Patents: USPTO heads west to Texas, California and Colorado




The USPTO has announced it will open three new satellite offices in addition to Detroit – Dallas, Texas; San Jose, California; and Denver, Colorado. The announcement came just over one week before the USPTO's first satellite patent office opened in Detroit, Michigan. USPTO commissioner for patents Peggy Focarino said that the size and focus of each new office will differ according to region. In Detroit, the plan is to hire 125 examiners in groups of 25 each, beginning July 16. The 11 administrative law judges (ALJs) that have been hired so far for Detroit will begin even sooner. The number of examiners and ALJs in Denver, San Jose and Dallas will vary, said Focarino. Examiners in Detroit will all focus on mechanical patents for now, while the Texas office may stick to energy-related industries and California to information technology. The USPTO will send site survey teams to all three locations to determine the order in which the new offices will open. The America Invents Act mandated that the agency open at least three new offices by 2014.


India

Unilever’s patent for water filters revoked. The Intellectual Property Appellate Board in Chennai revoked Unilever’s patent for water filters, pointing to a failure by the company to follow procedural requirements. The Board also found that the patent lacked novelty and inventive step. The decision underscores the importance of playing by the rules in Indian patent prosecution.


US

Apple bars US Samsung Galaxy sales. Following a Federal Circuit finding that Apple’s iPad patent is valid, a California court in July granted a preliminary injunction barring US sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The order, by Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California, bans Samsung from making, using, importing, offering to sell or selling the device in the US before a trial has concluded. Apple must post a $2.6 million bond for damages.


China

British companies say IP in China is working. Almost two thirds of British companies participating in a recent survey believe that protecting IP rights in China has been an effective deterrent against infringement. The China-Britain Business Council surveyed 170 British companies who do business in China. While 50% agreed that IP protection in China had prove “effective” against infringement, 11% thought it had been “very effective”.


EU

Copenhagen hosts EPO’s patent awards. Batteries and mobile communications were big hits at the EPO’s European Inventor Awards 2012 in Copenhagen. The Crown Princess and Crown Prince of Denmark presented the lifetime achievement award to Josef Bille, who pioneered laser eye-surgery techniques. Other winners included Manfred Stefener, Oliver Freitag and Jens Müller, for their pioneering fuel cell research, and the Australian inventors of WiFi.

The US Supreme Court has upheld President Barack Obama's healthcare plan, ensuring the safety of the pathway for biosimilars included with the law.

Intel has paid $375 million for 1,700 InterDigital patents.

Singapore plans to change its patent system from a self-assessment regime to a positive grant system.

Twenty-three companies have written to the US attorney general and solicitor general voicing concerns about the implications of the Myriad gene patent case.

The UK has appointed Anshika Jha to the British High Commission in New Delhi as a second IP attaché.

US secretary of commerce John Bryson is taking medical leave and transferring his duties, including overseeing the USPTO, to deputy secretary Rebecca Blank.

China's Supreme People's Court will hear American Semiconductor's software infringement claim against Chinese company Sinovel.

China and Russia started a one-year patent prosecution highway initiative.

The US Supreme Court has invited the solicitor general to file a brief in GlaxoSmithKline v Classen Immunotherapies, which raises issues about generics' safe harbour from patent infringement liability.





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