WIPO SMEs Newsletter November 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.
Feedback on WIPO's SMEs Newsletter and Website
We look forward to your valuable feedback in the
questionnaire
that has been designed for this purpose as this would considerably help us improve our
newsletter. We would be grateful if you could take 5 minutes of your time to go through it
and to send it to us as soon as possible or in any case before December 3, 2010.
NEWS
Stakeholders' Platform Launches Project to Facilitate Access by VIPs to Published Works
An unprecedented initiative to facilitate access to published works by the visually impaired
and the print disabled was announced on October 23, 2010 in New Delhi, India at the 5th meeting of
WIPO’s Stakeholders’ Platform, which was set up in
January 2009 to explore the specific needs, and concerns, of both copyright owners and reading
impaired persons and brings together representatives of the visually impaired persons (VIP)
community as well as publishers. The Platform approved the launch on November 1, 2010 of
TIGAR - the trusted intermediary global accessible resources project – which will enable publishers
to make their titles easily available to trusted intermediaries. These intermediaries will create
accessible formats and share them amongst each other and with specialized
libraries.
SCP Agrees on Future Work on Patent-Related Issues
The
WIPO Standing Committee on
the Law of Patents (SCP) agreed on late Friday at the close of its week-long session from
October 11-15, 2010 to include a number of key substantive issues relating to patent law and
practice in its future work. Delegations from 86 countries, 5 international organizations and
25 non-governmental organizations participated in the session of the Committee, which was
characterized by a very positive and constructive atmosphere among member states that resulted in
significant progress in the Organization’s substantive agenda with respect to the further
development of the international patent system.
SCT Advances on Industrial Design Law and Practice
WIPO’s
Standing
Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications
(SCT) met from November 1 to 4, 2010 and made progress on work concerning industrial design
law and practice, in addition to matters relating to the Internet and trademarks. At the conclusion
of the meeting, SCT Chairperson, Mr. Adil El Maliki, Director General of the Patent and Trademark
Office of Morocco, said that "all delegations supported the advancement of the work of the SCT on
industrial design law and practice and that the 24th session made significant progress in that
regard.”
Vietnamese Version of “Secrets of IP” Published
The National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam published the translated version of
the WIPO ITC publication entitled, “
Secrets of
Intellectual Property: A Guide for Small and Medium-Sized Exporters”.
TRAINING/LEARNING RESOURCES ON IP ASSET MANAGEMENT
IP PANORAMA TM Multimedia Toolkit
The IP PANORAMA
™ multimedia toolkit is now available in English, Arabic, Thai and Hungarian through the
SMEs Division’s website. The English and
Arabic versions are also available on CD-ROM on request. The learning points (in English) of
the IP PANORAMA
™ multimedia toolkit have recently been uploaded as pdf format files on the website, which
are also available as a separate book. Anyone interested in receiving a free copy of the CD-ROM
and/or book containing the learning points may send an email to
sme@wipo.int providing full postal address, including telephone
number, and the purpose for which the CD-ROM/book would be used.
LINKS
Copyright Decision Deals Crippling Blow to Infringer: Decorative Furniture Not Merely Functional
While patents protect novel, useful inventions,
copyright
protects a creator’s expression of an idea or concept. In the copyright context, the approach
taken by most courts in distinguishing an unprotected “useful article” from protected “expression”
is to consider first whether the item in question is a “useful article.” If it is, the courts
analyze whether the item contains aesthetic expression that may be separated from the object’s
utilitarian features such that it may be protected by copyright. In
Universal Furniture, Inc. v.
Collezione Europa USA, Inc
., the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals of U.S., confronted this issue involving furniture
design.
Patent Due Diligence
The UPC Code: A New Frontier for Trademark Infringement?
In
Zino Davidoff SA v. CVS
Corporation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the unauthorized
removal of a product’s UPC code could justify a finding of trademark infringement, even if the
customer is not confused about the source of the product which he is purchasing. See more
here.
4 Steps to Effective Software License Compliance & Management
Piracy Impact Study: The Economic Benefits of Reducing Software Piracy
Breach of Non-Disclosure Agreement Costs Sears $25 Million
In
RRK Holding Company v.
Sears, Roebuck & Co., the federal district court in the Northern District of Illinois
upheld a jury verdict awarding $25 million to the owners of a small tool company, finding that
Sears breached the
non-disclosure agreement with the
company. See also
this.
Securitization of Intellectual Property: Recent Trends from the United States
In the United States, the market for
intellectual property (IP)
securitization has developed out of an increased awareness of IP value and the priority of
innovation management. US companies have experienced a shift in locus of their value from tangible
to intangible assets, which are now 90 percent of corporate net worth and this reality has produced
the need to understand, value, and monetize intellectual property through transactions like
IP-backed securitization.
Patent Backed Securitization: Blueprint for a New Asset Class
This article explores the
current state of the IP backed securitization industry with particular emphasis on the patent
backed market, present a strategy and framework for companies, investors, and finance professionals
to promote, develop, and profit from the growth in patent backed finance and dissect and analyze
two deals based on patents.
Intangible Asset Monetization, the Promise and the Reality
The
monetization of
intangible assets is just one more step in the evolution of financing innovative activities.
Just as physical assets were used to finance the creation of more physical assets during the
industrial age, intangible assets should be used to finance the creation of more intangible assets
in the information age.
Coming of Knowledge based Business
Smart products and services will turn companies into educators, and consumers into lifelong
learners. As the next wave of economic growth is going to come from
knowledge-based
business, consumers become learners when they use smart products, which both oblige and help
them to learn. See also
this.
FOTHCOMING EVENTS
Sixth Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Mr. Francis Gurry, the
Secretary General of INTERPOL, Mr. Ronald Noble and the Secretary General of the World Customs
Organization, Mr. Kunio Mikuriya invite you to attend the Sixth Global Congress on Combating
Counterfeiting and Piracy to be held in Paris on 2-3 February 2011.
More
Third WIPO-INSME International Training Program: Financing Your Business with Intellectual Property, December 1 and 2, 2010 at the WIPO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
WIPO-IPOS Regional Seminar on Intellectual Property Financing and Valuation, December 8 and 9, 2010, Singapore.
“Software - Stay Legal”
Trading Standards NorthWest and FAST jointly hold a seminar entitled “Software – Stay Legal,”
November 24, 2010, 1-5 p.m., Warrington, United Kingdom, to provide education and support for TS
professionals tackling the illegal purchase and use of software in businesses.
More
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.
If you have received this newsletter from someone and would like to subscribe yourself, then
simply send an e-mail to
sme@wipo.int with "subscribe" as the subject, and indicate your
language preference (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian).
To remove your email address from this mailing list or to add an email address yourself,
please go to
http://www.wipo.int/lists/subscribe/sme-en
The past issues of this newsletter, since August 2001, may be accessed
here.
Copyright (c) 2010 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), 34, chemin des
Colombettes, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
