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.