UPC boosts ranks with two ex-EPO judges
The Unified Patent Court has turned to former EPO judges to help fill its ranks of technically qualified judges, Managing IP revealed.
A statement on the court’s website, published last Thursday, July 27, confirmed that 21 new TQJs had been appointed on the recommendation of the UPC’s advisory committee.
Click here to read the full story.
CoStar lands another blow in mass copyright infringement dispute
The Madras High Court imposed an injunction against an India-based agent of US real estate firm Crexi on Tuesday, August 1, marking another blow in its global copyright dispute against a rival business.
The court passed the order after outsourcing company Neptune Business Solutions admitted in an affidavit filed on June 28 that it had copied photographs, brochures, and other listing information from the websites of different real estate companies, including CoStar’s.
Click here to read the full story.
Counsel: China IP plan affirms quality over quantity focus
The Chinese government’s latest plans for improving the country’s intellectual property framework signify a further commitment to focus on the quality of IP assets as opposed to their quantity, according to counsel.
A document, called ‘Outline for Building a Powerful IP Country and Implementation Promotion Plan of the 14th Five-Year Plan’, was published by China’s IP office the CNIPA on Thursday, July 27.
Click here to read the full story.
Other articles published by Managing IP this week include:
Counsel tout Jamaica benefits for sensitive trademark filings
Stairs to success: how young IP counsel make their work stand out
Funders want new law after UK Supreme Court blow
Five minutes with ... Munir Suboh, partner at Taylor Wessing
A difficult decade: India’s Madrid Protocol woes not abating
Eyes on the prize: Sanders’ radical patent reform on Congress agenda
TM counsel praise ‘welcome and overdue’ e-signature changes
UPC opt-outs: why telecoms and medtech rates are so low
Weekly take: Lawyers – stop taking fossil fuel money, before it’s too late
Elsewhere in IP
Blockchain patents
Ayre Group announced a $570 million investment in blockchain company nChain, which owns 800 patents, on Monday, July 31.
The investment means that Ayre Group has acquired a controlling stake in nChain. It also includes an IP licensing deal between nChain and Ayre Ventures portfolio companies.
Levitating row
Dua Lipa is facing a $20m copyright infringement suit in a California federal court over a remix of her song ‘Levitating’.
Music producer Bosko Kante claimed Lipa had the right to use a recording of him playing the talk box on the original recording of ‘Levitating’, but not on subsequent remixes.
According to the complaint, Lipa used the talk box sample without permission on remixes of the song featuring Madonna, Missy Elliott, and DaBaby, as well as during a performance at the American Music Awards.
Gene wars
10x Genomics successfully enforced an anti-anti-suit injunction against NanoString at the Munich Regional Court, law firm Bardehle Pagenberg announced on Wednesday, August 2.
NanoString has appealed against the decision to grant the injunction.
The rival gene-sequencing firms are involved in a long-running patent dispute, including at the Unified Patent Court (UPC).
NanoString has filed a patent revocation action against 10x at the UPC.
Return of the high street
Mortar-and-brick shops are now the focus of intellectual property crime investigations, rather than online sales, a UKIPO study released on Monday, July 30 found.
Investigations by trading standards officers into social media accounts and websites have declined in volume since 2020, while investigations into shops are at an all-time high, the survey found.
Cases involving vaping products have increased four-fold over the last five years, while investigations into cosmetics and makeup declined.
AI debate
The BBC has picked up on the ongoing debate around artificial intelligence and IP with a feature on generative AI tools and copyright.
Artist Kelly McKernan told the broadcaster she "felt sick" when she discovered her work had been used to train an AI system.
That's it for today, see you again next week.
