Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal articles from August 2002

Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal archives from August 2002

The "first" first inventor defense vs. the "second" first inventor defense.(patents)
August 1, 2002... Currently, a number of sections are available under Title 35 of the US Code for invalidating patent claims or defending allegations of patent infringement based on invention or use. Although 35 U.S.C. [section] 273 has garnered a lot of...

Intellectual capital: an economic approach to understanding the societal effect of patent protection.
August 1, 2002... The number of patents issued and prosecuted has increased dramatically in the past several years. One explanation is the ever-increasing importance of intellectual property in modern business. Intellectual property assists the owner in...

Distribution agreement.
August 1, 2002... This month's practice aid is a Distribution Agreement between a company and a distributor that allows the company to retain the distributor to market and sell certain products in a specified territory. In consideration for its services,...

Supreme Court reverses Federal Circuit, holding prosecution history not complete bar to application of the doctrine of equivalents.
August 1, 2002... In a much-anticipated decision, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, unanimously holding that prosecution history estoppel does not completely bar application of the doctrine of equivalents. [Festo Corp. v....

Supreme Court holds Federal Circuit does not have appellate jurisdiction by virtue of patent law counterclaims. (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... In a recent case, the Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit does not have appellate jurisdiction over a case in which the complaint does not allege a claim arising under federal patent law, even when the answer...

Ninth Circuit affirms finding of trademark abandonment based on naked licensing. (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a trademark licensor that failed both to include quality control provisions in its license and to exercise any quality control over products sold under its mark had engaged in "naked...

Second Circuit concludes insurer has duty to defend trade dress infringement claims under "advertisement injury" policy provision. (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has concluded that an insurer is obligated, under the "advertising injury" provision of its general liability policy, to defend a claim that an insured infringed the trade dress of a...

PTO announces proposal to outsource prior art searches. (Patents/Trademarks).(US Patent and Trademark Office)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... On June 3, 2002, the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) announced a proposal under which a series of changes in its operations would take place, including outsourcing initial prior art searches. The primary goal of the proposed plan is to...

PTO proposes increased fee for paper filings. (Patents/Trademarks).(US Patent and Trademark Office)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... On May 17, 2002, the PTO published a proposed amendment that would revise 37 C.F.R. [section] 2.6(a) to increase the cost of filing trademark documents in paper form if those forms are available electronically. [67 F.R. 35,081 (May 17,...

Bill introduced to prohibit counterfeit of intellectual property authentication features. (Privacy/Internet).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... On April 30, 2002, Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, introduced a bill to the Senate (S. 2395) that would make it illegal to counterfeit authentication features contained in packages...

Senate to debate new bill on anti-digital piracy measures. (Privacy/Internet).(Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... On March 21, 2002, Senators Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.); Ted Stevens (R-Alaska); Daniel Inouye (D-Haw.); John Breaux (D-La.); and Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.) introduced the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA (S. 2048)),...

Independent music labels lobby EU. (International Developments).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... As the EU and other World Trade Organization (WTO) members began planning the agenda for a debate on trade liberalization at the WTO talks this summer, independent music labels pleaded with the European Union to continue its protection of the...

U.S. and Argentina resolve patent issues. (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... According to an April 19, 2002, announcement by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTN), the United States and Argentina have resolved many of the countries' intellectual property rights disagreements. The resolution follows several...

USTR releases annual "Special 301" list. (United States Trade Representative)
August 1, 2002... The Office of the USTR released its annual "Special 301" report on April 30, 2002. The report cites 51 US trading partners for failing adequately to protect intellectual property rights, such as patented pharmaceuticals and copyrighted...

European Parliament approves consumer protection legislation for Internet financial services.
August 1, 2002... On May 14, 2002, the European Parliament approved legislation aimed at encouraging Internet sales of financial services by providing consumer protection throughout the European Union. The approved legislation is set for early enactment. ...

Codex protects Parmesan cheese mark. (International Developments) (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... After almost two years of deliberation, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international food standards-setting organization, issued a decision granting Italy trademark protection for the country's famous Parmesan cheese. The Rome-based...

EU finance ministers approve VAT on Internet sales. (value-added tax) (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... European Union finance ministers recently approved imposing value-added tax (VAT). on non-EU firms, including those in the United States, that sell software, computer games, and other digital products to EU customers through the Internet. The...

Germany passes amendments to copyright law. (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... On March 1, 2002, Germany's parliament passed amendments to its copyright law to strengthen the rights of authors and artists to receive "appropriate compensation" for their work. Previously, the copyright law only provided protection to the...

UK court rules in false endorsements case. (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... In a recent opinion favorable to all well-known personalities and celebrities, the UK High Court ruled on March 13, 2002, in Edmund Irvine v. Talksport Ltd., that the common law action of "passing off" covers false endorsements. In ruling so,...

EC addresses cybercrime issues. (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... On April 23, 2002, the European Commission proposed new cybercrime legislation. If the Council of Ministers unanimously approves the legislation, then it will put in place new penalties, including prison terms, for unauthorized hacking and...

Russia implements administrative changes to IP enforcement. (intellectual property) (Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... The new Russian Code of Administrative Offenses comes into effect as of July 2002. Although the Code addresses a number of topics, the provisions pertaining to intellectual property law are of particular significance, especially in light of...