Market Insight

New 03 JULY 2024

In an exclusive interview with Tim Pohlmann, Kasim Alfalahi offers his take on how to navigate the world of SEP licensing, Avanci’s 5G vehicle programme and striking the right balance between the interests of licensors and licensees.

Authors:
Tim Pohlmann

27 MARCH 2024

Qi-standard technology looks set to become one of the most crucial standards to enable cordless charging. Patent landscape analysis reveals that Apple, Canon, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Philips and Samsung are among the frontrunners in the Qi space and highlights the need for careful planning from IP and licensing professionals.

Authors:
Tim Pohlmann and Magnus Buggenhagen

14 FEBRUARY 2024

As the global lithium-ion battery invention space continues to grow in portfolio size and strength, all eyes are on South Korean firms, which dominate the top 10 patent holders. According to analysis, the country is on the path to claiming the patent portfolio top spot from Japan in the coming years.

Authors:
Dirk Caspary and Donghyun Kim

New 03 JULY 2024

The Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs has published its amended guidelines that govern hearings in trademark cases. The revisions aim to streamline and enhance the process of deciding disputes by introducing remote and preliminary hearings and provisions on judges’ disclosure of inner convictions. 

Authors:
Yulan Kuo and Charlene Yeh

08 MAY 2024

Anticipated changes to Taiwan’s trademark legislation have now come into force, requiring potential agents to register with the IP office and allowing applicants that meet certain criteria to file for accelerated examination in urgent cases. 

Authors:
Monica Wang and Sarah Sun

17 JANUARY 2024

Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council has released its first list of 22 technologies that it deems crucial to national security, signalling a strong determination to enhance trade secret protection in the semiconductor space and other sensitive industries.

Authors:
Brian Hsiang-Yang Hsieh and Henry Jin-Han Hsieh

19 JUNE 2024

The Wenzhou Court has affirmed that words with certain influence and popularity are protectable under the Anti-Unfair Competition Law in a trademark-squatting case brought by tech giant Xiaomi. For rights holders of voice-activation command prompts, it is crucial to prove that their names help to identify the source of goods or services.

Authors:
Zhang Han, Cheng Jin and Cai Ye

24 JANUARY 2024

In a 2023 landmark life sciences ruling, the Supreme People’s IP Court overturned the first-instance judgment – a decision that is having lasting effects on the Chinese IP landscape when it comes to assessing monopolies that involve patents.

Authors:
Guan Yue

17 JANUARY 2024

The Beijing IP Court’s newly revealed analytics highlight a fall in the number of IP cases docketed in 2023, the first decrease since its inauguration in 2014. To further facilitate foreign litigants, the court has introduced new guidelines to help them easily navigate China’s documentation processes going forward.

Authors:
Paul Ranjard, Qin Huimin and Zhu Zhigang

05 JUNE 2024

An effective licence compliance programme can provide significant benefits to an organisation. However, limiting audits to top-tier licensees and compliance efforts to full-scope audits, failing to establish a strong position and using providers with limited experiences will hinder the programme’s success. 

Authors:
Tomas Geerkens

03 APRIL 2024

While royalty audits are vital for financial accuracy, they can also play a pivotal role in building trust between licensors and licensees and ultimately contribute to stronger business relationships.

Authors:
Tomas Geerkens

22 MAY 2024

The Delhi High Court has highlighted the importance of meaningful FRAND negotiations in its ruling that Indian smartphone brand Lava could not use the doctrine-of-exhaustion defence. Now that Lava has appealed and the court has set up a confidentiality club, the patent community is watching keenly to see how this dispute will play out.

Authors:
Pankaj Soni and Surendra Sharma

17 APRIL 2024

In a prosecution case concerning the patentability of a method of agriculture, the Delhi High Court has clarified the legislation governing claim amendments and established that methods of treatment of plants are distinct from traditional methods of agriculture. The judgment underscores the importance of reasoned orders from the Indian Patent Office.

Authors:
Ranjna Mehta-Dutt and Himani Pandey

20 MARCH 2024

In its rejection of a pre-grant opposition, the Indian Patent Office has highlighted that a clear distinction between the examination and opposition processes is crucial, particularly when it comes to whether opponents can intervene.

Authors:
Ritushka Negi and Anupam Singh

07 FEBRUARY 2024

Ruling on the condition of plausible proof, the Ankara IP Court has clarified that an injunction can be granted in a way that prevents damages for both parties. This is especially crucial for cases in which the infringing product is put on the market without waiting for an expert report.

Authors:
Selin Sinem Erciyas, Zeynep Çağla Üstün and Beste Turan

10 JANUARY 2024

The Istanbul Anatolian IP Court has decided that a recent invalidation action should be deemed not filed in accordance with Article 119 of the Code of Civil Procedure. This ruling is crucial to preventing future malicious invalidation actions that put the burden of concretising the case on the court.

Authors:
Selin Sinem Erciyas, Zeynep Çağla Üstün and Aysu Eryaşar

04 OCTOBER 2023

As there is no AI regulation or precedent yet in Turkey, the question of AI inventorship is a key point of contention. Some argue that AI should be considered a legal entity, while others argue that the country follow Roman law principles.

Authors:
Selin Sinem Erciyas and Zeynep Çağla Üstün

03 JANUARY 2024

The Unified Patent Court presents numerous threats to Scandinavian companies that sell primarily to their home markets. While there are many benefits to pursuing a unitary patent, thorough due diligence is key and taking adequate time to strategise is critical.

Authors:
Anders Fredriksson

14 JUNE 2023

Companies selling domestically in Scandinavian countries have enjoyed a low patent infringement risk due to the relatively limited number of European patents validated in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. This looks set to change with the launch of the UPC (including Denmark and Sweden as members), which will likely result in a higher number of active patents in the region.

Authors:
Anders Fredriksson

17 MAY 2023

Sweden and Denmark continue to hold their own in terms of patent filings against countries with significantly larger populations, indicating that regardless of size, countries – and their innovators – thrive when their governments take an active stance on supporting education and innovation.

Authors:
Tomas Wässingbo

13 DECEMBER 2023

The European Court of Justice has overturned an EUIPO ruling against Italian company Vespa, finding its conclusions to be flawed. The court’s decision provides much-needed clarity on the validity of 3D trademarks and the level of distinctiveness that is required.

Authors:
Raffaele Ranieri

31 MAY 2023

The Court of Turin has issued a decision involving the Italian cheese Grana Padano, deeming the term ‘grana’ to be generic. This ruling directly contrasts an earlier Court of Venice decision on the same issue, indicating that there is a lack of harmonisation surrounding applications of protected designation of origins.

Authors:
Giorgio Gazzola

26 APRIL 2023

Italy’s IP office has launched new proceedings for determining nullity and revocation with the aim of providing a streamlined and significantly cheaper alternative to legal proceedings.

Authors:
Giorgio Gazzola

11 OCTOBER 2023

The field of protein degraders is at an inflection point as more degraders enter the clinical space. Evaluating the patent filing activity will play a critical role in the ability to managing opportunities for licensing and partnerships.

Authors:
Drew Lowery and Sindhu Vijayakrishnan

16 AUGUST 2023

RIS poses a financial threat to equipment vendors whose technology will become obsolete – these firms should thus assess the strength of their intellectual property as an urgent priority to position themselves for the market ramp-up. On the other hand, RIS stands to benefit many, including telecom service providers, consumers, vendors with enabling technology and SEP owners.

Authors:
Bruce Rubinger and Katerina Smiljkovikj

02 AUGUST 2023

RIS has received attention from a diverse number of players working towards creating SEP portfolios. As the technology progresses and becomes more sophisticated and with the standardisation process underway, an acceleration of patent filings in the coming years is very likely.

Authors:
Bruce Rubinger and Katerina Smiljkovikj

14 JUNE 2023

In theory, parties can seek relief for trade secret misappropriation before it even happens. When faced with possible misappropriation, trade secret owners should carefully review applicable NDAs and consider pleading both misappropriation and threatened misappropriation, and building a substantial, detailed evidence record.

Authors:
Sharon Roberg-Perez

12 APRIL 2023

The ongoing Illumina case highlights three valuable lessons for trade secret owners in the United States: monitor former employees’ patent filings, be cognisant of the applicable statute of limitations, and carefully plead any facts that are available to support its tolling.

Authors:
Sharon Roberg-Perez

26 APRIL 2023

A company’s brand can be one of its most valuable intangible assets and neglecting it in pursuit of scale can be extremely damaging. In this regard, business owners can learn important lessons from Starbucks – one of the great business success stories in the world.

Authors:
Previn Sudhir

08 MARCH 2023

Value can be hidden in the many years of effort, millions of dollars of investment capital and fine-tuned market strategies, which all contribute to driving long-term business success and scaling up a company’s overall worth. It is thus crucial to find a way to reflect this on a company’s balance sheet.

Authors:
Aden Ong

15 FEBRUARY 2023

SPACs can learn much from Coach Saban’s so-called ‘seven-second process’, reshaping it into a unique method to keep investors excited about target businesses and their intangible assets during the dreaded transfer portal period.

Authors:
Kevin Mays

13 APRIL 2022

In Belgium, no specific provisions exist regarding the admissibility of extrajudicial admissions in court proceedings relating to patents. However, case law shows that the courts will take extrajudicial admissions into account and that it can be difficult for parties to take back such statements.

Authors:
Johan Aerts

06 APRIL 2022

Belgium has a complex institutional system in which the use of official languages is sometimes at the heart of public debate. While the Laws on the Use of Languages in Administrative Matters still play an important role in the lives of Belgians, what are the legal consequences of these laws for Belgian patent applications?

Authors:
Stéphane Korvers

30 MARCH 2022

Civil proceedings can be a formidable option for patent owners to uphold their rights. A range of options, all of which have the goal of matching the damages and the compensation for a rights holder with an infringed patent, means that there is plenty to consider when developing an IP strategy for Belgium.

Authors:
Philippe Gratessolle

16 MARCH 2022

A Supreme Court judgment opens the door to employee claims for additional remuneration against entrepreneurs who exploit their inventions – irrespective of whether a patent was granted. However, it also contradicts previous case law, making the situation less clear than ever

Authors:
Marcin Ziarkowski

12 JANUARY 2022

A fresh ruling involving the systematic infringement of an EU trademark appears to have ended the debate on continuous infringement in Poland – and could also have big implications for patent holders.

Authors:
Marcin Ziarkowski

27 OCTOBER 2021

Remote hearings have become a mainstay in Polish litigation. A rundown of the current rules on IP litigation and how cases are being heard in the common courts, administrative courts, Polish Patent Office and at the Supreme Court provides an invaluable snapshot of the current system.

Authors:
Jakub Zabraniaki