Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal articles from June 2003

Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal archives from June 2003

Caught by the web: a web site can subject a company to lawsuits in far away states.
June 1, 2003... Today, most companies operate Web sites that are available to the public via the Internet. Operation of a Web site can subject a company to personal jurisdiction in a court located thousands of miles away from where the company does business....

Clean flicks v. Hollywood: intellectual property owners losing control.
June 1, 2003... A recent headline reported that government officials in a conservative, Islamic province of Pakistan incinerated a pile of videos and compact discs as part of a campaign to wipe out material authorities deemed obscene. Meanwhile, back in...

Preamble limits claim if claim requires manipulation and operation of structure identified by preamble.(patent claim preamble, Eaton Corp. v. Rockwell International Corp.)
June 1, 2003... In general, a claim preamble limits the claimed invention if the preamble is "necessary to give life, meaning, and vitality" to the claim. In a recent case, the Federal Circuit held that a claim preamble limits the claim if the claim requires...

Federal Circuit panel disagrees with Warner-Lambert decision.(patent infringement)
June 1, 2003... In Warner-Lambert Co. v. Apotex Corp. [316 F.3d 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2003)], a panel of the Federal Circuit held that submission of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to the FDA can be an act of infringement under 35 U.S.C. [section]...

Fourth Circuit holds that copyright registration in a collective work is sufficient to permit infringement action of constituent parts.
June 1, 2003... The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has concluded that a copyright registration covering the art, text, and packaging design of CD-ROM products extends to pre-existing individual clip-art images contained in the products and, as a...

Ninth Circuit limits scope of copyright protection for commercial product shots.
June 1, 2003... Relying on the limiting doctrines of merger and scenes a faire, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit limited the scope of copyright protection available for advertising photographs of commercial products. [Ets-Hokin v. Skyy Spirits,...

Largest COPPA civil penalties to date in FTC settlements with Mrs. Fields Cookies and Hershey Foods Corporation.(Children's Online Privacy Protection Act)
June 1, 2003... On February 26, 2003, Hershey Foods Corporation and Mrs. Fields Cookies settled charges by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that their Web sites violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule by collecting personal...

Justice Department takes novel enforcement action of seizing Internet Web site.(US v. Rocci, seizure of isonews.com, which was dedicated to aiding users in online copyright infringement)
June 1, 2003... On February 26, 2003, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had taken over the Web site www.isonews.com. This Web site was dedicated to enabling users to engage in online copyright infringement and was used by tens of thousands of...

International copyright piracy demands increasing enforcement resources.
June 1, 2003... A recent oversight hearing by the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property confirmed the increasing focus of the US government on high-tech copyright protection. The hearing on "International Copyright Piracy:...

PTO adopts rule allowing complaints regarding invention promoters.(Patent and Trademark Office)
June 1, 2003... Pursuant to the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-113), the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has adopted a rule for publishing complaints about invention promoters, effective February 28, 2003. The Inventors' Rights...

Delayed IP reform in Jamaica inhibits development, according to USAID.(intellectual property, US Agency for International Development)
June 1, 2003... The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has criticized Jamaica for failing to implement critical intellectual property reform laws that are necessary for the Caribbean country to maintain its competitiveness in today's global...

Taiwan likely back on Special 301 list.(international trade law)
June 1, 2003... Taiwan is likely to return to the US 301 Priority Watch List this year for failure to protect intellectual property rights during 2002, according to the US Trade Representative (USTR). A report issued to Congress by the USTR recognizes some...

Japanese companies consider greater reward for employee innovation.
June 1, 2003... Individuals in the intellectual property field are beginning to challenge the traditional notion in Japan that success belongs to an entire team rather than to an individual. A prime example of this is a ruling late last year against Hitachi,...

EU reaches agreement on "Community" patent.
June 1, 2003... The EU Community Patent is nearly a reality. A new agreement reached last month will allow inventors to register for patent protection across the EU with a single document. Individual nations' parliaments are expected to ratify the agreement...

New Zealand Rugby Union sued over trademarks.
June 1, 2003... The national emblem of New Zealand is the silver fern. Many businesses use the fern to sell and promote their products. The silver fern is also the symbol of New Zealand's rugby team, the All Blacks. Now, the New Zealand Rugby Union is trying...

Singapore free trade agreement addresses domain names.
June 1, 2003... A proposed free trade agreement between the United States and Singapore, the full text of which was released March 7, 2003, by the USTR's office, requires both countries to participate in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and...

UK patent jurisdiction decision limits enforcement.(Rederi v. irish Ferries)
June 1, 2003... Recently, in Stena Rederi v. Irish Ferries, a UK court agreed with the defendant in a patent infringement case that shippers cannot be held liable for patent infringement for need-based uses by a ship that temporarily or accidentally enters...