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BLOG@IP::JURPatent Attorney Axel H Horns' Blog on Intellectual Property Law.
Friday, August 13, 2004UK Paper on Intellectual Property Crime.On the website of the UKPTO there is a new report on Intellectual Property Crime:
"Software Patent Protection: A Growing Need"An interesting article"Growing Software Lawsuits Reinforce Need to Patent Products says Wolf Greenfield; Patents Offer Bargaining Chips, Attract Investors, Provide Corporate Shield" with a booklet about patenting software-related inventions (Link thanks to Dennis Crouch and Russ Krajec).
Saturday, August 07, 2004UK Consultation on the Ratification Process For The "London Agreement"TheUK-PTO has launched a consultation on the ratification process for the "London Agreement" (The Agreement on Application of Article 65 of the European Patent Convention EPC). Feedback to this consultation should be returned by Tuesday 30 November 2004.
The Economist: "After Babel, a new common tongue - It turns out to be English"The Economist runs in its latest issue an interesting article concerning the distribution of foreign language skills in Europe. They write:"It turns out to be EnglishThis is good news. The EU policy should be adapted accordingly. Instead of further nurturing a gigantic translation apparatus for managing documents in a babylonic multitude of national languages, the reality should be faced. That means: English is and will be the 'lingua franca' throughout Europe for any forseeable future. And I hope that the next attempt to establish something like a EU Community Patent will take this fact into account: English should be the only Official language admissible for the proceedings before the competent patent office(s). In an earlier article, The Economist had written in 2003:"What do outsiders think of the Nordic people? The list of stereotypes ranges widely: they are good-looking, hard-drinking, heavily taxed and prone to suicide. They are also taciturn, but when they do open their mouths, they speak rather good English. These generalisations may or may not apply to any particular individual, but the point about proficiency in English seems to be true for the vast majority of the region's inhabitants. Most children now learn the language from the age of nine or ten, or even younger. English is quickly becoming the Nordic countries' lingua franca. [...]"There is nothing to add.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004EU Council Common Position delayed due to Scarcity of Translator Capacity.TheFinancial Times Deutschland (FTD) reports [in German, sorry] that the formal voting on the Common Position of the EU Council concerning the Draft Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions  politically agreed upon on May 18, 2004 will be further delayed due to scarcity of translator capacity until October or November this year.
City of Munich Freezes Its Linux MigrationSlashdot reports about some unease concerning possible patent infringements in conjunction with the planned migration of the IT systems of the City of Munich to Linux-based solutions. See also Expatica. So, why did the municipal administration not check that issue earlier? Even if they had decided to renew their contract with Microsoft they might have run IT procedures falling under some patents. It looks as if the whole thing is carefully plotted by FFII in order to stir things. They now enjoy a perfect media coverage for free. FFII claims to have conducted a search for patents potentially infringed by the Munich Linux project. However, the list merely compiles dozens of patent publication numbers, some of them even for US patents surely not affecting the Munich project. No scrutiniseable explanations are given on why the mentioned patents are considered to be infringed. Many of the indications are purely speculative. And, finally, even numbers of patent applications not yet granted are given. But, nevertheless, they have got what they want: A big media coverage as well as generating widespread FUD also in the administration of the German Parliament ("Bundestag") where the migration of some backend IT systems to Linux is also on the agenda.
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"Counterfeiting and piracy have emerged as clear and serious threats to business, consumers and government. No product is too cheap to counterfeit and no brand immune; luxury goods, foodstuffs, automotive parts, sophisticated pharmaceuticals and electronics are all threatened. As a result the UK loses both money and economic knowledge.