A number of conferences and courses have been uploaded which are worthy of mention:

8 - 10 Jan 2009 - International Intellectual Property Rights Conference (Kolkata) 29 Jan 2009 - Oppositions and Appeals - The EPO Case Law (London) 30 Jan 2009 - Patents - The EPO Case Law (London) 9 Feb 2009 - Introduction to the International Registration of Trademarks (London) 13 Mar 2009 - Global Franchising Update ~ Legal And Business Insights (London) 27 Feb 2009 - Fundamentals of Patenting (London) 28 April 2009 - International R&D Contracts, Collaborations And Joint Ventures (London) 15 - 19 Jun 2009 - Working With Patents ~ The Patent Summer School (London) 8 - 9 Oct 2009 - 8th Annual Conference For Senior Patent Administrators (London)

View the conference page for more details

Labels: Conferences

Representatives from the European Patent Office (EPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO) and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently met to address shortfalls in the international patent system and to discuss reforms. Representatives of industry groups , the Institute of Professional Representatives before the EPO and WIPO also participated in the conference. One question which arose was how to reconcile the two systems currently in operation between the Trilateral members – the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) agreements. IPwatch reported that Dr Gurry, head of WIPO, indicated his support of the PCT, suggesting that the PPH lacked ‘systemic benefit’. The Trilateral participants agreed to support initiatives of the IP5 group (consisting of the EPO, JPO, USPTO and the Korean and the Chinese intellectual property offices) and though agreeing to continue to develop the PPH, acknowledging that the PCT was to remain the principal patent application system. View the EPO account of the conference and see the EPO press release.

Labels: Conferences, Copyright News, Domain Name News, Patent News

For several years, the Japanese government has been implementing measures to address long processing times and long backlogs of patent applications. A number of reforms were put in place including the recruitment of considerable number of new examiners and the outsourcing of certain aspects of the examination process. The new system has only recently started to process applications and expects to process patents in just over 2 months. IPworld reports that the first patent was granted 17 days after the filing date.

View a detailed account of the recent developments of the Japanese Patent Office at Thomson Reuters.

Labels: Japan, Patent News