In this week’s Patent News – IP-India welcomes RGNIIPM to the Twitter world; India advocates TRIPs flexibility at the virtual WTO General Council Meeting; CNIPA publishes first patent application related to a vaccine for COVID-19; USPTO launches COVID-19 Response Resource Center; USPTO and JPO Heads release joint statement; Green Science Alliance joins WIPO GREEN as contributing partner; CNIPA’s Annual budget reveals key performance indicators and IPOPHL accepts online requests for Commercial Patent Search.”
INDIA PATENT NEWS
IP-India welcomes RGNIIPM to the Twitter world
The Indian Patent Office (IPO) recently welcomed Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Intellectual Property Management (RGNIIPM), a Central Government Institute on IPR under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, to the Twitter world. Interested persons may follow the RGNIIPM_Nagpur twitter handle for updates on IP training and other important information.
Source: http://www.ipindia.nic.in/newsdetail.htm?689
India advocates TRIPs flexibility at the virtual WTO General Council Meeting
During the virtual General Council Meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO), held last week, India advocated the adoption of the flexibilities offered by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) to ensure easy access to medicines, vaccines and other essentials to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. India also said that there was an “urgent need” to emphasize on building digital capacities in the field of education and telemedicine as they may prove specifically be beneficial to developing and least developed countries.
INTERNATIONAL PATENT NEWS UPDATE
CNIPA publishes first patent application related to a vaccine for COVID-19
On June 2nd 2020, the China National Intellectual Property Authority (CNIPA) published the first patent application related to a vaccine for COVID-19. The application – CN 202010193587.8, filed on 18th March 2020, bears the title “A new recombinant coronavirus vaccine using human replication-deficient adenovirus as a vector.” The application has been filed by the Institute of Military Medicine, Chinese Academy of Military Sciences and CanSinoBIO. As reported by National Law Review, the vaccine is the first candidate vaccine to be used for Phase II human clinical trials.
USPTO launches COVID-19 Response Resource Center
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has launched a “COVID-19 Response Resource Center” to provide a platform for stakeholders to have easy access to various USPTO initiatives, programs, and other information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. As per the official press release, Resource Center provides information on a number of key initiatives including the “Patents 4 Partnerships” IP marketplace platform and the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program for accelerating the evaluation of patent applications directed to COVID-19 related technologies. Additionally, it includes information on voluntary early patent application publication, and resources for inventors and small businesses.
You may click here to access the USPTO COVID-19 Response Resource Center.
Source: https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-launches-covid-19-response-resource-center
USPTO and JPO Heads release joint statement
In view of the COVID-19 crisis and the impact it has had on the global economy, the Heads of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) shared a joint message on 1st June 2020. Expressing their heartfelt sympathies towards the loss of lives, the IPO heads laid emphasis on the importance of innovation and called it a “powerful weapon” against the pandemic. Further, the IPO heads threw light on various actions taken by both the patent offices to offer flexibilities with regard to statutory deadlines. They also spoke about the joint collaboration of the two offices, like the development of accelerated examination programs to offer support to inventors and the establishment of initiatives like the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), the U.S.-Japan Collaborative Search Pilot Program and the Global Dossier Initiative.
You may click here to access the Open joint statement.
Source: https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/joint-message-uspto-and-jpo-future-innovation
Green Science Alliance joins WIPO GREEN as contributing partner
Green Science Alliance Co., Ltd., a Japanese company engaged in the research and development of technologies in the field of energy and environmental green technology, recently announced that the company has joined the WIPO GREEN platform as a contributing partner.
WIPO GREEN is an online platform that acts as a global marketplace for technology exchange, it was established by WIPO in 2013.
CNIPA’s Annual budget reveals key performance indicators
The China National Intellectual Property Authority (CNIPA) published its Annual budget on 11th June 2020, revealing certain key performance indicators. According to the data published by CNIPA, the Patent Office aims to complete the examination process and dispose patent applications within 16.5 months from the date of filing the application. The current examination time to final disposition is 22 months. The Patent Office also aims to maintain the present rate of patent invalidation at 6 months. As reported by National Law Review, the total 2020 budget for CNIPA is approximately 1,293,696,450 RMB i.e., $183 million USD.
IPOPHL accepts online requests for Commercial Patent Search
As per a recent update by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), the Patent Office is now accepting requests from interested stakeholders to perform a Commercial Patent Search. The new initiative intends to help stakeholders to “kick start R&D or to ensure that no infringement case can arise with inventions covered by already existing intellectual property (IP) protection.” The Commercial Patent Search activity will be conducted by IPOPHL’s IP Search & Documentation Division (IPSDD).
IPOPHL is offering the following types of Search:
- Equivalent Search
- Compound per-se Search
- Comprehensive Search – Includes State-of-the-Art Search & Freedom-to-Operate Search
- Patent Mapping & Analytics
You may click here for more information.
Authored and compiled by Vibha Amarnath
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