Eco news

301 Report - USTR

Blog on Informal IP

China-Digital signature

China- EPO & SIPO

Collective Online Licensing

e-Communication law

Event IPR Biotech

Competitiveness

Digital divide Eurostat

Digital Privacy

Digital Right Mngt EUweb

Directive against piracy

EU cyber detective

EU financial perspective

F & OS Software

Gazette Intl Marks

IIPA - US piracy report

Initiative for Growth

Intl. Pat. Class. upgrade

Med Industrial coop.

Revised TLT - WIPO

Safe Harbour Licensing

Trademark Stats

UK IP review

UNCITRAL

US Patent - to reform

USPTO patent reviewing

What is the key?

WIPO-Cybersquat fight

WIPO-ECAF

WIPO-new Trademark

WTO-Geog. Indications

SPAM:

  - Cross border spam

  - EU Offensive

  - forum how to fight

  - OECD SPAM report

Economic news

This is where we announce the specific information coming from the European sources with a more general economic content or related to market news in our context. Another section on European News related to MAC-SSIIM Members' interests is also available. Don't hesitate to give us feed-back on the type of information you would like to find here.

•  "Competitiveness" that section deals with European and international documents on competitiveness and benchmarking.

5top

•  WIPO - SCT to take on new work on Trademarks and Industrial Designs  (7 Dec 2005)

  Member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have identified a number of topics relating to trademarks and industrial designs for future consideration. This came at a meeting of WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT).

  The decision to identify future topics of consideration came at the 14^th session of the SCT in April 2005 after that body had agreed on a text to be proposed as a basis for negotiations at the Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of the Revised Trademark Law Treaty (TLT), which will be convened in March 2006 in Singapore. The topics identified at the 15^th session, however, will not be discussed at the Diplomatic Conference.

  Issues for Future Work

  At its previous meeting in April of this year, the SCT had invited members and observers to make suggestions for topics on which the Committee should concentrate its future work. After a full debate on the various proposals, the SCT decided that it would look in more detail into the following topics.

  • Non-traditional trademarks, such as single color marks, sound, movement or shape marks and, in particular, how such trademarks are registered and published, if at all.

  • The relationship between trademarks, industrial designs and copyright and the overlap of those different types of protection.

  • Trademark opposition procedures, as they tend to gain more and more importance in times of ever–increasing numbers of trademark application.

  • Industrial design registration procedures and procedures for the protection of state emblems under Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

  The WIPO secretariat will prepare a number of working documents for consideration at the next session of the SCT. Those papers are to examine in detail the questions raised above and will provide the basis for future deliberations of the SCT.

  The SCT also reviewed the results of a survey on trademark law and practice, in which more than 70 member states had actively participated. The survey was conducted with the help of a questionnaire containing 369 questions on the trademark laws and administrative office practice of member states. The main purpose of the survey was to identify issues which could be addressed at the international level for the future development of international trademark law. The returned questionnaires offered some 22,000 responses which the secretariat compiled into a summary document. The SCT decided that this document (SCT/14/5 Rev.) should continue to be available to the public and be updated periodically (please see www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=53393).

  For additional information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:

  Tel.: +4122-3388161 or +4122-3389547, Fax: +4122-3388280, Email: publicinf@wipo.int

  Full press release in English www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2005/wipo_upd_2005_263.html

  Full press release in French www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/fr/2005/wipo_upd_2005_263.html

5top 

•  United Kingdom. The intellectual property rights system to be reviewed (Dec2005)

  This initiative is framed within the Labour Party commitment to "modernise copyright and other forms of intellectual property so that they are appropriate for the digital age". The aim is to examine whether improvements could be made within the UK's IP regime and also make practical policy recommendations. Its scope will include, amongst others, the study of the way in which the Government administers the IPR, the existence of an effective support to consumers and business, the management of the IPR system by the businesses and whether the IPR infringement framework reflects the digital environment. The review will run for 12 months

  More info www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/gowers_review_intellectual_property/gowersreview_index.cfm

5top 

•  EPO - Twenty years' co-operation between the European Patent Office and the Chinese Patent Office (Dec2005)

  Once a year, the heads of the two Offices sign a Memorandum of Understanding setting out their agreed goals. This makes China one of the EPO's most important partners outside Europe. This collaboration has been accomplished within the framework of the EPO's co-operation policy in Asia. As a result, the Chinese patent system has been adapted to the international standards on intellectual property and a strong growth of patent applications has been experienced (130.000+).

  China is an important market for the European industry. For that reason, this country is covered by the EPO's Eastern Asia patent information service that allows European industry the use of Chinese databases and technical know-how. In addition, the adoption by SIPO of EPOQUE has given Chinese patent examiners access to the EPO's collection of over 60 million patent specifications.

  More info www.european-patent-office.org/news/pressrel/2005_12_05_e.htm

  Brochure on Patent statistics from China and other Asian counties by EPO in English (pdf 101kb)

   

5top 

•  United Nations. Convention on the use of electronic communications in international contracting (Nov 2005)

  The United Nations General Assembly adopted a new Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracting.  The Convention is intended to remove obstacles to the use of electronic communications in international contracting, including obstacles that might arise under existing international trade law instruments, most of which were negotiated long before the development of new technology such as e-mail, electronic data interchange and the Internet.

  The new Convention was prepared by United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group on Electronic Commerce over a number of sessions commencing in 2002 and completing its work in October 2004.  It was adopted by the UNCITRAL at its thirty-eighth Session, held in Vienna, Austria, in July 2005.  The Convention complements and builds upon earlier instruments prepared by the UNCITRAL, including the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce and the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

  Aimed at enhancing legal certainty and commercial predictability where electronic communications are used in relation to international contracts, the provisions of the convention deal with, among other things, determining a party’s location in an electronic environment; the time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic communications; and the use of automated message systems for contract formation.  Other provisions contain criteria establishing functional equivalence between electronic communications and paper documents -– including “original” paper documents -– as well as between electronic authentication methods and hand-written signatures.  The new Convention will assure companies and traders around the world that contracts negotiated electronically are as valid and enforceable as traditional paper-based transactions.

  This Convention will be open for signature by all States at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 16 January 2006 to 16 January 2008.  It is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by the signatory States, and open for accession by all States that are not signatory States.  The Convention will enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of six months after the date of deposit of the third instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.  It is expected that a signature event would take place during the UNCITRAL’s thirty-ninth session, to be held in New York from 19 June to 7 July 2006, to promote participation in the Convention by States and awareness of its provisions.

  The UNCITRAL is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law.  Its mandate is to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law.  It prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development.  The UNCITRAL also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting Member States to review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement the UNCITRAL texts.  The UNCITRAL Secretariat is located in Vienna, Austria.  The UNCITRAL maintains a website at www.uncitral.org.

  For information contact:  Jenny Clift, Senior Legal Officer, UNCITRAL Secretariat, E-mail:  jenny.clift@uncitral.org

  Draft UN Convention on the use of electronic communications in international contracting  in English (pdf 45kb)

  Press release: www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/ga10424.doc.htm  

5top 

5top 

5top 

5top 

5top 

5top 

5top 

5top 

5top 

5top 

•  USA - USPTO Director proposes a substantial reform of Patent Law

  A statement of Mr. Jon W. Dudas, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), before the Intellectual Property Subcommittee of the United States Senate, is expected to trigger a substantial modification of the US Patent Law.

  Mr. Dudas underlined the importance that patent systems have for the development of modern economies. He explained some of the main weaknesses of the current US patent system and proposed a series of modifications in order to enhance its quality, improve transparency, improve its re-examination process, facilitate the appeals process in the case of patent rejection, create a so-called "post-grant review" and adopt rules aimed to increase applicants' responsibility for the efficient processing of the application. Furthermore, he insisted on the importance of international collaboration in this domain, particularly in the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) where they will "continue to promote strong, global IP protection that keeps pace with technological development.

  Press article by IPR-Helpdesk 28 April 2005: speech in English (pdf 143kb)

5top 

•  WTO Panel upholds EU system of protection of “Geographical Indications”

  A report by a WTO panel published today confirms that the EU system of protection of geographical indications for agricultural products complies with WTO rules. Geographical indications provide protection for products identified with a particular geographical location, for example Roquefort or Prosciutto di Parma. Rejecting the arguments of the United States and Australia, the WTO ruled that the EU’s system for protecting these names is essentially compatible with WTO rules, including the requirements of the TRIPs Agreement. The WTO confirmed in particular that Geographical Indications can coexist with prior trademarks. The ruling confirms the rights of the holders of Europe’s approximately 700 Geographical Indications.

  Press article by EUROPA 15 March 2005: in English (pdf 70kb)  or in French (pdf 70kb)

5top 

•  WIPO. Upgrading of the International Patent Classification system

  A committee of international experts meeting at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva from February 14 to 18, 2005, endorsed a series of reforms of an international system for classifying patents which promises to significantly reduce the patent search workload of industrial property offices of WIPO member states by providing tools for easier and more efficient retrieval and delivery of patent-related information. Reform of the system, known as the International Patent Classification (IPC) system, will ensure consistent search results and their mutual recognition by industrial property offices. The committee of experts which has been responsible for undertaking the reform process since its launch, at WIPO’s initiative, in 1999, welcomed the successful conclusion of the IPC reform process which is designed to enhance the usefulness of the system as a global patent information resource. The Committee of Experts also approved plans for the publication of the new, eighth edition of the IPC. The new reformed IPC will enter into force on January 1, 2006.

  The IPC is a hierarchical system in which technology as a whole is divided into a range of sections, classes, subclasses and groups. This system is an indispensable tool for industrial property offices in their search to establish the novelty of an invention or to determine the state of the art in a particular area of technology.

  IPC reform has enabled: the adaptation of the system to technological developments and the electronic environment; the creation of universal search tools for all industrial property offices; and a global system for generating, processing and distributing information relating to patent classifications.

  This latest series of reforms, which have been steadily formulated over the six year period from 1999 to 2005, have resulted in a number of fundamental changes to the structure and methods of revision and use of the IPC, as follows:

  • The IPC has been divided into two levels - a core and advanced level - to better satisfy the differing needs of small and large offices. Smaller offices will use the relatively simple and stable core level and larger offices will use the more complex and dynamic advanced level.

  • An Internet version of the IPC has been enhanced to facilitate classification and search. This will include definitions of classifications, structured chemical formulae and other images, and definitions of technical terms to illustrate and explain IPC entries.

  • The revision of the core level will be done every three years and the advanced level will follow an accelerated procedure under the supervision of a special subcommittee to allow for the rapid introduction into the IPC of changes brought about by technological developments.

  • The most up-to-date version of the IPC will be available for patent searches as all patent collections will be reclassified on the basis of the changes introduced into that version.

  • Access to the worldwide collection of patent documents will be available through the Master Classification Database (MCD) which is being created using databases of the European Patent Office (EPO). The documents included in the MCD will be classified according to the current version of the IPC and will be periodically reclassified in line with future revision of the IPC.

  Both the Internet version (including the complete IPC text) and printed versions of the core level of the latest (eighth) edition of the IPC will be available in English and French in June 2005. Additional material, such as catchword indexes and a new version of the IPC:CLASS CD-ROM will also be published later in 2005. Advanced publication of the eighth edition of the IPC will give industrial property offices sufficient time to bring their systems in line with the new IPC structure.

  For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO: publicinf@wipo.int

5top 

•  WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization continued its efforts to combat cybersquatting in 2004

  The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) continued its efforts to combat the abusive registration of trademarks as domain names, or cybersquatting, in 2004, when it received 1,179 cases, or a 6.6% increase, over the number received the previous year. WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center has handled a total of over 7,000 disputes, involving parties from 124 countries and covering over 12,500 domain names since the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – a quick and cost effective dispute resolution procedure – went into effect in December 1999

.

Mr. Francis Gurry, Deputy Director General of WIPO who oversees the work of the Center, noted that “the UDRP has been highly successful in creating a deterrent effect as well as in providing trademark owners with an effective international remedy against cybersquatting.” He added “that said, the fact that the Center continues to receive three new cases per day underlines the need for continued vigilance by intellectual property owners to protect their rights from cybersquatters.” Mr. Gurry also stressed that there was still bad faith associated with the practice of cybersquatting as over 80% of the WIPO expert decisions have gone in favor of the trademark holder, be it a large multinational corporation or a small or medium-sized business.

More in the press article by www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2005/wipo_upd_2005_239.html  18 February 2005

•  China. Adoption of a new law on the electronic signature

  China has recently (28 August 2004) adopted a new act legalizing the electronic signature. This new act provides electronic signatures with the same legal status as handwritten signatures, and states that on-line certification providers will have to be created in order to ensure the security of on-line operations made using said signatures. This new act is intended to increase Chinese electronic business, and thus to raise the revenue China can expect from said business.

  Press release on the Xinhua News Agency website:

  "China's top legislature passed the Law on Electronic Signature to boost electronic business, which for the first time legalizes increasing electronic deals.

  The law was approved after three deliberations by the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC).

  The law grants electronic signatures the same legal effect as handwritten signatures and seals in business transactions, and sets up the market access system for online certification providers to ensure the security of e-commerce.

  According to the law, the contracts signed via the Internet have the same legal authority with the paper ones, which is expected to clear some institutional barriers among the current e-commerce across the country.

  A legal electronic signature should identify the signer and confirm file content. As Internet trade requires a reliable third party to identify the signers, the credibility of online certifying organizations is significant for the transaction security.

  "Considering the weakness of China's social credibility system,the law regulates that the online signatures certification providers should be approved and administered by governments," said Cao Kangtai, director of the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, in his report to the top legislature.

  The law stipulates that the providers of online signature certification should be approved and supervised by governments while both of them should be responsible for their faults. It alsodetails the responsibilities of supervision departments and certification providers.

  Besides the punishment to the departments and companies making mistakes, the officials and managers who are found faults also should be punished, according to the law.

  Statistics show that China has some 4,000 websites dealing withe-commerce and over 70 online certifying centers. China's Internet Data Center (IDC) estimates that domestic revenue from e-commerce amounted to 60 billion US dollars in 2003."

•  Commission opens proceedings into collective licensing of music copyrights for online use

  The European Commission has warned sixteen organisations that collect royalties on behalf of music authors¹ that their so-called Santiago agreement is potentially in breach of European Union competition rules. This is because the cross-licensing arrangements that the collecting societies have between themselves lead to an effective lock up of national territories, transposing into the Internet the national monopolies the societies have traditionally held in the offline world. The Commission believes that there should be competition between collecting societies to the benefit of companies that offer music on the Internet and to consumers that listen to it. This position reflects only a preliminary position of the Commission at this stage and the collecting societies have the right to defend their views in writing and at an oral hearing.

  Press article by EUROPA 3 May 2004: in English (pdf 82kb)  or in French (pdf 85kb)

•  Intellectual property: Commission welcomes adoption of Directive against counterfeiting and piracy

  The European Commission has welcomed the definitive adoption by the Council of Ministers of the Directive on the enforcement of intellectual and industrial property rights, such as copyright and related rights, trademarks, designs or patents. The Directive would require all Member States to apply effective, dissuasive and proportionate remedies and penalties against those engaged in counterfeiting and piracy and so create a level playing field for right holders in the EU. It means that in about two years' time, once the deadline for implementation has been reached, all Member States will have a similar set of measures, procedures and remedies available for rightholders to defend their intellectual property rights (be they copyright or related rights, trademarks, patents, designs, etc) if they are infringed. The Commission proposed the Directive on 30 January 2003 (see IP/03/144 and MEMO/03/20) and it was approved by the European Parliament in March 2004 (IP/04/316) in a form to which the Council has now agreed, without the need for a second reading by either the Parliament or the Council.

  Press article by EUROPA 26 April 2004: in English (pdf 70kb)  or in French (pdf 70kb)

  EU Directives on Intellectual Property...

•  EU Commission presents webpage on "Digital Right Management"

  Digital Rights Management Systems (DRMS) are technologies that describe and identify digital content protected by intellectual property rights, and enforce usage rules set by right-holders or prescribed by law for digital content. DRMs are thus an important complement to the legal framework.

  europa.eu.int/information_society/topics/multi/digital_rights/index_en.htm

5top

•  EU Commission launches a new webpage on "Free and Open Source Software"

  Free and open source software activities in European Information Society initiatives

  Software has gained so much in importance in almost every sector of society that it has become a strategic societal resource. Moreover, in recent years the software market has shown signs of entering a much more volatile and vigorous period. This re-invigoration of the market is due to the emergence of F/OSS, which has made commercial in-roads in major segments of the software market. This development has led to some unrest with software and service providers and users alike, which may be the natural reaction of a high value market injected with new competitive offers. In terms of the market, F/OSS most likely will increase the competition in the software market from which positive fall-out for the consumer is to be expected. On the provider side, F/OSS creates new opportunities for software and service providers, which may be a unique opportunity for the European software industry - somehow this may be a proverbial "second and last chance".

  The aim of this website is to provide information on activities conducted within European programmes and initiatives with the objective of raising awareness and understanding of free and open source software (F/OSS). Links to European activities related to open source and to some well-known websites on the subject are provided. 

  In first instance the information provided focuses on activities of DG INFSO and the IDA programme of DG Enterprise, as these activities are key to the development of the European Information Society. Depending on future developments the scope of the information may be widened to cover F/OSS related activities in other DGs of the European Commission.

  europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/opensource, Contact person: Dirk van Rooy (European Commission, DG Information Society, unit D3, Software Technologies and Distributed Systems)

5top

•  Management of Industrial Property Rights in Biotech: Sharing experiences

  19 January 2004, Centre Universitaire Méditerranéen, Nice - France

  This intensive seminar is designed for executives and other delegates seeking to use intellectual property rights to optimise the profitability of the innovative efforts taking place in their companies or academic institutions in the life science field and related areas. It aims at providing a discussion forum for the participants with experienced lecturers in the field of intellectual property and also with company and institution managers deeply involved in technology exchanges and IPR management.

  Programme in English (pdf 248kb)

  Registration - www.esabio.fr (no more registration info) 

5top

•  New privacy rules for digital networks and services - Directive kicks in today (31st October 2003)

  As from 31st October 2003, EU Member States must comply with the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, which sets EU standards for the protection of privacy and personal data in electronic communications. The Directive includes basic obligations to ensure the security and confidentiality of communications over EU electronic networks, including internet and mobile services. It sets out specific conditions for installing so-called “cookies” on users' personal computers and for using location data generated by mobile phones. Notably, the Directive also introduces a 'ban on spam' throughout the EU.

  Press article by EUROPA 31 October 2003: in English (pdf 16kb)  or in French (pdf 80kb)

•  Mediterranean countries and EU enhance industrial co-operation

  A policy agenda to promote investment, innovation, access to finance and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the EU and 12 south-east Mediterranean countries is on the AGenda of the meeting of the Working Group on Euro-Mediterranean Industrial Co-operation in Rome on 2 and 3 October. Work on this agenda, based on shared experience and proven best practice, will help bed in the new relations initiated earlier this year by the Commission's Wider Europe Communication (see IP/03/963). This work should be stepped up by the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Entrepreneurship in 2004 and, along with progress in ensuring the free movement of goods, should help to pave the way to the creation of a free trade area between the EU and its Mediterranean partners by 2010.

  Press article by EUROPA 1 October 2003: in English (pdf 71kb)  or in French (pdf 71kb)

•  Commission outlines road map for European Initiative for Growth

  The European Initiative for Growth considered by the European Council in Thessaloniki has slowly but steadily climbed to the top of the political agenda across Member States. Since its initial outline last July the Commission has made quick progress on a series of policy and legislative proposals in the fields of Trans European Networks (TENs) and European Research, Development and Innovation. The Commission is now proposing a detailed road map for action and a series of recommendations to the October European Council. The European Initiative for Growth aims to mobilise investment in two key areas of the Lisbon agenda: networks and knowledge. More has to be done in the short term, from now until 2010, and more has to be done beyond that date. Unlike previous attempts it presents an integrated approach of policies, delivery mechanisms and institutional arrangements to ensure implementation within a tight time period. The timing of the launch of the Initiative is aimed at sending a powerful signal of strong economic governance and of confidence in the potential of the European economy. A signal in support of key structural reforms that must be accelerated in the framework of the Lisbon agenda. The European Council of December 16-17 will examine the European Initiative for Growth and its complete list of proposals for action.

  Press article by EUROPA 1 October 2003: in English (pdf 71kb)  or in French (pdf 22kb)

•  SPAM: European Commission goes on the offensive

  Erkki Liikanen European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society outlined in Brussels how the European Commission is planning to address the proliferation of unsolicited commercial e-mail, otherwise known as 'spam'. Given the timely adoption last year of a directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, Member States have to transpose a 'ban on spam' into national legislation by the end of October 2003. As a second step, the European Commission expects a Communication on spam to be adopted in the Autumn. Concrete action would focus on effective enforcement, notably through international co-operation, technical measures for countering spam, and consumer awareness. The proposed measures would be first tested with Member States and interested parties through a workshop to be convened in October.

  Press article by EUROPA 15 July 2003: in English (pdf 16kb)  or in French (pdf 16kb)

  Memo by EUROPA 15 July 2003: in English (pdf 12kb on SPAM Q&A)

  Speech by Erkki Liikanen on EUROPA 15 July 2003: in English (pdf 36kb)

   

•  "Getting Ready to Implement New EU Electronic Communications Law" - Article 7 workshop Brussels

  Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enterprise and the Information Society

  Speech by Erkki Liikanen on EUROPA 15 July 2003: in English (pdf 71kb)