Telecoms company UnitedCorp has claimed that features on Facebook and Instagram that allow users to reveal their location infringe technology it owns covering a newly released smartphone app. In cease-and-desist letters, Miami-based UnitedCorp said the social media networks' geolocation-based image overlays infringe a patent covering the iFramed app. The app uses technology that acquires and shares images and videos, but also gives users the ability to select "locally sourced content" based on their location before sharing. iFramed is still a relatively new concept. Originally based in Canada it was a tech company in its own right before it was acquired by UnitedCorp in June this year.

 

The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) implemented a significant, two-phase increase in trademark and other industrial property fees by means of Resolution 311-E/2017. The total increase in trademark fees amounts to approximately 40 percent on average, except for recording assignments and name changes, the fees for which have increased by 100 percent. The first phase came into force on August 1, 2017, and the second phase has been effective as of October 1, 2017.

 

According to the statement of Qualcomm's speaker Christine Trimble, Qualcomm has filed a litigation to Beijing Intellectual Property Court claiming Apple used its technology but paid no patent fees and expecting the court to prohibit Apple from producing and selling iPhones in China. In January this year, Apple has sued Qualcomm to the US district court in Southern District of California against the latter's "abusing its domain market position", namely Qualcomm's monopoly of the wireless chips market.

 

Recently the Trump Administration announced several nominations, one of which was the nomination of Andrei Iancu to be the next Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Andrei Iancu will come to the agency after most recently serving as the managing partner of Irell & Manella LLP, practicing full time with the firm's litigation and intellectual property practice groups. In addition to his legal practice, Iancu coteaches an advanced patent class at UCLA School of Law, where he serves as an adjunct professor.

 

Google Inc. has fight for its trademark "Gmail", which is used in the application of e-mail service, with Aisimei (Beijing) Information Technology Co., Ltd. (Beijing Aisimei) for 7 years. Recently, the Supreme People's Court made a final judgment that Beijing Aisimei applying for No. 5319381 trademark - "Gmail " constitutes unfair competition by the way of squatting a trademark which have influence and has been used by Google. The decision that the involved trademark should be rejected for registration made by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board under State Administration for Industry & Commerce of the PRC was finally sustained.

 

The EPO President Beno?t Battistelli and Luiz Otávio Pimentel, the President of Brazil's National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) have agreed to launch a joint Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme in the margins of the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly in Geneva. The PPH pilot programme between EPO and Brazil will enable work-sharing and accelerate patent prosecution at both offices, with the aim of improving the global IP system, supporting applicants and encouraging innovation.

 

On September 8, 2017, the Ordinance on Industrial Property Representatives adopted by the Bulgarian Council of Ministers entered into force. The Ordinance is the first act in Bulgaria to establish that the occupation of an IP representative is a "regulated profession" pursuant to the Bulgarian Recognition of the Professional Qualifications Act. It also introduces the possibility for industrial property representatives to exercise their profession in partnerships, the information on which will be recorded in a register specifically devised for that purpose and publically available on the Bulgarian Patent Office's website. The new Ordinance aligns Bulgarian legislation concerning IP representatives with Directive 2006/123/EC and Directive 2005/36/EC.

 

On September 14, the UK's leading intellectual property protection organization - FACT, the Intellectual Property Office of the UK (UKIPO), Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) jointly published a report named by Cracking Down on Digital Piracy, showing that there were 1 million illegal Set Top Boxes with plug-in units for sales. The report also indicates that the criminal gangs always make profits through the following 3 ways: advertising, subscription and malicious software. Another emerging method is content blackmail, through which the hacker claims that he has already stolen the resources of movies or plays and requires Netflix or Disney to pay his fees.

 

The EPO has published a set of 12 case studies focusing on how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe are using patents to their advantage. The publication aims to raise awareness among SMEs of the importance of patents, and to help them use the experiences and good practices of the companies described in the case studies to support their own development and growth. According to EPO President Beno?t Battistelli, "SMEs are the backbone of the European economy, and they account for nearly a third of all patent applications at the EPO."

 

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 153rd meeting in Munich on 10 and 11 October 2017 under the chairmanship of Christoph ERNST. The Administrative Council noted the activities reports given respectively by its Chairman and by the President of the European Patent Office, Beno?t BATTISTELLI. The Council then proceeded with a series of elections and appointments to its advisory bodies. In particular it elected Mr Lex Kaufhold Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee for 3 years, starting on 10 October 2017.

 

On August 7, 2017, the Government of Thailand deposited its instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol with WIPO's Director General, making Thailand the 99th member of the Madrid System. Starting November 7, local brand owners in Thailand can begin using the Madrid System to protect their marks in the 114 territories of the System's other 98 members by filing a single international application and paying a single set of fees and foreign companies and trademark owners can seek trademark protection when selling their products and services in Thailand.

 

Ambassador Duong Chi Dung, head of Vietnam's Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN), World Trade Organization (WTO) and other international organizations in Geneva, has been elected Chairman of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly for 2018-2019. The election was made by representatives of all 191 WIPO member countries at the WIPO General Assembly's 49th session in Geneva on October 2.

 

On September 28th, the National Office of Intellectual Property has issued Decision No.3262/Q?-SHTT on granting Geographical indication registration certificate No. 00058 for the famous "Son La" coffee. The Science and Technic Service of Son La province is the organization in charge of managing this GI.

 

On October 3th, a seminar on development trend and commercialization of patented Japanese technologies in early 21st century between Vietnamese patent office and JPO has been held in Hanoi. In the seminar, JPO's experts shared their experiences on patent examination as well as their solutions to accelerate examination process.

 

The IP Off ice of S ingapore (IPOS) signs a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the IP Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) on the sidelines of the World Intellectual Property Organization Assemblies Meetings to encourage IP commercialisation and innovation. IPOS is also a member of the Global Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program (GPPH), which adopts a unitary set of requirements to examine the patent applications, ensuring the simplification of the examination procedures.