This week on MIP: UK Supreme Court exclusives, UPC ‘powerhouse’ launched, and more

Senator Thom Tillis plans to put his USPTO-FDA collaboration bill to a full Senate vote before the end of the year, sources revealed to Managing IP this week.

The bill, which the Senate Judiciary Committee passed unanimously in July, would amend Section 2c of the US Code to allow the USPTO director to create an interagency task force on patents between the office and the Food and Drug Administration, if enacted.

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Patent firms EIP and Amar Goussu Staub have joined forces to create a new Unified Patent Court litigation service, the pair announced on November 15.

The new firm, called EIP Amar, will include lawyers and patent attorneys from AGS offices in Paris and Lyon and EIP’s bases in the UK, Germany, and Sweden.

The UPC will have local and central divisions in France and Germany, as well as a regional division for the Baltics in Sweden.

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Managing IP exclusively revealed this week the dates for two potentially significant cases that the UK Supreme Court has earmarked for 2023.

The court will hear an appeal on whether an artificial intelligence tool called DABUS can be named as an inventor on a patent application, on March 2. Separately, the Sky v SkyKick hearing, which centres on bad-faith trademark filing, will be heard over two days on June 28 and 29.

Allied Security Trust hopes to add more members in the health tech and fintech sectors, the organisation’s CEO Russell Binns revealed to Managing IP this week.

AST buys patents that its members want to license to reduce patent assertion risk. Binns said more non-practising entity litigation could soon emerge in these areas, making risk mitigation more important.

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In-house cagey over litigation funding appeal

NFTs can be property in Singapore – what that means for brands

Pressure grows on UK government to appoint new IP minister

Experience will benefit Italy’s UPC judges

Unitary patent is EU market’s ‘man on moon’ moment: UPC event

The EUIPO’s Fifth Board of Appeal confirmed Banksy's ‘monkey’ EU trademark is valid on Tuesday, November 15, reversing an earlier decision. The EUIPO's Cancellation Division had ruled that Banksy never had any intention to use the mark and had annulled it.

Staying with the EU now, where the long-awaited Digital Services Act (DSA) finally entered into force on Wednesday, November 16. The DSA sets out new rules governing online activity, including the level of liability for platforms that allegedly host intellectual property-infringing content. Some lawyers have said the DSA does not go far enough.

Also in Europe, more than three quarters of EPO users said they looked favourably on virtual hearings, at least according to an EPO survey published on Monday, November 14. According to the findings, 77% of respondents found videoconference to be “good” or “very good”.

Still on patents, the US District Court for the Western District of Texas found on Tuesday, November 15, that Intel must pay VLSI Technology $948.8 million for infringing a VLSI patent for computer chips.

In the UK, the UKIPO revealed on Tuesday, November 15, which IP laws it expects to be impacted by the government’s Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022.

That bill, published in September, set out plans to repeal all retained EU law by December 31 2023 unless it is converted into national law or tweaked. More than 60 pieces of IP legislation have been identified. The list may be updated.

In the US, singer Mariah Carey hits the news again – this time regarding a trademark application. The singer’s application to trademark ‘Queen of Christmas’ was denied by the USPTO after the singer failed to respond to an opposition, according to a USPTO notice on Monday, November 14. Earlier this month, Managing IP reported that the singer had been handed an early Christmas present after a copyright claim against her was dropped.

Sticking with the trademark world, INTA has announced that Jomarie Fredericks will be its new president for 2023 and chair of the board of directors.

Fredericks is deputy general counsel and chief IP and brand counsel at Rotary International. The company supports the work of 46,000 rotary clubs as well as The Rotary Foundation, which helps clubs' efforts to improve lives and strengthen communities. She will succeed current president Zeeger Vink, IP director at MF Brands Group.