In response, the Chinese government in
November 2014 opened the first court dedicated to IP disputes, in Beijing. Two more courts opened up in Guangzhou and Shanghai a month later. Te intention is to provide an additional mechanism for IP owners, both Chinese and international, to assert their rights and challenge bad faith registrations. Te courts have generated a lot of discussion,
and as we move further into 2015, IP lawyers will be keenly watching how they deal with disputes.
Te Innovation Act emerged out of the ashes of previous political attempts to reform the US patent system. Te bill, with the same name and similar wording as its 2013 predecessor, appeared in February, again seeking to tackle non-practising entities (NPEs). NPEs, also known as patent trolls, are a big
issue for companies both big and small. Tey are oſten accused of filing frivolous lawsuits with the purpose of extracting settlement fees.
In 2014, the
bill, one of several attempts to reform the system, was withdrawn aſter it did not generate enough support in the Senate. Now, if passed, the reforms would litigants to disclose
require patent
details about who they are and on all parties with a financial interest in the patent(s). Judges would also be able to restrict the use of discovery letters. Outside Congress, the proposals have
generated support. Facebook, Google and Amazon are some of the notable names to have publicly supported changes to the patent system.
At the time of writing, it is more than two years since the agreement for the Unified Patent Court (UPC) was signed, but there still seems to be a long way to go before the new system appears in the flesh. Only six EU signatories
to the deal have signed it, seven short of the requisite 13, and only one of
the three associated unitary
mandatory signatories—France—has, with the UK and Germany yet to make their final move. However, progress towards setting the renewal fees for the patent is being
made. The European Patent Office (EPO)
has proposed two alternative models, based on the combined renewal fees of either the top four or five EPO member states for European patent filings, although these are by no means final. Unless we see a wave of European political
enthusiasm for the UPC soon, it seems unlikely the agreement will be in place until 2016 at the very earliest. One lawyer who is closely following the developments has told us that 2017 is most realistic. Will the new system be popular, cost-effective
and efficient? Will it make life easier for patentees? We will have to wait to find out.
You can access WebTMS anywhere you have an Internet connection and on any device, e.g. Laptop, Macbook, PC, Apple Mac, Tablet, Smartphone (all brands).
The whole team is dedicated to the WebTMS software only, anyone who picks up the phone will be able to help. Un- limited technical support via telephone and email is part of the service.
WebTMS is very intuitive and user friendly without sacrificing power or functionality.
The WebTMS team have been creating, developing and supporting the WebTMS software for 17 years, including da- ta migration and conversion.
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