WIPO to fund Moscow office despite Ukraine objections
WIPO will continue to fund an office in Moscow despite the objections of Ukraine, the US, and other Western states, it was confirmed last Friday, July 14.
Delegates at WIPO’s annual General Assembly, held in Geneva last week, agreed to pass a work and budget plan after a lengthy debate on the funding of WIPO’s external offices.
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Generic TB drugs on the way after J&J licence
Johnson & Johnson granted licences to its patents on tuberculosis drug bedaquiline, it was confirmed last Thursday, July 13, after years of pressure from campaigners.
The deal was announced by the Stop TB Partnership, which will have the right to tender, procure, and supply generic versions of the drug.
Stop TB said the deal would apply in most low- and middle-income countries, including those where J&J patents remain in effect.
Click here to read the full story.
Other articles published by Managing IP this week include:
Five minutes with ... Mike Keyes, IP litigator at Dorsey & Whitney
‘Slippery road’: in-house say EPO quality concerns not abating
Shein lawsuit about more than just copyright, say counsel
Weekly take: China shouldn’t limit its patent quality fight to utility models
IP counsel and firms hesitant to jump into Threads, for now
Counsel split after Delhi court says patent law trumps antitrust statute
WHO text swerves hard IP restrictions in future pandemics
Elsewhere in IP
Instagram victory
The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a copyright case against Instagram on Monday, July 17.
Judges upheld the District Court for the Northern District of California’s dismissal of Hunley v Instagram, in which photographers alleged that Instagram had induced copyright infringement by allowing third parties to embed photos from Instagram on their sites.
The Ninth Circuit upheld the 'server rule', under which platforms aren't considered to have displayed copyright-protected images if the pictures weren't stored on their own servers.
CIPA shout-out
The UK formally joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday, July 17, having struck a side deal that will let it stick to European patent rules.
Adam Williams, CEO of the UKIPO, said he was grateful to the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys for their support throughout negotiations.
The CPTPP requires signatories to offer patent applicants a grace period, in contrast to the EPO.
IP Fed leadership
Danny Keenan, head of patents for nutrition at Unilever, was elected president of the IP Federation on Friday, July 14. He replaces Matthew Hitching, head of the European IP group at Canon.
Adrian Howes, head of IP policy and standards at Nokia, was elected vice president.
Tacoless Tuesday
US fast-food chain Taco John abandoned its ‘Taco Tuesday’ mark on Tuesday, July 18, after rival Taco Bell filed a petition at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel it.
“We've always prided ourselves on being the home of Taco Tuesday, but paying millions of dollars to lawyers to defend our mark just doesn't feel like the right thing to do," Jim Creel, CEO of Taco John, said in a statement.
New Jersey drinking spot Gregory’s Bar still owns the rights to the mark in that state and plans to keep fighting to keep it,according to media reports.
Aftermarket addition
Axxés, a French toll collection service, became the first publicly confirmed licensee for Avanci’s aftermarket pool this week.
The new licensing scheme launched in February and includes licensors Ericsson, Samsung, Philips, and Qualcomm, among others.
The pool offers licences to 2G, 3G, and 4G cellular patents and is designed to cover vehicle aftermarket products.
Bed and baths
Popular New Zealand homeware retailer Bed Bath & Beyond lost a long-running trademark battle with its Australian rival Bed Bath ‘N’ Table at the High Court of New Zealand on Tuesday, July 18.
Bed Bath & Beyond sued the Australian retailer in 2018, claiming it infringed its trademark rights.
The high court dismissed the New Zealand retailer’s suit on the grounds that the use of both marks was unlikely to cause significant confusion in the market.
Bed Bath & Beyond has no connection to the US retailer of the same name that went bankrupt in April this year.
That's it for today, see you again next week.
