MEP’s team answers ‘bias’ concerns after criticism of SEP overhaul
The politician who sharply criticised the European Commission’s planned standard-essential patent overhaul didn’t meet any implementers before drafting her opinion – but her team has said it will do so in the coming weeks.
Polish member of the European Parliament (MEP) Danuta Hübner suggested cutting significant elements of the commission’s proposed overhaul of the EU's SEP rules in a draft opinion published last Monday, October 2.
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SEP regulation must cover wireless tech: EU committee
The European Parliament’s internal market committee said the European Commission’s standard-essential patent overhaul must cover wireless technology such as 5G.
In a draft opinion issued on Monday, October 9, the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection backed the aims of the draft SEP regulation but said it must apply to all standardised technologies.
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Seeing double: Desmarais outlines California expansion plans
Intellectual property litigation boutique Desmarais plans to double the number of lawyers in its San Francisco office, the firm revealed to Managing IP on Wednesday, October 11.
Practitioners said Desmarais, which currently has 11 lawyers in the office, was also doubling its 8,000-square-foot office to 16,000 in anticipation.
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No second PI for 10x against NanoString, UPC rules
The Unified Patent Court refused to grant a second preliminary injunction for 10x Genomics against rival biotech company NanoString in Munich on Tuesday, October 10.
Presiding judge Matthias Zigann said the panel was unconvinced that NanoString had infringed 10x’s patent.
Click here to read the full story.
Other articles published by Managing IP this week include:
Weekly take: SEP owners must hold fire on EU reform excitement
Natural friendships: how patent lawyers win clients at conferences
Ex-Dyson lawyer: 'changing IP landscape' sparked private practice switch
Behind the case: How Finnegan helped Eli Lilly swerve a $176.5m patent headache
Elsewhere in IP
Fakes factory
UK police raided a factory in Manchester that was used to affix trademark-protected designer logos onto counterfeit clothing, it was reported on Wednesday, October 11.
Officers for Greater Manchester Police found counterfeit stock with a street value of around £800,000 ($884,000) at the factory. Police carried out the raid as part of Operation Vulcan, which has targeted the counterfeit goods trade and associated organised crime.
Paywall patents
A tech company that specialises in webpage accessibility has sued the owners of the Financial Times newspaper for alleged patent infringement.
Accessify sued the FT on Friday, October 6 at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The company claimed that the technology underpinning the FT’s paywall system infringed seven of its patents.
Microsoft’s multi-billion bill
Microsoft has received a demand for $28.9 billion in back taxes from the US Internal Revenue Service, it was revealed on Wednesday, October 11 in a case that links intellectual property and tax.
The tech firm disclosed the bill in a Securities and Exchange Commission finding published on Wednesday.
The IRS had been investigating Microsoft’s use of transfer pricing, a practice that represents the price that one division in a company charges another division for goods and services provided. Those goods and services may include IP.
New GIs
The Council of the EU approved a regulation that affords geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products, it was announced on Monday, October 9.
Until now, the GI system only applied to food and drink products. The latest regulation allows products such as Albacete cutlery and Limoges porcelain to enjoy similar protection to regionally produced foods or beverages.
The regulation will be signed by the presidents of the European Parliament and the council before it is published in the Official Journal of the EU. It will enter into force on the 20th day following publication.
AI replicas
US senators released a draft of a bill to protect the voice and visual likeness of individuals from unauthorised artificial intelligence-generated replicas on Thursday, October 12.
The Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act is sponsored by Democratic Senators Chris Coons and Amy Klobuchar, and Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn and Thom Tillis.
That's it for today, see you again next week.
