Judge Newman passes medical evaluation
A forensic psychiatrist has found that Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman demonstrates no disability that would interfere with her doing her job, it emerged yesterday, September 7.
A report, released yesterday, was based on a three-hour clinical evaluation performed by Regina Carney on August 25. Carney is employed full-time by the Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System and works independently as a consultant on legal cases.
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‘Best I’ve ever seen’: counsel review early UPC hearing
The Unified Patent Court held its first preliminary injunction hearing over two days this week, beginning on Tuesday, September 5, and patent lawyers who were there are excited to see more from the new court.
Lawyers had long hoped that the UPC would be a highly effective specialist court capable of hearing the most complex patent cases.
It is a small sample size but this week’s hearing between US biotechnology company 10x Genomics, the plaintiff, and rival NanoString Technologies showed that patent owners and their counsel may well have their wish.
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Other articles published by Managing IP this week include:
Counsel praise India's patent reform, but urge fees rethink
How trademark counsel save money during economic slowdowns
Why one lawyer isn't floored by licensing challenges
Five minutes with ... Tamara Quinn, Osborne Clarke
WIPO edges towards genetic resources breakthrough despite US holdout
Weekly take: Court napping – should we cut sleeping judges some slack?
Elsewhere in IP
UPC arms race
Bird & Bird has hired Paris-based patent litigator Thierry Lautier in a bid to improve its offering at the Unified Patent Court, the firm confirmed on Tuesday, September 5.
“France is one of the key jurisdictions for the UPC so Thierry’s arrival will be instrumental in maintaining our position as a leading French patent team,” said Anne-Charlotte Le Bihan and Géraldine Arbant, co-heads of Bird & Bird’s French intellectual property team.
The firm said it anticipated an influx of patent litigation work in Europe and that Lautier’s appointment would help meet the increased demand.
AI U-turn
A UK parliamentary committee has urged the government to stand by its previous U-turn on artificial intelligence (AI) policy and protect the IP rights of the creative industries.
A report published by the the Culture, Media and Sport Committee last Thursday, August 31, said the government’s proposal of a copyright exception to allow text and data mining (TDM) last year had shown a “clear lack of understanding of the needs of the UK’s creative industries”.
The UKIPO later dropped the proposal and will instead produce a code of practice on TDM in the coming months.
Search revolution
The UKIPO unveiled a new search tool based on the one used by the EPO on Monday, September 4.
The tool, known as SEARCH, will “revolutionise” how the UKIPO performs patent searches and enable it to search for prior art in greater depth than ever before, the office said.
“This is a fundamental part of ensuring the validity of the patents we grant, reinforcing trust in the high quality and accuracy of our patent searches,” said deputy CEO Andy Bartlett.
No copyright for AI art
An artwork generated by AI cannot be copyrighted, the US Copyright Office ruled on Tuesday, September 5.
Artist Matthew Allen, who created the work using the generative AI program Midjourney, said he plans to appeal the decision.
The Copyright Office said the work, 'Théâtre D’opéra Spatial', was not eligible for copyright protection because it wasn’t created by a human.
Google’s $15m reprieve
A $15.1 million damages award against Google was thrown out by the US District Court for the District of Delaware on Tuesday, September 5.
A Delaware jury ruled in June that streaming app Google Play Music infringed patents owned by Personal Audio. The jury determined that Google wilfully infringed the audio patents and awarded the plaintiff $15.1 million.
But District Judge Colm Connolly said this week that a jury could not have reasonably found that Google's technology works in the same way as Personal Audio's.
Personal Audio plans to appeal against the ruling.
