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March - April 2004

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Wednesday, 05 May 2004

  • US - USPTO Announces Version 4.11 of PAIR
    The United States Patent and Trademark Office has announced the release of the Patent Application Information Retrieval System (PAIR), Version 4.11. PAIR provides customers with direct secure Internet access to patent application status information and general patent information publicly available. There are two components of PAIR: Public and Private. Public PAIR provides status and history information for issued patents and published applications to the general public via the Internet. Private PAIR allows independent inventors, registered patent attorneys, and patent agents the ability to access real-time status of their pending patent applications. PAIR provides Internet-based access to patent application status, application documents and history information using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) security technology.

    | USPTO Pair Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Derwent World Patents Index
     Neil Larque, Customer Technical Support Strategy Manager from Thomson Scientific, has advised that itis now possible to search Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) sections B, C and E fragmentation codes using the latest version of the codes back to the start of DWPI. These codes have been added to the pre-1981 backfile to enable searching using a single non-time-ranged strategy.

    "The addition of these new indexing paragraphs, containing the corresponding newer codes, enables searching with simpler strategies and should benefit training of new searchers.

    The codes have been added in such a way that retrieval should be as good as using a time-ranged strategy. Relevance should be as good, and for some searches will sometimes be better, than using a time-ranged strategy.

    Users who prefer to continue searching using the traditional time-ranged strategies can still do so, as no indexing paragraphs have been removed.

    The new codes are now available in DWPI on Dialog, STN and Questel.Orbit and in the Derwent Innovations Index (DII) database".

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Monday, 03 May 2004

  • European Expansion Effects
     OHIM has released a neat summary of some of the changes that result from the expansion of the European Community by 10 new countries on the weekend.

    The 1st May 2004 marks the date of the 5th enlargement of the European Union. The new member states are: Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. For the first time, enlargement takes place when Community trade marks and designs are in existence, with many implications for the Office.

    To ensure the unitary character of the Community trade mark (CTM) and Community design (CD) and to fully respect the pre-existing rights in the new Member States, both the Community Trade Mark Regulation (CTMR) and the Community Designs Regulation (CDR) have been amended.

    The main consequence for holders of CTMs filed before the date of accession is that their protection has been automatically extended to the territories of the new Member States since May 1, 2004.

    The extension of these existing CTM rights is automatic. No form has to be completed or fees have to be paid. More than 350,000 CTM applications and registrations will be extended and enforceable before Community trade mark courts in the new Member States as from the date of accession.

    The same automatic extension applies to some 33,000 Registered Community Designs. Holders of registered and unregistered Community Designs will equally benefit from the automatic extension of their rights, and they will be able to enforce them before the Community Design courts to be established in the new Member States.

    Since 1st May 2004, applications can be filed at OHIM in any of the 20 official languages, for example, Hungarian. The OHIM will translate the application into the remaining 19 languages for publication. Since applications filed in any of the new languages have to be examined with regards to possible grounds for refusal in those languages as well, the OHIM has already started to recruit staff from the new Member States. The Office currently counts on more than 20 colleagues covering practically all new nationalities, and recruitment procedures will go on.

    More information about the impact of Enlargement on the Community Trade Marks and Design systems can be found here.

    | OHIM Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Hong Kong - New Forms
     The Intellectual Property Department of Hong Kong has announced that from 7 May 2004, the Trade Marks, Patents and Designs Registries will replace all the existing forms with the new specified forms. Some of the new forms include:

    P4 - Request to record a designated patent application for a standard patent under sections 15, 16, 22 of the Ordinance and sections 8, 18 of the Patents (General) Rules Request to record a designated patent application for a standard patent under section 7 of the Patents (Transitional Arrangements) Rules
    P5 - Request for registration of a designated patent and grant of a standard patent under section 23 of the Ordinance and section 19 of the Patents (General) Rules Request for registration of a designated patent and grant of a standard patent under section 7 of the Patents (Transitional Arrangements) Rules
    P6 - Request for grant of a short-term patent under sections 113, 116, 125 of the Ordinance and sections 58, 74 of the Patents (General) Rules
    P10 - Request for renewal of a standard or short-term patent

    For further information visit Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department Website.

    | HKIPD website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Wednesday, 28 April 2004

  • PIUG Conference - Free Thomson Scientific Workshop
     Thomson Scientific will be hosting a workshop following the upcoming PIUG conference. "The workshop is free and will cover a topic that concerns everyone these days: staying abreast of late breaking developments. The instructors, John Myers and Jonathan W. Grant, bring you over 40 years searching experience and will show you how DWPI First View(SM), IDdb, and Delphion(R) can help you stay current with patenting activity. The workshop is entitled: "Derwent World Patent Index First View, IDdb, and Delphion offer timely access to critical information"

    WHERE: PIUG 2004 Annual Conference
    Worldwide Patent Information: Back to the Basics
    May 22-27, 2004, Wyndham Baltimore Inner Harbor Hotel Baltimore, MD, USA
    WHEN: Thursday, May 26, 2004 -- 8:30 AM - Noon (12:00 PM)

    REGISTER: Register for this free session here

    You need not be a PIUG member to attend.

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Tuesday, 27 April 2004

  • Australia - New Designs Number System
    The Australian Designs Office, otherwise known as IP Australia has announced that due to the new Designs Act, the numbering system for Designs will be changing. Whilst this is a necessary change, we at IP Menu can't help but wonder whether IP Australia will manage to ruin an otherwise good search system with these changes. As you have no doubt read many times on IP Menu, the once decent patent search system in Australia is now a very bad running joke. Years after it was supposed to be implemented we still have incorrect data, clunky and non-functional search interfaces, extremely poor integrity of data, and of course 2 incompatible databases to search.  Being an Australia, I have to admit my embarrassment with regard to IP Australia's PatAdmin and NPS systems.  I have my fingers crossed that they don't bugger the Designs system up!

    For many years the Designs Office has issued and published Application and Registration Numbers of the following format:

    Application nnnnn/ccyy (eg 04321/2002)
    Registration: NNNNNN (eg 156,345)

    Due to the implementation of the Designs Act 2003 (new Act) changes to the way in which the above numbering formats have been used will take effect as of 17 June 2004 in relation to designs applied for and registrations under the new Act.

    The numbering system in relation to designs applied for and registrations under the Designs Act 2003 will continue the existing number formats, except that:

    i) specific number ranges within current formats will be used; and
    ii) there will be no Application Numbers, instead there will be Design Numbers.
    Format: nnnnn/ccyy NNNNNN
    Current Example: Application
    04321/2002 Registration
    156,345
    New Act Example: Design
    12345/2004 Registration
    300,345

    The 1 in the first position of the new act Design Number and the 3 in the first position of the Registration Number identify them as being under the new Act and are distinct from their counterparts under the Designs Act 1906 (current Act).

    Applications and registrations under the current Act will continue to have their current number formats and ranges. Any design application under the current Act which is registered after 17 June 2004, unless it is converted to an application under the new Act, will be issued a design registration number from the current Registration Number range.

    Due to provisions in the new Act relating to the filing of multiple designs within a single application, numbers previously used in reference to a design application will now be used in reference to a design, and be termed Design number. For a design application containing one design the Design Number will be the reference, for design applications containing multiple designs, each design will be allocated a separate Design Number.

    | IP Australia Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • USA - USPTO To Hold Live On-Line for Independent Inventors
    As reported on the front page of the USPTO website, senior officials of the United States Patent and Trademark Office will be available live on line next Thursday, April 29 from 2 to 3 pm (EDT) US Time. They will be answering questions and offering tips for independent inventors. Instructions for taking part in the on-line will be posted on the home page of the USPTO website at 10 am (EDT) next Thursday. Inventors can begin logging on for the on-line at 1:30 pm.

    | USPTO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • USA - Cited References
    In June 2004 some changes will occur at the USPTO in relation to provision of cited documents.

    "In support of its 21st Century Strategic Plan goal of increased patent e-Government, beginning in June 2004, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) will begin the phase-in of its E-Patent Reference program and hence will: (1) provide downloading capability of the U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications cited in Office actions via the E-Patent Reference feature of the Office’s Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system; and (2) cease mailing paper copies of U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications with office actions except for citations made during the international stage of an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). In order to use the new E-Patent Reference feature applicants must: (1) obtain a digital certificate and software from the Office; (2) obtain a customer number from the Office; and (3) properly associate patent applications with the customer number".

    For further information, visit the USPTO website here.

    | USPTO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Canada - Canadian Patent Database Interruption
     Due to maintenance activities, the Canadian Patents Database will not be available from 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 1 to 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 2, 2004 (ET). General network maintenance is planned from Saturday, at 6:00 p.m. to Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET. During this period there may be disruptions to the image database or to the database. Database maintenance is performed each Saturday between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. ET. During this period of time images might not be available.

    | CIPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • World Intellectual Property Day
    In case you missed it, the 26th of April was World Intellectual Property Day. The day is marked by lots of statements and the Director General of WIPO was no exception.

    The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, marking World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, said that all nations can use the intellectual property system to achieve economic growth and cultural development. The theme of this year’s day, "Encouraging Creativity", underlines how human creativity drives advances in science, business, technology, and the arts. Dr. Idris pledged WIPO’s commitment to continue to work with all societies to assist them in developing their intellectual property systems to promote economic growth and social well-being.

    Read his full Press Release here.

    | WIPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Wednesday, 21 April 2004

  • IP Discover - Version 2004B Now Released
     Keith Nagel from KPN Consulting has just announced the release of Version 2004B of his rather exceptional IP Discover software. The upgrade is free to existing clients, or you can purchase it from KPN for USD $175. This upgrade version provides the following new features:

    1) 4 new search types
    Espacenet Simple Search
    Espacenet Advanced Search
    USPTO Simple Search
    USPTO Advanced Search
    2) Quick Search Buttons for all search types.
    3) Store all your searches in the Search Manager.
    4) Search results standardized in HTML and SGML file.
    5) Download documents directly from your search results.
    6) Espacenet3 download now handles unindexed kind coded documents

    "Use IP-Discover to explore patent application and publication databases. Simple to use for the novice, but powerful enough for the professional searcher. Now you can search, download, convert, merge, organize, browse and print patent documents with one easy to use Windows application".

    We at IP Organisers find this software one of the best around and highly recommend it. There is a demo version available so you can check it out for yourself. Check out the following screen captures or visit IP Discover to find out more.




    | IP Discover Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Monday, 19 April 2004

  • OHIM The OHIM Public Register of Administrative Documents
    OHIM has announced the release of the Public Register of Administrative Docuemnts. Not all documents are available online. To obtain documents that are not directly accessible from the register, you need to fill in and submit the request form. Requests may also be submitted by sending a letter, fax or e-mail in any official language of the European Union.

    | OHIM website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Hong Kong - New Patent Search Service
     Recently, the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department presented a seminar relating to their forthcoming online patent search service. The IPD has now posted details of the seminar in the form of PowerPoint slides on their website. The information is not extensive but it will give you some idea of scope and coverage of the new service.

    | HKIPD Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Thursday, 08 April 2004

  • Namibia - Accession to the Madrid Agreement and to the Madrid Protocol
    On 31 March 31 2004, the Government of Namibia deposited with the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), its instrument of accession to both the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol Concerning the International Registration of Marks. The Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol will enter into force with respect to Namibia on June 30, 2004.

    Read the full Press Release here.

    | WIPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Europe - EPIDOS News Now Available
     The latest edition of EPIDOS News 1/2004 from the European Patent Office is now available in PDF format.

    In this issue:
    - News on INPADOC
    - Editorial
    - ESPACE® ACCESS –
    - The little yellow pioneer!
    - EPO on the road
    - Citations from the internet
    - OPS – It’s even easier!
    - European qualifying examination 2003
    - What you missed ...
    - epoline® Annual Conference
    - News from Japan

    | EPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • IP MENU Update
    IP MENU has updated the following Intellectual Property Resources:  

    IP Firms – Panama – Abogados Fabrega Molino & Mulino
    “Our law firm handles registration and litigation of copyright, trademark, patent and other IP matters in Panama for international clients, as well as, through our correspondents, registrations throughout Latin America. We also deal with securitization, asset protection and franchising of IP.”

    IP Firms – USA – Washington - Falco-Archer, Inc.
    “Provides IP management consulting services to clients worldwide, in particular in the areas of IP strategy development, IP management process development and integration, and IP assessments, often of complex IP data sets, for competitive and investment purposes.”

    Posted by Matthew Downing

Tuesday, 06 April 2004

  • Australia 1 - IP Australia 2004 Regional Tertiary Seminar Series
    IP Australia, in association with a number of Australian universities and their regional campuses, will be presenting intellectual property seminars specifically targeted at the university community. The 2004 seminar series is focused on regional centres in QLD, NSW, VIC as well as the ACT. The series is focussing on the regional campuses who are often by-passed from touring roadshows and seminar series.

    Each seminar will cover topics such as:

    How to protect your research before publishing;
    The process for protecting patents, trade marks and designs;
    IP management - options for capitalising on IP;
    Key considerations in the university environment;
    Case studies based on the experience of other researchers; and
    Where to go for advice and information.
    At a number of institutions two events will be run; an introductory seminar for those new to the IP field and an advanced workshop that will be of great interest to established researchers keen to further develop their understanding of IP.

    To find our more information, visit the IP Australia Website here.

    | IP Australia Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Australia 2 - Regional Small Business IP Seminars 15th April - 4th June 2004
     IP Australia presents: Intellectual Property......how to protect and profit from your IP in one straightforward seminar.

    In association with the Business Enterprise Centres Australia (BECA), IP Australia will be conducting a regional small business IP seminar series in Apr-June 2004 in the major regional centres of QLD, NSW, VIC and ACT.

    IP professionals will discuss how innovative Australian businesses have used IP strategies to successfully gain commercial advantage in the domestic and international marketplace, and will cover:

    Getting the best commercial returns for your innovations and new business ideas;
    Practical "real life" examples from Australian business about how to use IP successfully;
    How to use IP information to keep track of your market and find out what your competitors are doing;
    The differences between different types of IP such as patents, trade marks, designs and copyright;
    How to protect and commercialise your ideas;
    How to identify and manage your IP; and
    How to place value on your IP.

    To find our more information, visit the IP Australia Website here.

    | IP Australia Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Trademarks - Famous and Well-Known Marks: An International Analysis
     The International Trademark Association (INTA) has released the second edition of Famous and Well-Known Marks: An International Analysis. This publication "uniquely explores the rationale, history and implementation of the protection of these exceptional trademarks. An invaluable guide, the fully revised and expanded second edition of this benchmark work demonstrates the principles and practice of this evolving body of international law. The second edition also includes new sections on counterfeiting, geographical indications, customs, public figures and celebrities, trade dress, state emblem protection and domain names".

    If you purchase this book you will also gain access to a website application called the "Famous and Well-Known Marks Supplemental Resource". This provides a searchable database of marks that have been recognised as famous or well known by particular jurisdictions.

    To find our more, click here.

    | INTA Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • STN Forum - STN: Enhancements for Patent Searchers & Non-traditional Sources of Patent Information on STN
    When: May 27, 2004 - 1:00 to 4:00 P. M.
    Where: Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor Hotel, 110 South Eutaw Street, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Session    : TN: Enhancements for Patent Searchers
    Speakers: Meg Parr, Applications Specialist, CAS & Rob Austin, Regional Sales Manager, FIZ Karlsruhe
    "This session focuses on content enhancements to STN that will increase patent searchers' efficacy for prior art, patentability, and prosecution searches. Several exciting new patent resources on STN, including World Patent Index First View (file WPIFV) and FRANCEPAT, will be reviewed".

    Session: Non-traditional Sources of Patent Information on STN
    Speaker: Kerry Stanley, Senior Application Specialist, CAS
    "Many look to STN for the wealth of patent information available. In fact, over 24 files are included in the "patents cluster." However, patent information is also available in over 55 additional files on STN. The patent information available and approaches to its retrieval will be discussed for files such as IMSPATENTS, PROMT, The Merck Index, Federal Register, NTIS, Research Disclosures, and various subject specific files. These alternative STN patent sources provide valuable information supporting litigation, licensing, competitive assessment, patent status and patent validity search activities".

    To register on the web, go to the CAS website here.

    | CAS Website |

    Posted Rodney Cruise.

Monday, 05 April 2004

 

  • Trademark.com Adds German Marks To International Collection:
     Trademark.com have annoucned that they now have an additional 800,000+ records available in its new German database. Supplied by Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH these records date back to the late 1800's and feature designs and logos, in both black and white and color. All records are searchable in their native language. With the addition of these new records, Trademark.com will now have over 70 million records in their trademark, business, and domain name collection.

    What is a new service without a "free" offer! Until 10 May 2004, Trademark.com are allowing searches of the German Marks, Designs, & Logos for free for annual subscribers. To find our more, visit their website.

    | Trademark.com Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Saturday, 03 April 2004

  • IP MENU Update - IP Software Resources
    IP MENU has updated the following Intellectual Property Resources:  

    Matheo Analyzer and Matheo Patent (new link)
    Matheo Analyzer "database processing software: importation of your data, statistical analysis, visualization (graphs, networks, matrices)" Matheo Patent "is a software designed to exploit quickly and professionally the EspaceNet patent database."

    IP Document Assembly System (IPDAS) (new link)
    "E-filings are easy, fast, and require no special user training using IPDAS, the industry’s leading document assembly system for both paper-based and electronic filings. When e-filing, IPDAS users simply write or cut-and-paste into the blank MS Word®-based specification template and submit their entire e-filing package directly to the USPTO from within the IPDAS program where the specification is stored and later available so that IPDAS can automatically format amendments and renumber claims. The fully automated e-filing submission process (automatic conversion of documents to XML files and data validation) takes no more than four minutes. The USPTO’s immediate filing receipt is stored and automatically populated into a client-reporting letter when generated. IPDAS knows to send an email notification with filing receipt information to specified recipients. AutoDocs, LLC is a USPTO Electronic Filing Partner and the first EFS partner vendor to offer a commercial e-filing service."

    IP Document Assembly System (IPDAS) (new link)
    "Prepare paper-based or electronic-filing-ready documents with this document assembly system that contains both an extensive library of over 400 PTO and PCT forms, letters, and administrative documents used in prosecution and an superbly-designed database that stores names, addresses, citations, priorities, and other information used (and reused) during document preparation. Constantly updated forms are automatically and substantially completed during document creation with data that has been typed only once. IPPAS is a significant time saver, dramatically reduces typographical errors, and offers a shared tool for managing a prosecution practice."

    Posted by Scott Ly

Friday, 02 April 2004

  • Trade Marks - Spanish Now Official Language
    From 1 April 2004 Spanish joins English and French as an official filing language for users of the international trademark system, the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Trademarks, which is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). For more information, read the WIPO press release.

    | WIPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Canada - Maintenance Fee and Expired Status Information Now Available
    The CIPO has announced that from 31 March 2004, clients can now access information about maintenance fee payments on the Administrative Status page of each patent document. The "Maintenance Fee" data includes the date and amount of the last payment received, the date and amount of the next payment if the applicant or grantee is a small entity type and the date and amount of the next payment if the applicant or grantee is a large entity type.

    | CIPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Thursday, 01 April 2004

  • Thomson Releases 2004 Patent Focus Report
    A new (free) report from Thomson called the "2004 Patent Focus Report".

    "Thomson announced the publication of the 2004 Thomson Patent Focus Report, which summarizes legislative and infrastructure changes at the trilateral patent authorities of the Japanese Patent Office (JPO), the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) during 2003. The report includes expert commentary from Ron Marchant, chief executive of the UK Patent Office, and Bruce Lehman, president and chief executive officer of the International Intellectual Property Institute. Written by freelance journalist Joff Wild, the complimentary report can be downloaded from IP Matters".

    Part 1 "Thomson Scientific Patent Focus 2004 Part one: Putting the politics into patents in 2003" is now available for download.

    | Thomson Derwent Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • IP MENU Update
    IP MENU has updated the following Intellectual Property Resources:  

    ANAQUA (new link)
    "ANAQUA is a web based Enterprise Intellectual Asset Management system (including licensing, litigation & conflict resolution). It enables IP practitioners to control the complete life-cycle of their IP (in addition to docketing). ANAQUA increases revenue, decreases costs & risks and eliminates duplication of effort & re-keying of data. It facilitates collaboration between all involved in the IP process, including brand managers, business units, law firms and (for patents) inventors. ANAQUA has been used by Ford & British American Tobacco since Sept 2002 and has more than 5000 users (including over 200external law firms)."
    Posted by Scott Ly

Wednesday, 31 March 2004

  • USA - USPTO Notice of Planned Outage
    The USPTO has advised that the USPTO website and electronic business systems will not be available for extended periods between 6:00 PM (US)EST on April 3 (Saturday) and 11:00 AM (US)EST on April 4 (Sunday). They have advised that due to likely intermittent access online transactions could be disrupted. Best avoiding using the system during that period!

    | USPTO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • New Zealand - IPONZ Easter Office Hours
    j0178269.gif (18576 bytes)The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) has advised it's Easter trading hours. It will close at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday 8 April 2004 and re-open at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday 13 April 2004.

    On the 8th of April, documents may be filed at IPONZ or at a branch of the Companies Office until 5:00 p.m. or up to 11:59 p.m. using the late filing box at 330 High Street, Lower Hutt. These documents will be dated 8 April 2004. Trade mark applications that are made online will also receive a filing date of 8 April 2004, if they are submitted before 11:59 p.m. on 8 April 2004. All filings made in the late box or online between 9 April 2004 and 13 April 2004 will receive a filing date of 13 April 2004.

    | IPONZ Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • IP MENU Update
    IP MENU has updated the following Intellectual Property Resources:  

    Full Proxy, 10-K, Summary Compensation, and Nonprofit Information
    "This site furnishes data on thousands of national corporations. Quickly retrieve free reports including proxies, 10-Ks, Appraisal Norms, Nonprofit 990s, and Compensation Tables." This site is hosted on the Economic Research Institute website.

    PACER Service Center
    "Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) is an electronic public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts, and from the U.S. Party/Case Index. Currently most courts are available on the Internet."

    IP Firms – Canada - Lillian Zarabi
    "Heydary Hamilton LLP is a business law firm. Our practice is focused on business law matters including mergers & acquisitions, technology-related commercial transactions and business financings. We believe what sets us apart is the practical advice we offer and our ability to complete a project on time and on budget."

    IP Firms – India – Mlegal
    “MLegal has been handling challenges on behalf of the client's since 1984. MLegal today has 68 lawyers at 12 Locations and is one of the largest in India. We act as counsels for Private and Public companies, Investment Firms, Hospitals, Retail Chains, Educational institutions, Software Firms, BPO providers and Individuals.”

    IP Firms – USA – Florida - Christopher & Weisberg, P.A.
    “The attorneys at Christopher & Weisberg limit their practice to intellectual property matters, transactions and related litigation. The firm has a diverse practice that covers every aspect of U.S. and international intellectual property law. We assist clients in all stages of identifying, clearing, prosecuting, and maintaining U.S. and foreign patents and trademark registrations, in addition to counseling clients in commercial matters and litigation that involve intellectual property.”

    IP Firms – USA – Florida – Law Offices of Gerald Duty, P.L.
    IP Firms – USA – Texas - Law Offices of Gerald Duty, P.L.

    Posted by Matthew Downing & Scott Ly

Tuesday, 30 March 2004

  • Japan - Patent Studies
    The Japanese Patent Office publish a biannual scientific journal called "Patent Studies". The journal is edited by the Planning Committee for industrial property studies of Japan Patent Office and published by Japanese Institute of Invention and Innovation. The stated aim of this journal is to "promote public understanding on the importance of the industrial property system and to stimulate basic studies on this subject". Whilst the journal is primarily in Japanese, non Japanese readers may find some very useful information in this journal.

    The current issue, No. 37 includes the following:

    “Man’s Fight against Infectious Diseases, Then and Now” [Isao ARITA]

    “On the geographical indications as one of intellectual properties Geographical indications found in recent court decisions in our country” [Shin-ithi KUKUMINATO] - Such geographical indications as prescribed in TRIPS agreement have for a long time been protected by Lisbon text in wine exporting countries of West Europe. At EC level England and Germany came to participating into this matter with the result of EC geographical indication regulations in an expanded area as of agricultural products and foodstuff. This result in EC is transferred to regulations in TRIPS agreement in an upgraded form which prescribe world-wide protection of further more revised form. This theme has been searched into recent court decisions in our country so that it have been found in clearly recognizable form and therefore may be permitted as of important matter.

    Interpretation of Trademarks “Well Known among Consumers” [Kazuo MORIOKA] - The terms of trademarks which are, or have become “well known among consumers” are provided in the articles 4 sub-section(1)-10,32 sub-section(1)and 64 of the Trademark Law, and the article 2 sub-section(1)-1 of the Unfair Competition Law. This paper examines how to interpret the meanings of “well known among consumers” purported by those provisions.

    Some questions in employee's invention [Hiroshi YOSHIDA] - This article disposes the invention of employee. After demonstrating my interpretation of shop rihgt regime,I am going to discuss the transfer of the job invention. Futhermore,by examing the recent cases,I will investigate some questions which have not been examined on foresaid issue.

    Case holding that exercise of trademark right was misuse of the right because it had been registered obviously contrary to Section 4(1)(vii) of Trademark Law.[Masaharu MIYAWAKI] - This article criticises the Court's finding that the trademark had been registered "obviously" contrary to Section 4(1)(vii) of Trademark Law. Also criticises the Court's application of the misuse of right doctrine, which had been adopted by the Supreme Court in a patent case, to the trademark case where the trademark right was obtained with bad intent.

    The International Patent System and the South issues - From perspectives of the WIPO Patent Agenda and the reports by the CIPR and the South Center [Takashi YAMASHITA] - Views of developing countries to the future international patent system are shown through the introduction of the WIPO Patent Agenda and the reports by the UK Commission of Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR) and the South Center. While developing countries are cautious to the discussion on the international patent system put forward by developed countries, they are taking it positively as a forum to address the South issues. The two reports are likely to influence such a stance of developing countries.

    | JPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • IP MENU Update
    IP MENU has updated the following Intellectual Property Resources:  

    Patents | Oncloud8
    Patents | Oncloud8 provides immediate batch-downloaded PDF-stiched EPO documents (US and international) for $0.88 per patent. No software needs to be installed, there is no registration, and there are no membership fees.

    Posted by Scott Ly

Monday, 29 March 2004

Thursday, 25 March 2004

Wednesday, 24 March 2004

  • Australia - Trade Marks Legislation Review - Recommendations Paper 2 Released
     IP Australia have announced that the "Recommendations Paper 2" has now been released for comment. "The objective of this Review is to ensure that the legislation is accurate, clear, unambiguous and meets the needs of Australian business, users of the trade mark system and IP Australia".

    "Submissions were invited from interest groups such as AMPICTA, IPTA, the Law Council of Australia, LESANZ; the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), INTA, FICPI, and IPSANZ. Comments were invited from Government Departments, the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation and NOIE". A full copy of the paper in PDF format is available here.

    The closing date for comments on Recommendations Paper 2 is 30 April 2004. Comments on Recommendations Paper 2 should be sent to: TradeMarks.Review@ipaustralia.gov.au

    | IP Australia Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • IP MENU Update
    IP MENU has updated the following Intellectual Property Resources:  

    IP Firms – Germany - IPB - IP Bewertungs AG
    “We offer services in relation to the following - Patent information; patent evaluation; patent value; patent analysis; patent financing; patent-based financing; strategic patent management; strategic competition observation; competition observation; market observation; competition analysis; strategic enterprise management; strategic management; inventor analysis; innovation evaluation; Intellectual Property management; patent securities; patent loans; patent license; patent statistics; patent search; trademark law mark injury; estimated value; mark value; due diligence; commercial legal protection; patent law; patent infringement”

    IP Firms – Germany - Prüfer & Partner

    IP Firms – United Kingdom - Anaqua Limited
    “Anaqua is a web based Enterprise Intellectual Asset Management system (including licensing, litigation & conflict resolution). It enables IP practitioners to control the complete life-cycle of their IP (in addition to docketing). Anaqua increases revenue, decreases costs & risks and eliminates duplication of effort & re-keying of data. It facilitates collaboration between all involved in the IP process, including brand managers, business units, law firms and (for patents) inventors. Anaqua has been used by Ford & British American Tobacco since Sept 2002 and has more than 5000 users (including over 200 external law firms).”

    Posted by Matthew Downing

Tuesday, 23 March 2004

  • US - Patent Application Publications May Now Include Amendments
    As a consequence of the use of Image File Wrappers (IFW), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) has begun to publish patent applications with amendments that expedite the publication process. For example, the patent application publication may be based upon amendments to the specification that are reflected in a substitute specification, an amendment to the abstract, amendments to the claims that are reflected in a complete claim listing, and amendments to the drawings that are reflected in replacement drawing sheets, provided that such substitute specification or amendment is submitted in sufficient time to be entered into the application file wrapper before technical preparations for publication of the application have begun.

    Read the full USPTO notice here.

    | USPTO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Europe - Extension of European patents to the Republic of Croatia (HR)
    The Co-operation and Extension Agreement signed by the EPO and the Minister for European Integration of the Republic of Croatia agreement enters into force on 1 April 2004. From this date it will be possible to extend the protection conferred by European patent applications and patents to the Republic of Croatia. Extended European patent applications and patents will enjoy essentially the same protection in the Republic of Croatia as the patents granted by the EPO for the currently 28 member states of the European Patent Organisation.

    | EPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Friday, 19 March 2004

  • Thomson Acquires BIOSIS
    Just when you thought there was nothing left for the Thomson Corporation to buy, we hear that they have now acquired BIOSIS.

    "The Thomson Corporation has acquired the publishing assets of Biological Abstracts, Inc. and BIOSIS® - including the world's largest life sciences abstracting and indexing service. BIOSIS offers both custom and standard information resources for life sciences research. The BIOSIS information services, including Biological Abstracts®, BIOSIS Previews®, and Zoological Record, will be integrated within ISI Web of KnowledgeSM"

    To read the full Thomson Press Release, click here.

    | BIOSIS Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Europe - EPO International Academy
    The European Patent Office has just launched the new EPO International Academy website. The EPO International Academy has the following objectives:

    To provide
    - a comprehensive training programme in the field of intellectual property to meet increasing demand
    - a forum to facilitate the exchange of views and information

    To develop
    - a training strategy aimed at maximising the learning process
    - synergies by combining EPO internal and external resources
    -innovative, cost-effective and high-impact training concepts
    - multimedia and web-based distance-learning tools and materials

    To strengthen
    - co-operation in the area of training with the national offices of the contracting states to the European Patent Convention
    - the EPO’s partnership with other academic and professional institutions

    To support
    - the integration process for new member states
    - vocational training initiatives for patent professionals, especially in new member states

    To find out more about this new EPO initiative, click here.

    | EPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Europe - Project for Africa & Middle East
     The European Patent Office has launched a new website dedicated to the Africa and Middle East Project.

    The EPO outline their strategy as follows:

    Develop integrated and realistic concepts for improving the institutional and administering capacities necessary for the functioning of a small or medium- scale IP office and elaborate specific tools and methods for their set-up

    Promote co-operation and synergies within and between the sub-regions; preferably use the "south-to-south approach" for transfer of know-how

    Adapt the content of the human resources development programmes (training in the region and in Europe, study visits, organising regional conferences, etc.) to the above-mentioned concepts

    Support the creation of regional training capacities, particularly in the field of patent information

    Make patent information readily available to the offices and the public; support the establishment of training centres in the region, particularly in the field of patent information retrieval and evaluation

    Adapt the projects aimed at modernising administrative structures, including automation, to the above-mentioned concepts

    To achieve these aims we seek for the co-ordination of all relevant partners, beginning with a number of key countries and key projects

    Try to link the assistance programmes in the IPR field for each country/region with programmes for the general economic and industrial development

    To find out more, visit the PAME website.

    | EPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • IP MENU Update
    IP MENU has updated the following Intellectual Property Resources:  

    IP Firms – Bulgaria – Lubomir
    “Imoti BG Ltd is specialized in management and realization of foreign and Bulgaria Sofia Black Sea investments. Its competence and reliability are based on analytical approach and study of any specific conditions on the market of real estates.”

    Posted by Matthew Downing

Thursday, 18 March 2004

  • Japan - Japan Patent Office Annual Report 2003
     The Japan Patent Office has just published (in English) their Annual Report for 2003. The Annual Report 2003 English version contains information about the JPO policies and basic statistical data extracted from the Japanese version. The Japan Patent Office Annual Report 2003 consists of five parts. The Part from 1 to 4 of this report explains the JPO’s policies. The Part5 deal with statistical data. The report sections are headed:

    Part 1 Activities in the Patent Administration to Become an Intellectual Property Based Nation

    Part 2 Examination and Trials in the Age of Intellectual Creation

    Part 3 Conditions of Intellectual Property Activities in Japan

    Part 4 The JPO’s Efforts to Become an Intellectual Property Based Nation

    Part 5 Statistical Data

    | JPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Wednesday, 17 March 2004

  • USA - J. Murrey Atkins Library of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte Designated a Patent and Trademark Depository
     The USPTO has just announced the designation of the J. Murrey Atkins Library of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as a Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL). The PTDLs maintain complete collections of over 6.7 million patents and nearly 2 million active or pending trademark registrations. The opening is due on 20 April 2004.

    "The patent and trademark depository library program began in 1871 when federal law first provided for the distribution of printed patents to libraries for use by the public. The addition of the J. Murrey Atkins Library to the PTDL network makes a total of 86 libraries located in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico".

    | USPTO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Tuesday, 16 March 2004

  • WIPO - WIPO Publishes Cases Studies On Use Of Intellectual Property By Indigenous Communities
    The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) published on Monday, 15 March 2004, a collection of practical case studies on the use of the intellectual property system by indigenous communities in Australia. The publication, entitled, "Minding Culture: Case Studies on Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural Expressions", was written for WIPO by Ms. Terri Janke, an Australian lawyer and a descendant of the Meriam people of the Torres Strait Islands, Australia.

    | WIPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Japan - Design Gazette Database
    News from the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) of a new free service as part of it's IPDL (Industrial Property Digital Library). The JPO will provide free access to the Design Gazette DB, which has previously been only searchable in Japanese. From 22 March 2004 the service will become available in English.

    | JPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Thomson Delphion - Upgrade to Citation Link
     The latest newsletter from Delphion announces that the Delphion Citation Link service has been enhanced. Citation Link now show you all generations of a patent's backward and forward citations at once. "This allows you to understand the origins of an invention as well as see how that patent impacted future innovations. All in one easy-to-customize graphical map". Delphion also indicate that the displays maps will load 5 times faster than before. To find out more visit Delphion here.

    | Delphion Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • IP MENU Update
    IP MENU has updated the following Intellectual Property Resources:  

    IP Menu – IP Firms – Egypt – Ragaii El Dekki & Partners
    “Patent Attorneys and trade mark agents handling all aspect of Intellectual Property matters in Egypt and Middle East and Africa covering about 25 countries . Our practice includes filing of Trade Marks, Patents, Utility Models, Design , Layout design of Integrated Circuits and copyright. In addition we provide for technical and legal translation required for IP matters.”

    IP Menu – IP Firms – Myanmar - Trademark Watch Myanmar
    “The first and foremost free of charge trademark watch service in Myanmar, sponsored by leading Myanmar law firm U Nyunt Tin Associates.”

    IP Menu – IP Firms –Pakistan - Jamil and Jamil
    “Jamil and Jamil is a renowned Corporate/Commercial Barristers set with over 30 years experience in litigation and corporate transactions advice.”

    IP Menu – IP Firms –Romania - Intelect SRL
    “The Intellect company actually has authorised IP attorneys and other specialists, so an interdisciplinary team made up from engineers, lawyers, accountants and translators and we are, in size, the forth consulting firm in intellectual property in Romania.”

    IP Menu – IP Firms – Syria - Mawla Law Corporation

    IP Menu – IP Firms – USA – California - IPMetrics LLC
    “IPMetrics values trademarks, patents, copyrights and other intangible assets for transactions, tax purposes, bankruptcy, damage calculations, transfer pricing, SFAS 142 or any other purpose.”

    IP Menu – IP Firms –Venezuela - Rojas Gaona & Bandres
    “Law Firm specialized on Intellectual Property Rights (Trademarks, patents, copyrights, domain names procedures and dispute resolutions, anti-counterfeiting, and transfer of technology). In addition, the Firm provides legal advice and assistance in: Litigation, administrative procedures, Criminal law, Corporative law, Energy & Mining.”

    IP Menu - IP Firms - Turkey - Deris Patents and Trademarks Agency Joint-Stock Co.
    "Deris Patents and Trademarks Agency Joint-Stock Co. is one of the oldest and largest companies in Turkey operating exclusively in the fields of intellectual and industrial property providing services in Turkey, in Cyprus (Turkish & Greek Parts) and in any other country of interest in all matters of Trade/Service Marks, Patents, Utility Models, Design Patents, Geographical Indications, Copyright, Plant Varieties, Domain Names and other types of protection available. These services include trademark, patent and design patent searches, filing and registrations, recordal of status changes/licenses, renewals/annuities, oppositions, contractual and licensing matters, legal counseling and assistance as well as litigation matters."


    Posted by Matthew Downing

Monday, 15 March 2004

  • Australia - Designs IDC Edition 8
    IP Australia has announced that there will be changes to the Australian Design Data Searching (ADDS) System. ADDS is a system which contains bibliographic, classification and image data relating to Australian Design registrations from 1985 to present.

    Due to the introduction of the 8th Edition of the International Design Classification (IDC), effective as of 1 January 2004, changes have been made to the ADDS system. The Classification Code index of ADDS has been updated and annotated to allow users to easily search both the 7th and 8th editions of the IDC.

    "There have been some changes made in the IDC 8th edition from IDC 7th edition. The original classification made on design applications lodged prior to 01.01.2004 have been retained. All new design Applications from 01.01.2004 will be classified according to IDC8. Some classifications may be needed to be searched in both versions".

    | IP Australia Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • WIPO - PCT Newsletter - March 2004
     The latest issue of the WIPO "PCT Newsletter" for March 2004 is now available for download.
    Inside this issue
    - New/updated PCT materials on the Internet
    - Prototype of PCT Electronic Gazette becomes production version
    - PCT statistics — 1 January to 31 December 2003
    - Power of attorney waivers
    - Industrial Property Organisation (Greece): not open for business

    | WIPO Website |

    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Thursday, 11 March 2004

  • WIPO - World Intellectual Property Day - 26 April 2004
     Just a reminder that World Intellectual Property Day is on 26 April 2004. According to WIPO this "offers an ideal opportunity to promote, inform and teach the importance of intellectual property as a tool for economic, social and cultural development".

    WIPO has annoucned that the theme of this years World Intellectual Property Day is “Encouraging Creativity.”

    WIPO has produced a variety of promotional material to assist with outreach activities for World Intellectual Property Day. Three new posters, along with a CD containing print-ready versions of the posters in the 6 official languages of the United Nations, were sent to all WIPO Member States at the end of 2003. The Organization has also released three 30-second television spots centered on this year's theme. The three spots will air on CNN over the next year and are available for broadcast to all Member States.

    WIPO invites its Member States and all the organizations receiving its outreach material to inform the Organization of any activities planned at the national level. The broad participation and support received during the previous observations of Worl