WIPO SMEs Newsletter July 2010
By the SMEs Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
WIPO SMEs Newsletter is a monthly e-publication providing readers with useful intellectual
property (IP) information contained in articles, case studies, forthcoming IP/SMEs relevant events,
and published presentations featured on our web site. We hope you will find it useful and
informative. We encourage you to share the newsletter or items of interest with friends and
colleagues. For past issues and information on the activities of the SMEs Division, please
visit
http://www.wipo.int/sme.
NEWS
Member States Address Non-Traditional Marks, Advance Work on Industrial Designs
WIPO’s Standing Committee on
the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) met from June 30
to July 2, 2010 to address industrial design law issues, the protection of state names against
registration or use as trademarks, grounds of refusal for trademark registration and collective and
certification marks.
At the conclusion of the 23rd session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks,
Industrial Designs and Geographical Indication, the SCT Chairperson, Mr. Adil El Maliki, Director
General of the Patent and Trademark Office of Morocco, said “that all delegations attached great
importance to the work of the SCT on possible convergences in the industrial design law and
practice of member States and that the SCT supported the advancement of that work.”
The SCT decided to include the issue of trademarks and the Internet on the agenda of its next
meeting. That session is expected to consider the WIPO Joint Recommendation Concerning
Provisions on the Protection of Marks, and Other Industrial Property Rights in Signs, on the
Internet, and recent developments within Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) on domain name issues.
US Supreme Court Refused to Prohibit Business Method Patent
The U.S. Supreme Court finally issued its opinion on June 28, 2010 in
Bilski case, rejecting
the appealed patent claim of a business method for hedging risk of price changes because this
claimed invention is just abstract idea. However, the Court refused to prohibit software and
business method patents, even opening the possibility of application of machine-or-transformation
test or else.
Patents: Commission proposes translation arrangements for future EU Patent
The European Commission proposed on July 1, 2010 new
translation
arrangements to cut down burdens and costs for translation of the granted patent into each
local language for it to be effective in a Member States of EU. It suggested that EU Patents will
be examined and granted in one of the official languages of the EPO - English, French or German.
The granted patent will be published in this language which will be the authentic (i.e. legally
binding) text. The publication will include translations of the claims into the other two EPO
official languages.
The IPeuropAware project has published a directory of sources of information about intellectual property – throughout Europe, on the project website
The directory is a unique tool, designed to meet the needs of:
- Directors of small and medium enterprises who need information about intellectual property – anywhere in Europe
- Business advisers who need to make contact with IP specialists in other European countries
- Commercial and financial specialists who need specific information about IP organisations in other European countries
- Researchers, academics and government officials who need to improve their understanding of how businesses are served by IP information sources across Europe.
The directory lists many other types of organisation other than patent and trademark offices
that can provide SMEs with information about IP, including:
- National government support services for SMEs
- Trade and Industry Associations, Chambers of Commerce
- Patent Attorneys and IP lawyers
- Technology and business funding organisations
- Organisations combating IP counterfeiting
- Universities and libraries.
TRAINING/LEARNING RESOURCES ON IP ASSET MANAGEMENT
Arabic Version of the IP PANORAMA™ Multimedia Toolkit
Arabic version of the IP PANORAMA
™ multimedia toolkit, which was developed last year, is now available through the
SMEs Division’s website. It is also available
on CD-ROM.
Learning Points of the IP PANORAMA™ Multimedia Toolkit
In view of an increasing number of requests, the learning points (in English) of the IP
PANORAMA
™ multimedia toolkit have been uploaded as pdf format files on the
SMEs Division’s website.
Intellectual Property Rights Education Curriculum Outline
This
program of the International Chamber of Commerce seeks to create awareness about the value of
intellectual property, to foster a better understanding of the rights associated with creative
content, and, ultimately, to instill in students a personal respect for IPR in a way that changes
their behaviors and perceptions about digitally delivered content. The program consists of both
student and educator resources.
Asian Copyright Handbook
The handbook has been
created by Tamotsu Hozumi under the auspices of Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre of UNESCO. It
seeks to provide an understanding of the basic concepts of copyright to Asian cultural
creators.
LINKS
Creating Effective IPR Enforcement Support for SMEs
The revised edition of the IPeuropAware publication on IP enforcement was recently released onits
website with a new title of “Creating Effective IPR Enforcement Support for SMEs.” The
publication addresses decision-makers in national IP offices and in intermediaries who want to
gain insight into ways of developing better IPR enforcement services for SMEs.
Good Patent Practice for a Venture Capital Financed High-tech Start-up
Intellectual Property Rights Protection in China: Trends in Litigation and Economic Damages
This
paper examines the pattern of damages awards by Chinese courts, and finds that, under the
administrative systems established in China, penalties and fines for IPR violations generally do
not appear to provide adequate deterrence to would-be infringers. Consequently, it suggests that
improvements in the calculation and imposition of economic damages will contribute to IPR violation
deterrence and provide better compensation to owners of IPR.
Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) Handbook 2010
Managing Museum Digital Assets: A Resource Guide for Museums
The International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) has published a guide entitled “
Managing Museum Digital Assets: A Resource
Guide for Museums” for assisting museums to develop the capacity to digitize, protect and
license their collections, thereby demonstrating the importance of intellectual property as a tool
for economic, social and cultural development. The guide collects in a single place a number of
model licenses, notes and comments, and resource materials to assist the world museum community to
better manage its portfolios of cultural and intellectual property assets.
Guide on IP in Australia’s Clothing and Fashion Design Industry
A Primer on Intellectual Property Insurance
Who Licenses Out Patents and Why? Lessons from a Business Survey
The OECD, together with the European Patent Office and the University of Tokyo, carried out a
business survey on the licensing-out of
patents to investigate the intensity of licensing to affiliated and non-affiliated companies,
its evolution, the characteristics, motivations and obstacles met by companies doing or willing to
license. 600 European firms and 1,600 Japanese firms responded to the survey in the second half of
2007. The results show that patent licensing is widespread among patenting firms: around one
company in five in Europe licenses patents to non-affiliated partners, whereas more than one in
four does so in Japan. The relationship between size of the firm and probability to license out is
U-shaped: small firms and large firms are more likely to license out their patented inventions. In
Europe, SMEs have more difficulties to license out their patents than large firms.
FOTHCOMING EVENTS
Eighth Annual WIPO Forum on Intellectual Property and SMEs for Intellectual Property Offices and Other Relevant Institutions in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Countries, October 4 and 5, 2010, Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (UIBM), Rome, Italy
WIPO Arbitration Workshop, October 21-22, 2010 (Geneva, Switzerland)
Arbitration is a procedure in which a dispute is submitted, by agreement of the parties, to
one or more arbitrators who make a binding decision on the dispute. In choosing arbitration,
the parties opt for a private dispute resolution procedure instead of going to court. The
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center will offer an Arbitration Workshop in Geneva on Thursday,
October 21 and Friday, October 22, 2010. This Workshop will provide intensive basic training
of a practical nature for party representatives in arbitration and for arbitrators, as well as
others wishing to familiarize themselves with the international arbitration process. The
training, which will be conducted by experienced international arbitrators, will focus on the main
principles of international commercial arbitration law and practice, with particular reference to
the practical application of the WIPO Arbitration and Expedited Arbitration Rules (as well as the
WIPO Expert Determination Rules) in intellectual property and technology disputes. Further
information is available at
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/events/
NOTE:
The SMEs Division welcomes voluntary contributions of articles, case studies, news items,
useful links and relevant information concerning forthcoming events of interest to entrepreneurs
and SMEs for inclusion in future issues of this newsletter; contributions may be sent by email to
sme@wipo.int.
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The past issues of this newsletter, since August 2001, may be accessed
here.
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