Global News
China IP,[Comprehensive Reports]
1.US
IBM Continues to Rank No.1 in US Patent for 23 Consecutive Years
In January 2016, IBM declared to rank No.1 in US patent ranking with 7,355 patents in 2015, and continues to rank No.1 in US patent ranking for 23 consecutive years.
According to IFI Claims, an organization for patent analysis, among the US utility patents top 50 published every January, IBM was followed by Samsung and Canon, which had 5,072 patents and 4,134 patents respectively in 2015; Qualcomm and Google ranked the fourth and fifth, which had 2,900 patents and 2,835 patents respectively in 2015.
A New Record of US Patent Litigation
According to the data report, the number of US patent cases in 2015 is 5203, which is another new record compared with 4396 in 2014. The three companies with the greatest number of patent cases in the first half of the year go to Apple, Samsung and HP.
The 225th Anniversary of US Patent Act
On April 10, 2015, various activities and group discussions were held at the headquarters of United States Patent and Trademark Office based in Alexandria, VA, for the celebration of the 225th anniversary of US Patent Act.The first US Patent Act was signed by US President on April 10, 1790. The current law was enacted in 1952, and subsequently revised in 1984 and in 1994 respectively.
2.Europe
The European Court of Justice Dismissed the Objections of Spain to Unified Patent Court
According to the two separate decisions issued on May 5, 2015, the European Court of Justice dismissed the objections of Spain to the legitimacy of unified patent and Unified Patent Court. The decisions clear away obstacles for the implementation of unified patent and Unified Patent Court. The objections of Spain have been dismissed, and i t is thus imperative to establish the system of unified patent and Unified Patent Court.
Italy Steps into Unified Patent System
In October 2015, Italy officially joined the unified patent system within EU regions and became the 26th country for enhancement of unified patent cooperation. According to the unified patent laws under the system, any enterprise in a participating country can file a patent application before obtaining patent protection from the European countries which participate in unified patent, without filing patent application to each participating country. But only when 13 European countries approved the Unified Patent Court Agreement can the Unified Patent laws become effective. So far 8 member countries have approved the agreement.
3 .Germany
The Patent Case of Lung Cancer Drug with Annual Sales of USD 2.8 billion was Defeated in Germany
On March 6, 2015, Eli Lilly was defeated by Actavis, a generic drug manufacturer, in the case litigated in Germany for Pemetrexed as its flagship drug for lung cancer. Last year, the drug achieved global sales of USD 2,790 million. According to the decision made by German appellate court, the patent of Pemetrexed will expire in December 2015, and then, if Actavis sales the substitute for another salt compound of the drug, it will not infringe upon the patent of Eli Lilly.
DPMA Joins Global Patent Prosecution Highway
Das Deutsche Patent- und Markenamt (DPMA), known as German Patent and Trade Mark Office, makes an announcement on its website: DPMA joins Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) on July 6, 2015.Another 12 cooperative patent offices are thus added to the existing PPH cooperative patent offices.
4 .Japan
Employees’ Patent can be Attributed to the Company According to Patent Law Newly Published in Japan
On July 3, 2015, the new Patent Law was adopted at the plenary session of Japanese House of Councillors, allowing employees to have their utility patent invented in work attributed to the company. Before that, it is a rule in all provisions in Japan that such patents are owned by employees themselves.
However, since it is a concern in the industry that a high fee will be charged, the government has revised the system which has been applied for more than 90 years. Besides, the fee for patent application will be down-regulated by 10% or so. At the same time, Japanese Trademark Law has been revised; the fee for trademark registration and the fee for renewal are down-regulated by 25% and 20%, respectively.
5 .India
Indian Patent Office Issues 2016 Patent Rules (Amendment)
On May 16, 2016, the Indian Patent Office revised and adopted the new 2016 Patent Rules (Amendment). The Amendment mainly revised the definition of “start-ups”, accelerated review, deadline of submitting Power of Attorney, deletion of patent claims and its electronic submission, etc.
6 .Sweden
Ericsson and Apple Reach Reconciliation in Patent Dispute
Ericsson is a Swedish telecom equipment maker. In December 2015, Ericsson signed a global Patent Cross License Agreement with Apple, which marked the end of patent dispute between them. They would cooperate in many fields as well. Apple would pay the initial patent fee to Ericsson on a one-time basis, and then continue to pay the fee according to the actual use of patent. Ericsson is expected to achieve a total revenue of 13 billion~14 billion Swedish krona (priced about 9840 million yuan ~10590 million yuan) in 2015, including the positive effects brought by the agreement signed with Apple. In 2014, Ericsson achieved revenue of at least 9.9 billion Swedish krona (priced about 7940 million yuan) from patent license of Apple. In addition to the end of patent dispute, they will cooperate in many fields, including development of 5G network standard, video network traffic management and wireless network optimization technology.
7 .Finland
Nokia Wins the Patent Infringement Case against InterDigital InterDigital, a company for patent authorization, lost the case litigated against Nokia for patent infringement. This is the result after 8 years. On August 28, 2015, an announcement was made on website of United States International Trade Commission, “Investigation has proved that InterDigital’s claim against Nokia for infringing upon its patent of controlling the way of making phone calls cannot be acknowledged.” InterDigital’s request for prohibiting the import of Nokia mobile phones to United States was dismissed. Then, William J.Merritt, CEO of InterDigital, expressed his disappointment about the decision and his plan to make continuous efforts on the infringement claim. He added, “Considering the decline in Nokia mobile phone business under Microsoft management, the decision will not greatly impair InterDigital.”
8 .ASEAN
ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan 2016-2025
ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan aims to facilitate coordination and unity of IP system within ASEAN regions. The first ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan is Plan 2011-2015. The development disparity among member states of ASEAN becomes the obstacle in the process of unification, which must be taken into account by ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan within the defined time limit.
The new ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan has a longer time horizon: 2016-2025. No change takes place to the primary goal of transparency, public awareness or addition of international treaty, etc., but the plan is made with more details; it contains the development of regional IP platform as well, such as online trademark application system. The new ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan pays equal attention to the building of IP office, with special focus on Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar; the development status of the countries will also be considered. Another important goal of the plan in the new times is to strengthen the relation with stakeholders and external partners through various IP associations and private sectors.
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