Rooklidge Speaks; Latest Ecdr

US patent reform comes to London

This year’s Stephen Stewart Memorial Lecture took house concluding night. Organised yesteryear the Intellectual Property Institute and hosted at the offices of Slaughter in addition to May, this annual showpiece talk, chaired yesteryear Sir Hugh Laddie (below, left), was delivered yesteryear AIPLA President William Rooklidge (right) who spoke on ‘Reform of Patent Laws: the USA Experience inwards Forging Legislation from Disparate Interests’.

Mr Rooklidge reviewed the original areas of police reform that the AIPLA is pressing for. One of the nearly contentious of these is that the patent should endure awarded the the outset inventor to file (an American euphemism for 'first-to-file'), non to the outset to invent. Other reforms which volition endure greatly welcomed both within the USA in addition to exterior it are the abolition of the requirement that the patent applicant break the 'best mode' of putting his conception into effect, the simplification of what constitutes prior art, the abolition of the anomalous entitlement of applicants for US-only patents to opt non to convey their patent applications published subsequently xviii months, the removal of the subjective chemical element inwards a claimant seeking to evidence "wilful infringement" inwards lodge to secure costs in addition to triple damages in addition to the introduction of a nine-month post-grant opposition period. All of this volition brand USA police to a greater extent than closely convergent alongside the police inwards Europe in addition to indeed nearly of the balance of the world.

The focus of the utter in addition to thus shifted to the AIPLA's opponents - the Business Software Alliance (who wanted tougher provisions on injunctions) in addition to the various groups representing someone inventors (who broadly speaking similar the police equally it is in addition to convey no wishing to amend it). Mr Rooklidge discussed topics equally various equally the calculation of infringement damages where the infringed production is solely a youngster element of a successful commercial product, the desirability of members of Earth beingness able to engage inwards the application procedure equally tertiary parties yesteryear communicating prior fine art data to the USPTO in addition to the abolition of the "inequitable conduct" defence.

idea Mr Rooklidge stated his example rattling well. He sure as shooting gained a lot of supporters inwards England concluding night. Whether he tin sway the USA Congress sufficiently to exceed HR 2795 is all the same about other matter.


Latest ECDR

Another batch of copyright cases has merely been reported inwards Sweet & Maxwell's bimonthly European Copyright in addition to Design Cases. Legal decisions reported inwards English linguistic communication include Pierre Hugo in addition to others v SA Plon in addition to another (Cour d'appel de Paris) on whether the moral correct of the long-dead Victor Hugo was infringed yesteryear the unauthorised publication of 2 sequels to Les Miserables involving characters from the original. There are also cases from England, Scotland, the European Court of Justice in addition to the OHIM Designs Invalidity Division.