On June 6, Michelle Lee sent an e-mail to employees of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) notifying recipients that she had submitted a letter of resignation. Lee was appointed in 2015 when the US Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to make her director. There is no word at this hour about who will replace Lee, or whether her resignation will take place effective immediately, although the e-mail sent to USPTO employees does seem to suggest that Lee’s time at the USPTO is over.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a victory for social media site Twitter. In a decision handed down on May 12, the court affirmed a ruling that five messaging patents owned by New York-based EasyWeb Innovations were invalid. EasyWeb had sued Twitter back in 2011. At the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Twitter moved for summary judgment of non-infringement and ineligibility. The court granted the motion finding that the patents were directed towards ineligible subject matter. EasyWeb appealed. The Federal Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision.

 

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) announced on May 10, that they instituted a "337 Investigation" of certain collapsible sockets for electronic devices and components thereof from 14 enterprises of Mainland Hong Kong in China. The USITC made a statement that the products at issue in the investigation are accessories that can be secured to a mobile device and used. It is said that PopSockets LLC of Boulder, CO alleged violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the US and sale of the involved product that infringe a patent asserted by the complainant, requesting that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

 

Microsoft has sued a Florida-based technology company that has allegedly sold counterfeit copies of Windows 7 and 8.1 software. The complaint, filed at the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida on June 2, alleges trademark and copyright infringement. In the complaint, Microsoft claimed that Tech Emporium advertises, markets, copies, offers and/ or distributes "counterfeit and infringing copies of a variety of Microsoft software". According to the claim, on two occasions in June and October 2016, Tech Emporium sold unauthorised copies of the Windows software to a private investigator hired by Microsoft.

 

On May 21, about 10,600 people who have registered in the official website for participation came to Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain to attend the Annual Conference of INTA. On the opening ceremony, the CEO of INTA, Mr. Etienne Sanz de Acedo, 2017 president of INTA Mr. Joseph Ferretti and Minister of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain Mr. í?igoMéndez de Vigo addressed keynote speeches. It’s the last year of 2014-2017 Strategic Plan and Mr. Etienne Sanz de Acedo summarized the implementation of the plan during the 4 years from 4 aspects including trademark protection, internal and external communication, international expansion and member service.

 

On the occasion of the successful completion of 4 years of cooperation in the field of IP between the EU and China through the IP Key project implemented by the EUIPO, the Office organized on 2nd of June a celebration event in Brussels at the margins of the 19th EU-China IP Summit. Mr Christian Archambeau – Deputy Executive Director – delivered a key note speech, making reference to the IP Key achievements and highlighting the present and future EUIPO’s role in cooperation through the promotion of the European Trade Mark and Design Network (TMDN) tools. China IP as the official media partner also attended the conference.

 

From Wow to Now and How, Global E-commerce Summit 2017 (GES2017) convened attendees from over 50 countries for a journey that explored the possible and actionable activities in the future of shopping. From 12–14 June, GES assembled an impressive range of international e-commerce professionals to share real-world experiences and thoughtful insights on the future of shopping at the Fairmont Rey Juan Carlos I Hotel in Barcelona. Speakers, sponsors and delegates alike, contributed to the event with rich content during keynotes and panel sessions; an open exchange of ideas during networking and policy sessions; and thoughtful observations at the event Silent Theatre and Knowledge Cafés.

 

The world-class industry technology event —HANNOVER MESSE 2017 was successfully held in Hannover Exhibition Center, Germany. Themed by "Integrated Industry – Creating Value", the event drew 6,551 enterprises from 70 countries and regions. Founded in 1947, HANNOVER MESSE is the biggest industry exhibition in area in the world, recognized as one of the most important platform for connection between global industry design and international trade. China IP also had reporters to witness the innovation and integration of industry at the event.

 

IPOS led by its chief executive, Mr Daren Tang visited Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO) led by its president Mr Viktor ?uszcz in Budapest. Mr Tang and Mr ?uszcz signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate closer cooperation between both offices through the exchange of information and expertise. Both offices also had fruitful discussions on topics such as IP valuation and the role of the IP office in the innovation ecosystem.

 

The minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia, DATO' SRI MUSTAPA BIN MOHAMED pointed out that he would continue revising the Laws about labour and IP, no matter Malaysia will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or not. Revising laws aims not only to conform to the requirements of TPP, but also to review enterprises in Malaysia in order to strengthen and update the existing laws. The minister indicated in the statement, that revising laws is also a form of fulfilling obligations in the International Labour Organization, that is ensuring the correlation between national laws and the reality.

 

From June 13 to 14, 2017, the delegates of the Trial and Appeal Department of the JPO visited the PTAB of the USPTO in Alexandria, Virginia in the United States, having the first high-level meeting to exchange opinions on the trial and appeal practice. Mr. Satoshi Moriyasu, Director of the 19th Board of Trial and Appeal of the JPO and Dr. David Ruschke, Chief Administrative Patent Judge of the PTAB of the USPTO attended the meeting. They conferred how to interact with each other as well as exchanged information about practice, etc. concerning oral proceedings and consultations at the JPO and the USPTO.

 

Japan has extended the insurance scope of overseas IP litigation expense from the Asian area to global area (Japan and North Korea excluded), so as to make target insurance areas optional by enterprises in Japan. Premium limitation is also increased to 30 million - 50 million yen from 5 - 10 million yen. Established in 2016 by Japan’s Patent Office (JPO), the overseas IP litigation insurance will function as a security net when Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are involved with IP disputes in Asian area headed by China.

 

Jordan became the 152nd member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) on March 9, 2017, and the most recent Arab state to accede to the PCT. The Accession Procedures of Jordan to the PCT with the Secretary General of WIPO have been completed and the Accession into the said Treaty has entered into force, as of June 9, 2017. Thus, any PCT application filed on or after June 9, 2017 will automatically include the designation of Jordan; and the Jordanian nationals and residents will be able to submit international patent applications through the Jordanian Patent Office.