In this weeks patent news – AICTE differs with CIPAM’s guidelines for on-campus inventions, to approach ministry, USPTO extends date for comments on “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Patents”, Nokia sues Lenovo for patent infringement, EU parliament challenges EPO on plant patentability, Aftechmobile sues Apple Inc. for patent infringement, Canon Inc., ends patent infringement dispute against LLC VTT and LLC Pallady, European Patent Office to host Patent Information Conference 2019, EUIPO hosts IP Horizon 5.0 in Alicante, Spain, Intellectual Property Office of Australia launches Global Artificial Intelligence Platform (GAIN) and more.
Patent News updates from India
AICTE differs with CIPAM’s guidelines for on-campus inventions, to approach ministry.
The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) will approach the Union commerce ministry in respect of the draft guidelines on patent rights for ‘on-campus inventions’ published by DPIIT recently. AICTE has asserted that inventors must be given due credit for any invention on campus as it would encourage more people to take up research. It has also introduced a new policy which makes it mandatory for academic bodies to share patent rights with a researcher even if the facilities of the institution are used while developing a product or a technology. This is in stark contrast to the 23-page draft guidelines prepared by the Cell for IPR Promotion & Management (CIPAM), which proposes that the right in a patent will rest solely with the academic institution if a student, researcher or faculty member has used its resources and funds for developing a product.
Patent Disputes / Infringements / Settlements/ Licensing
Nokia sues Lenovo for patent infringement
Finnish Telecom major Nokia has filed a patent infringement suit against the Chinese tech giant, Lenovo in the Eastern District of North Carolina, USA. In its complaint against Lenovo, Nokia has accused the former of infringing over 20 of Nokia’s video coding patents related to “International Telecommunications Union’s H.264 Advanced Video Coding standard”. According to Nokia, Lenovo is unlawfully using Nokia’s patents in dozens of its tablets and laptops, and has refused to meaningfully engage in patent licensing negotiations with Nokia, forcing the company to look for legal means of protecting its IP.
Aftechmobile sues Apple Inc. for patent infringement
Aftechmobile, a small entity established in the USA has filed a suit for infringement of its patent against Apple Inc. and another company, in two separate instances. The lawsuit instituted in the United Stated District Court, Northern District of California, states that Apple has infringed claims laid in the US Patent No. 10,133,558 by making and selling products related to the invention. The patent primarily relates to a – Shortcuts Application that offers Apple users to custom make shortcuts for their favorite applications.
Canon Inc., ends patent infringement dispute against LLC VTT and LLC Pallady
Canon Inc., professional and consumer imaging equipment manufacturer, announced recently that the company has ended its infringement dispute with LLC VTT and LLC Pallady, in Russia. Canon had filed a lawsuit alleging that the two companies had infringed its Russian Federation Patent 2467370 by selling toner cartridges that were protected by the patent. The suit was initially filed with the Moscow Arbitration Court where the Court held that the defendants had actively infringed Canon’s patent. The decision prohibited the companies from selling the products in issue and simultaneously awarded Canon with a compensation of 4,000,000 rubles. The defendants then filed an Appeal against the decision of the Arbitration Court with the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal. In line with the previous decision, the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal upheld the decision and issued the filing ruling in May, this year. As the defendants collectively decided to refrain from moving the suit to a higher court, Canon announced the conclusion of the dispute.
Patent Seminars & Conferences
European Patent Office to host Patent Information Conference 2019
The European Patent Office, in collaboration with the Romanian Patent Office (OSIM), is preparing to host the annual Patent Information Conference in Romania, this year. The Conference is set to be held between 29th and 31st October, 2019 in Bucharest. All patent professionals, including officials involved in patent search and patent attorneys are welcome to attend the Conference and take invaluable insights. The Patent Conference will offer 28 exclusive training courses for professionals in the field. Apart from this, a number of round-table discussions will be held on topics like – Impact of Artificial Intelligence and the changing face of Prior Art searching.
International Patent News
USPTO extends date for comments on “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Patents”
The USPTO has extended the dates for receiving public comments on “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Patents” to November 8, 2019. The USPTO in August had sought public comments on the patenting of inventions developed by AI (wholly or partially) and inventions of AI. The USPTO had sought information and comments on 12 very interesting questions including – What are elements of an AI invention? If a person instructs an AI to solve a particular problem; has that person invented the solution (once it is solved by the AI)? Should an entity or entities other than a natural person, or company to which a natural person assigns an invention, be able to own a patent on the AI invention? Do current patent laws and regulations regarding inventorship need to be revised to take into account inventions where an entity or entities other than a natural person contributed to the conception of an invention?
The full list of questions have been listed in detail by Professor Dennis Crouch on his blog Patentlyo. All comments in respect of this topic must be sent to AIPartnership@uspto.gov on or before November 8, 2019.
EU parliament challenges EPO on plant patentability
The European Parliament has repeated its opposition to patenting plants obtained through natural processes. The member of the Parliament recently voted in favor of the motion that plants obtained through conventional breeding processes, such as crossing and selection, must not become patentable. In response to the EPO’s decision on plant patentability, the European Parliament has said that the internal rules of the European Patent Office (EPO) “must not undermine democratic political control of European patent law”.
EUIPO hosts IP Horizon 5.0 in Alicante, Spain
The European Union Intellectual Property Office hosted the IP Horizon 5.0 Conference on the 26th and 27th of September, at its headquarters, in Alicante, Spain. This year’s Conference was titled – ‘Mapping opportunities and challenges in a globalized economy.” The event was organized by EUIPO in collaboration with McCarthy Institute, USA. Discussions were based on topics such as – IP Policy initiatives, Cooperation in a globalised IP world, Challenges of IP in a digital society, IP protection in e-commerce, Future of IP examination and asset evaluation and Transformative technologies in IP careers.
The event provided a platform for dignitaries to exchange ideas and discuss the future of IP-related jobs as well as the developments and artificial intelligence initiatives in the field. Representatives and experts from leading global IP offices, policy makers, IP practitioners, academicians as well as enforcement authorities graced the occasion.
Intellectual Property Office of Australia launches Global Artificial Intelligence Platform (GAIN)
On 26th September, IP Australia launched an online AI platform called Global Artificial Intelligence Platform (GAIN), in order to offer easy access to the best AI technology and Machine Learning tools. IP GAIN functions in a way that is similar to an App store for digital technology. By mobilizing the availability of AI and Machine Learning tools, the platform will “significantly reduce duplicated effort through increased collaboration and co-developed services.” The website will also provide a ‘source code repository’ for sharing, development and licensing.
Authored and compiled by Vibha Amarnath & Gaurav Mishra
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