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intellectual property news (july 29, 2005) this column gives you access to news on intellectual property (ip), patents, copyrights, trademarks and ip infringements, which are gathered from major ip offices and the internet's biggest search engines such as yahoo, google and ip menu. for the full text, please click the underlined headlines. world intellectual property organization (wipo) patentscope wipo is pleased to announce the launch of this new web portal for all patent and pct-related services and activities. information on pct filing and all pct services are available through the new portal. in addition, a pct online file inspection system is available for testing and comments. finally, we have introduced a section on patent data, statistics and current issues. our x-objective is to provide you better services and we hope that this new web site will contribute to this x-objective. we welcome your comments. services for pct applicants for those who wish to access information on pct filing and all pct services as they used to, through the pct web site, we have developed a page for "pct applicants" at http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/applicants.html. this page provides, in one click, links to all pct related information. european patent office (epo) official journal official journal epo 07/2005 is now available. 6th epo patent information beginners seminar there are still a limited number of seats available in the 6th "epo patent information beginners seminar" scheduled to take place in vienna from 19 to 22 september 2005. for details and the schedule for further seminars please navigate to our training pages. gsk wins court fight in its war on copycat rivals (source: times online, uk, date: july 29, 2005) glaxosmithkline, the pharmaceutical group, has won a significant battle in its war to protect its business from makers of generic drugs after a us judge upheld a patent for zofran. judge jose linares, of the district court of new jersey, upheld a so-called ？method of use？ patent covering the way that the active ingredient in zofran works. the judge found that a copycat rival under development by kali laboratories, now part of par pharmaceuticals, would infringe gsk？s intellectual property rights. curbing bio-piracy (editorial) (source: gorkhapatra, nepal, date: july 29, 2005) the most controversial provision in the agreement on trade related aspects of intellectual property rights (trips) is the one relating to patenting of life forms. while this provision is a boon for biotech and agro-chemical companies of the north, it has opened the floodgate for the piracy of genetic resources and misapropriation of associated traditional knowledge (tk) from the south. in fact, it has provided a legal cover to the biopirates. the gene-rich developing countries could not even take shelter under the convention on biological diversity (cbd), since it lacks legal measures against non-compliance unlike trips in the world trade organisation (wto) system. this has led to a wide debate over the issue of trips and cbd during wto negotiations. int'l publishers eye copyright trade in shanghai (source: xinhua, china, date: july 28, 2005) a copyright trade fair is scheduled to be held in shanghai, china's largest metropolis, next month in tandem with a book exposition. twenty-five internationally recognized publishers, including oxford university press, have x-confirmed attendance to the fair, said lou rongmin, deputy director of the shanghai press and publication bureau, on thursday. drawn by the robust copyright trade in shanghai and east china,international publishers have booked more than 50 booths at the fair. "it will turn the upcoming shanghai book expo into an international event," lou told a press conference in shanghai. esa applauds crackdown on xbox pirate an employee of a washington, dc video game chain is sentenced on piracy charges. (source: gamespy.com, ca, date: july 28, 2005) the entertainment software association announced today that the u.s. district court for the district of maryland has issued a prison sentence for an employee of a pirated game retailer. hitesh patel, a manager of a pandora's cube location, pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit felony copyright infringement and to violating the digital millennium copyright act. judge peter j. messitte sentenced patel to serve eight months, four in jail and four under house arrest, as well as two years of supervised release. eu software patenting... where now? (source: it-analysis, uk, date: july 28, 2005 ) the rejection of the computer implemented inventions directive by the european parliament has been greeted with the acclaim and rejoicing by the diffuse groups which oppose the patenting of software. the eu commission has stated that, while it would have welcomed the opportunity to harmonise european patent law, it will not attempt to reintroduce proposals for such a directive. ？it marks a time for reflection.？ is this decision a victory for opponents of software patents? the existing patent x-framework remains in place; a continuation of inconsistency and uncertainty with regard to software patenting across the eu ？ which has existed for the last thirty years ？ so far as the software industry is concerned. patents will continue to be handled by national patent offices, as before. in consequence, there will be different interpretations of what may be patented, without any judicial control by the european court of justice. perhaps there is no harm, as this court would certainly lack the detailed technical knowledge of this specialized area of law, which has its own special courts in most national jurisdictions. more patent absurdity threatens net commerce (source: zdnet, date: july 28, 2005) i remember when ebay was first accused by mercexchange founder tom woolsten of patent infringement because of ebay's "buy it now" feature. i completely forgot about it. probably because i thought the case disappeared due to the absurdity of the claim. however, a report surfaced this week that makes it clear that the case is not only still haunting ebay, but all of internet commerce. my characterization of the claim as being absurd is not meant to be a knock on tom woolsten. mr. woolsten: more power to you. if our system allows us to patent such dumb things as swinging sideways and make millions off it, then so be it. given the multitude of ways that we get ripped off by people making millions outside of the law, in some ways, we should probably be thankful that woolsten, like many others, is doing his best to work within it. of course, the way our patent system is structured today, it's more like the federal bureau of licenses to steal and woolsten just so happened to get one such license on a method for using a credit card to lock in an offer when purchasing items online. can things get any more absurd? multinational pharmaceutical company backs down (source: harold doan and associates (press release), ca, date: july 28, 2005) press release - council on hemispheric affairs this analysis was prepared by coha research associate phil morrow. on june 24, brazil issued an ultimatum to the illinois-based pharmaceutical corporation abbott laboratories that it must lower the price it charged for the aids medication kaletra, or the government would move to break the patent and manufacture the drug generically in its own laboratories. abbott was given ten days to respond with a more favorable price, and on july 9, media reports indicated that it had reached an agreement with brazil. in spite of the apparent compromise, the wrangling over kaletra is likely to produce reverberations in future relations between brazil and u.s. administrations, with the latter being under increasing pressure by the u.s. chamber of commerce to assertively and extraterritorially defend the intellectual property rights of american industries. eu guidelines for protection of intellectual property (source: markenbusiness, germany, date: july 27, 2005) the eu wishes to better protect intellectual property in the future. consequently they have adopted a proposal for guidelines which should call a halt to the increasing numbers of copyright and trademark infringements. these measures aim at more consistency in laws within the eu member states as well as at a closer european-wide collaboration. by adopting theses guidelines the commission want to put out a clear political signal in the struggle against product and trademark piracy. consistency in the relevant legal regulations of eu member states should be a minimum requirement for getting hold of this wrongdoing at the roots, said franco frattini, the commission vice-president with responsibility for justice, freedom, and security. he made reference to the damages that have come about through the multiplicity of infringements of intellectual property. all economic sectors in europe are threatened in this way. the proposal being put forward by the commission should be valid for all types of intellectual property infringement. according to this proposal, every deliberate infringement committed in a commercial environment will be deemed as against the law, as well as any attempt at infringement or any assistance or incitement of it. intellectual property theft increases by 42% - but don？t blame p2p (source: slyck, ny, date: july 26, 2005) intellectual property rights are a topic often discussed in file-sharing circles. of course, the riaa is holder of most of the intellectual property rights (90%) of music bought and sold in the world today. while the riaa blames file-sharing as the root of its losses, it can take some comfort in knowing it？s not alone. in fact, the riaa isn't even close to being alone, as intellectual property theft has truly become an all-encompassing empire. anything from drugs & medical equipment to computer equipment is a potential counterfeiting target. the united states, followed by south korea, italy, spain and the uk were the top 5 countries to report intellectual property violations (china was #10.) however, the philippines top all countries with the highest rate of all forms of counterfeiting and pirate activity. it is estimated that nearly $501 million in counterfeit goods was manufactured and sold from this country in the month of june alone. the united states came in second with a disappointing $91 million. lg electronics joins 802.11 joint patent licensing program (source: electronic engineering times asia, date: july 28, 2005) via licensing corp. has added lg electronics as a licensor to its joint patent licensing program for ieee 802.11 implementation patents. lg electronics joins france telecom sa, fujitsu ltd, japan radio company ltd, koninklijke philips electronics nv, and sony corp. as licensors offering licenses jointly through the program. customers essentially pay one fee to via licensing to gain access to all relevant patents from these companies. via licensing (san francisco), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of dolby laboratories inc., said the licensors have also agreed to a onetime extension of the signing incentive period for licensees, meaning the joint patent license now contains a provision that waives royalties for practice of the ieee 802.11 standard for the period prior to dec. 31, 2004 for companies that become licensees on or before aug. 11 of this year. alliacense launches major licensing program for fundamental microprocessor patents; intel and amd x-confirmed as early licensees of widely used microprocessor system design and architecture patents (source: zdnet india, date: july 28, 2005) alliacense, a tpl group enterprise focused on licensing program management, on 27th july, 2005, announced that it has stepped up efforts to notify and license more than 100 system manufacturers worldwide using intellectual property protected by the moore microprocessor patent(tm) (mmp) portfolio. the fundamental patents filed in the 1980s cover techniques widely used in microprocessors as well as digital signal processors (dsps), x-embedded processors and system-on-chip solutions. alliacense also x-confirmed that intel corporation (nasdaq:intc) and advanced micro devices (nyse:amd) are among early mmp licensees that have validated the mmp portfolio named after world-renowned inventor charles h. moore. according to alliacense, the licensing of major companies in the early days of a licensing program is a common strategy that establishes credibility and generates momentum for ensuing licensing efforts. united states patent and trademark office (uspto) launches small-business intellectual property protection web site at stopfakes.gov (source: pr web (press release), wa, date: july 28, 2005) .s. government urges businesses to protect their intellectual property from overseas piracy and counterfeiting. the department of commerce's united states patent and trademark office (uspto) has launched a web site ？ stopfakes.gov/smallbusiness -- dedicated to small businesses and protecting their intellectual property (ip), both in the u.s. and abroad. specifically designed to answer common questions of small businesses so they can better identify and address their protection needs, the new online resources are part of a nationwide awareness campaign to help educate small businesses on ip protection. the web site provides information to help small businesses, home business owners, inventors and other entrepreneurs decide when, where and how to file for intellectual property protection, covering patents, trademarks and copyrights. king of call center patents sues citibank for infringement (source: information week, date: july 26, 2005) heeeere's ronnie! like shelly duvall cowering in the bathroom from a rampaging jack nicholson, corporate america has been watching patent holder ronald katz chop through its doors with a scary-looking portfolio of intellectual property. last week, ronald a. katz technology licensing, l.p. (los angeles) filed suit in a texas district court, claiming patent infringement on his extensive intellectual property portfolio relating to call center technologies. katz's targets include some of the biggest names in the business world: citibank, discover, t-mobile, wal-mart and sam's stores. state policy on intellectual property rights soon (source: daily news, sri lanka, date: july 26, 2005) the government will introduce a state policy on intellectual property recognising the importance of creativity towards economic development, director intellectual property rights dr. d.m. karunaratne told a conference organised by the american centre yesterday. the u.s. government welcomes recent initiatives by the government of sri lanka to enforce intellectual property laws here and is hopeful that these efforts to boost intellectual property rights enforcement mechanisms would greatly benefit the economy of sri lanka and create an environment for investment by assuring business they can introduce their products into the market with confidence that their intellectual property will not be stolen.