP owners in India have teamed up with the Confederation of Indian Industry to set up a national committee of IP owners to lobby policy makers and raise awareness of IP issues. The CII says that more than 50 companies and law firms have already joined the committee, including multinational business Microsoft, Philip Morris, Hewlett Packard and Pfizer, and domestic companies Dr Reddys , Nicholas Piramal and Tata Motors.
VONAGE OPPOSES NORTEL’S COUNTERCLAIMS
Vonage has requested the Delaware court to invalidate patent infringement counterclaims. Initially Digital Packet Licensing (DPL) had filed a suit against telecommunications maker Nortel Networks three years ago in Delaware Court. When Vonage Holdings acquired DPL in June 2006, it inherited DPLs legal action against Nortel. The suit filed by DPL alleges patent infringement by Nortel of three DPL patents related to compression of packetized digital signals used in VOIP Technology. Recently Nortel has asked the Texas court to amend its response which was initially filed, to include counterclaims of patent infringement against Vonage for three Nortel patents. Vonage has opposed the move saying the amendment to the original response is untimely and is not related to the original case as the Nortel’s patent relate to phone data management.
GLUCON D Vs. GLUCOSE D
According to the special Leave Petition filed by Heinz Italia, the Supreme Court gave its decision in favour of Glucon D of Heinz Italia over Glucose D of Dabur India Ltd. on the grounds of Prior usage and likelihood of confusion due to deceptive similarity in the packaging. The petition of Heinz Italia was rejected twice by the trial court and the high court earlier.
ASIA PACIFIC COUNTRIES WISH TO COPY SECTION 3(d)
Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh are actively considering adopting Section 3(d) of the Indian patent law. The Philippines has already amended its law on similar lines.
INDIA AND JAPAN SIGN MoU ON IPR COOPERATION
India and Japan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the two countries on Intellectual Property Right matters.
80 US PATENTS GRANTED TO SAMSUNG
80 US patents were granted on 14 Aug 2007 and assigned to Samsung. Amongst the 80 patents one is that of a mobile electronic apparatus capable of functioning as image reproduction medium and reproduction method thereof. Another one is of an Optical disk drive assembly that is rotatable with respect to a computer casing.
67 US PATENTS GRANTED TO IBM
67 US patents were granted on 21 August 2007 and assigned to IBM.
QUALCOMM UNDER PRESSURE AFTER NOKIA COMPLAINT TO ITC
Mobile communication giant Qualcomm faces another challenge from rival Nokia, which may lead to a ban on market of its product into US. Nokia has asked the US international trade commission for a ban on import of Qualcomm’s product, claiming that Qualcomm’s product are infringing it’s patent referring to technology to improve the performance and efficiency of mobile phones. Earlier ITC has banned import of Qualcomm’s chip to use in mobile phone that are infringing patent held by rival Broadcom.
iPHONE’S KEYBOARD PROMPT PATENT VIOLATION SUIT
A Florida based company named SP Technology has accused Apple for infringing its patent over a readable keyboard display, similar to iPhone touch-screeen. SP Technology has filed the suit at a federal court in Tyler, Texas alleging that Apple has infringed on a patent that was granted in 2004 for a "method and medium for computer readable keyboard display incapable of user termination". SP Technology is seeking a reasonable royalty from Apple and also a permanent injunction against Apple’s use of it’s patent in the iPhone’s hardware.
MAN ARRESTED AFTER PIRATED SIMPSONS MOVIE IS TRACED TO A PHONE
A person has been arrested in Australia on suspicion of filming the Simpson movie. He has been charged with Copyright violation for uploading the movie to the internet from his mobile while watching it in a cinema hall. The un-named person could face upto sentence of five years in jail.
HAVE YOU TRADEMARKED YOUR NAME YET ?
Britney Spears Trademarks Her Baby's Name
Britney Spears has registered Sean Preston, the name of her first son, under the Goods and Services category at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The trademark info shows Spears might be considering a kids line of clothing bearing the Sean Preston name.
Well, you can only do so if you're doing commerce represented by your name and that includes people whose names are also their profession, for example: actors and fashion designers.
• Britney Spears ®
Musician, Britney Spears trademarked her own name and recently registered her son Sean Preston's name for a line of clothing.
• Cher ®
Cher registered her word mark for the goods and services that she provides, namely: entertainment services in the nature of live musical performances, and providing information relating to musical performances, Cher and her music via a global computer network.
• Mikhail Gorbachev ®
The former president of Russia, Mikhail Gorbachev trademarked his famous forehead, name, and nickname Gorby, after seeing his name used by others on vodka bottles and in pasta ads.
• Paris Hilton ®
Celebrity, Paris Hilton trademarked "Paris Hilton" to represent a clothing line for both humans and pets. She trademarked "Heir by Paris Hilton" for leather goods. Paris Hilton also owns the following trademarks: Just Me by Paris Hilton, Just Me for Men by Paris Hilton, Breathtaking by Paris Hilton, Can Paris Hilton, and PH. However, Paris Hilton does not own Free Paris Hilton, Sandra Smith does for her t-shirt business.
