Kyocera Sues Hanwha Q Cells Japan for Solar Patent Infringement

Kyocera filed a suit with the Tokyo District Court today, the Kyoto-based company said in a statement.

Kyocera decided to bring suit after negotiations with Hanwha failed to progress, according to today’s statement.

The suit concerns technology to improve the efficiency of solar panels, which Kyocera patented in March 2012, the company said in the statement.

Germany’s Q-Cells was bought by Hanwha Group in late 2012 after becoming insolvent.

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-10/kyocera-sues-hanwha-q-cells-japan-for-solar-patent-infringement.html

Online patent renewal service goes live

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has launched its new online patent renewal service, making it simpler, quicker and cheaper for businesses and inventors to renew their patents.

‘Renew a patent’ is one of the government’s 25 exemplar projects which are focused on redesigning and rebuilding government services, helping to transform the way people use services online.

Lord Younger, Minister for Intellectual Property (IP), said: “More than 400,000 patents are renewed every year and more than a quarter of paper submissions have errors. A renewal request can be completed using the new service in under 4 minutes saving valuable time and money for both IP specialists and businesses.

The IPO is committed to delivering high quality services and improving the experience of its customers, and this latest development is part of a programme to transform all of its digital services.”

Development of the new service began in August 2013 and through various testing phases, customers have so far renewed more than 2,500 patents to date. Feedback from businesses, private applicants and IP professionals, has helped define the service launched today.

http://www.digitalbydefaultnews.co.uk/2014/07/04/online-patent-renewal-service-goes-live/

Supreme Court Grants Cert on Trademark "Tacking"

Last week, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a writ of certiorari in Hana Financial, Inc. v Hana Bank. The issue presented is whether trademark "tacking" is an issue of fact for a jury or an issue of law for the court. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that tacking is a factual question for a jury to determine. The petitioner argued that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling conflicts with rulings of the Sixth and Federal Circuits as well as the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

The doctrine of trademark "tacking" exists to permit a trademark owner to make minor changes to a trademark such that the new and old versions are "legal equivalents" and thus allows a trademark owner to "tack" its earlier use to the later mark. This doctrine is used only in narrow circumstances and would allow a trademark owner to defend its trademark rights and maintain its earlier first use date when, for example, it updates or "refreshes" an older mark. This type of update or refresh is commonly done with packaging trade dress. 

Full news at

http://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/news-publications/updates/supreme-court-grants-cert-trademark-tacking

San Francisco Firm Seeks Patent Prosecution Lawyer

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2014/06/30/san-francisco-firm-seeks-patent-prosecution-lawyer/id=50246/

The San Francisco office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is seeking a patent prosecution lawyer with a minimum of four years of legal experience in the fields of electronics, software, networking and related fields to join our IP/Patent team, or one to four years of legal experience coupled with commensurate industry experience.

Qualified applicants will have a JD degree and be a member of the California State Bar; have a BS degree in electrical engineering, computer science, or related discipline; have experience working as a patent prosecution attorney (in-house or outside counsel); a strong work ethic; comfort with complex technology; and excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Patent wars extend into brand protection

Businesses are taking a tougher stance in defence of their brands, according to new figures from the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) showing an increase in attempts to block rival trademark registrations.

The number of attempts by companies to prevent a rival from registering a conflicting trademark increased by 17 per cent last year to 1,775, the data showed.

Businesses with registered trademarks can try to prevent other companies from registering a conflicting, or similar sounding, mark by lodging a formal challenge to the IPO – and several high-profile international businesses have recently been successful in fending off rivals.

Luxury fashion designer Giorgio Armani attempted to stop the registration of the trademark “Benjamin Armani”, by a retailer of baby buggies, cribs, high chairs, and children’s car seats.

Syco Entertainment, Simon Cowell’s TV production company and owner of the X-Factor reality television show, also challenged a trademark application made by jewellery retailer, SGI Jewellery for the registration of the trademark “Little Mix” – the name of one of show’s winning acts.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/430ed456-f314-11e3-91d8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz34mQHPc1r

Apple iWatch could tap into patented weightlifting sensor

Apple's much-rumored iWatch might be able to serve as your own virtual weightlifting coach.

A granted patent dubbed "Shoe wear-out sensor, body-bar sensing system, unitless activity assessment and associated methods" as published on Tuesday by the US Patent and Trademark Office describes a sensor that attaches to a weighlifting body bar in order to monitor and record your capabilities and progess.


The original patent filing advanced the notion of a "shoe wear-out sensor," meaning it would be incorporated into your sneakers or other footware. But in revising the filing over time, Apple steered more in the direction of a sensor that fits on the body bar and transmits the results to a mobile device, such as a smartwatch as outlined below:

"In one embodiment, display 512 (shown in dotted outline) is part of a watch (or a MP3 player or a cell phone) that may be seen when worn or used by the user when performing exercises; and measurements determined by processor 504 are transmitted to the watch (or to the MP3 player or cell phone) for display upon display 512."

 http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-iwatch-could-tap-into-patented-weightlifting-sensor/

5 Tips In The Art Of Patent War In China

U.S. companies pursuing patent infringement litigation in Chinese courts face a steep uphill battle, but lawyers say the move can be a quick and relatively inexpensive way to pressure Chinese competitors to license patents from American companies, making it an important part of an overall intellectual property litigation strategy.

Chinese courts have seen patent cases more than double over a four-year period, from 4,422 filings in 2009 to 9,680 suits in 2012, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

 More at 
http://www.law360.com/ip/articles/537964/5-tips-in-the-art-of-patent-war-in-china

Tug-of-War Over Promising Cancer Drug Candidate

A promising anticancer agent about to enter human clinical trials is on the hook because of a chemical structure error discovered by scientists at Scripps Research Institute California. The patented compound, known as TIC10 or ONC201, is owned by the biotech firm Oncoceutics.

However, Scripps has applied for a patent on the corrected structure and has licensed it exclusively to another company, Sorrento Therapeutics. The reanalysis and subsequent licensing could lead to an unprecedented legal case—the first in which a structural reassignment puts in jeopardy a patent and clinical trials. Lee Schalop, Oncoceutics’ chief business officer, tells C&EN that the chemical structure is not relevant to Oncoceutics’ underlying invention. Plans for the clinical trials of TIC10 are moving forward.

From http://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i21/TugWar-Over-Promising-Cancer-Drug.html

Starbucks Trademark Enforcement: When A Cease-And-Desist Letter Is Also A Promotional Opportunity

From the ibtimes:


When it comes to aggressive trademark enforcement, few companies are more notorious than Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). Lawyers for the Seattle-based coffee/cafe giant are as quick with a cease-and-desist letter as its baristas are with an espresso machine. The result has been some of the most memorable trademark skirmishes in recent history, including Starbucks’ 12-year battle to prohibit a family-owned New Hampshire roaster from selling a coffee called “Charbucks,” a fight Starbucks lost last year.

But the company’s well-earned reputation for litigiousness has also made it a target for what can only be described as cease-and-desist trolling, willful attempts by attention-seekers looking to provoke a reaction from the company by using the Starbucks name and famous green siren logo without its permission. Comedy Central’s Nathan Fielder, who is behind the parody pop-up shop “Dumb Starbucks Coffee,” is a key example.

Sony's Bloodborne Trademark Sparks E3 PS4 Reveal Rumours

Sony has filed a trademark for 'Bloodborne', sparking speculation about a new PS4 game reveal at E3. 

Sony has filed a videogame related trademark for something called Bloodborne. With E3 2014 just around the corner, the trademark filing, spotted by Siliconera, has naturally led some to speculate that Bloodborne could be a new PS4 game set to be revealed at E3. Registration of the Bloodborne trademark follows up on Sony's filed trademarks for Kill Strain and Oreshika. Will any of these actually show up as new games at E3? We'll have to wait and see.