21st September, 2009

NEW PORTAL FOR INDIAN COPYRIGHT OFFICE

The Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr. Kapil Sibal has launched a new portal of the Copyright Office on Sep10 which includes a facility of on-line filing of copyright applications. This portal aims to provide detailed information about registration process, act and rules, enforcement of copyright, copyright societies and financial assistance to organizations for copyright awareness, etc, along with the facility of filing the applications on-line.

Information regarding cases filed in the copyright board and their meeting dates for hearing of cases in their respective zones would be provided in the portal. The portal also contains information about IPR chairs and their activities.
 
This is the first phase of modernization of copyright registration in India. In the second phase, the entire records of the copyright registration, since 1958, will be digitalized and uploaded on the portal for enabling users to easily search the entire register of copyrights.

OMNYX GETS A DIGITAL PATHOLOGY PATENT

A joint venture of GE Healthcare and The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Omnyx, has been granted a patent covering dual image sensors for rapid autofocusing by the USPTO. Omnyx is the only license holder of this digital pathology technology and is utilising it to achieve high image quality in its whole slide scanners.

This patented technology uses two image sensors in a digital microscope, one main sensor for acquiring images at a fast rate and a supporting sensor that surveys focus data at a faster rate. Only one sensor is used in conventional digital pathology systems to perform both functions.

Robert Filkins, PhD., co-inventor and digital pathology program leader at GE's Global Research Center says that the novel technology allows 2 - 4 times faster image acquisition than the existing technologies.

Fast output increases the workflow in the lab and reduces the number of scanners needed to digitize large volumes of slides. Large laboratories can now process over 1 million slides per year.

BROADCOM SUES EMULEX IN PATENT LAW SUIT

Broadcom which has a portfolio of 3,000 plus patents alleges that its patented technology is being unlawfully used by Emulex and it wishes to stop Emulex from using unlicensed technology and to get compensation.

Emulex is infringing multiple Broadcom patents, ten patents are cited in the suit, covering integrated circuit design, serializer/deserializer (SerDes), TCP offload engine (TOE), remote direct memory access (RDMA), Fibre Channel, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet technologies.

Broadcom has recently won a patent infringement suit against Qualcomm and received approximately $891 million as damages. Emulex which has a policy of strongly defending itself is reviewing the patents associated with the complaint filed by Broadcom.

$358 MILLION JURY VERDICT AGAINST MICROSOFT REVERSED

A federal court jury had awarded $358 million in damages to Alcatel over Microsoft's violation of its patent that is dubbed the "Day" patent. The patent in this case relates to the user's ability to enter dates into a calendar in Outlook for a specific day.

A judge has reversed the jury award mentioning that the damages awarded against Microsoft were not justified and were not supported by substantial evidence and so the damages must be vacated.

An Alcatel spokeswoman said that her company looks forward to an upcoming proceeding to settle on the compensation to which Alcatel-Lucent is entitled based on the Court's finding that Microsoft did use Alcatel’s patented invention.

The "Day" patent was part of another suit that was settled back in December of 2008. This is the second massive verdict against Microsoft for Alcatel that a judge has overturned. A judge reversed a $1.5 billion award levied against Microsoft relating to MP3s in August of 2007.

WIPO TO CONDUCT SEMINARS ON PCT

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will hold a one-day seminar on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for small and medium-sized enterprises and independent inventors on November 10, 2009 in Baltimore, MD and on November 13, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV, without any registration fee.

WIPO staff will provide an overview of the PCT, outline its advantages, and discuss aspects of the PCT.  Attendees will have a chance to offer suggestions as to how the PCT can be further improved making it more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises and independent inventors.  The seminar will give an overview of the PCT system, Costs for filing a PCT application, PCT filing strategies, Electronic filing of PCT applications and other related topics.

AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC RESOURCES ACQUIRES IP TO HOME NEEDLE DESTRUCTION DEVICE 

American Scientific Resources, Inc. (ASR) has acquired the intellectual property to the worlds only FDA approved home needle destruction device (NDD), the Disintegrator(TM) and Disintegrator Plus™.

ASR now holds the rights to the patent formerly owned by Safeguard Medical Technologies, which includes the Device Technology Patent. All existing contracts and future sales and contracts related to the Device Technology are the exclusive property of ASR, as part of the agreement. Based on sales performance, Safeguard will receive stock, warrants, a convertible note and cash payments. It will also provide ongoing production, engineering and quality control services to ASR for a cost.

The Disintegrator approved by the EPA and the American Diabetes Association will help patients who inject themselves, including those suffering from multiple sclerosis or diabetes, to properly and safely dispose needles at home. ASR plans is to introduce the product commercially by the end of 2009. 

TIRUPATI LADDOO GETS GI

'Tirupati laddoo' offered to devotees at the Lord Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh has been awarded GI status excluding others from naming or marketing the sweet preparation with the same name.

The Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams, a trust that administers the Venkateswara Temple in the Tirumala hills, had applied for Geographical Indication (GI) with the Chennai-based Geographical Indication Registry in March last year.

“The Tirupat Laddoo is now protected under law and nobody can copy it," mentions G L Verma, assistant registrar of Trade Marks and GI.

Geographical Indication a form of Intellectual Property Right provides the right to market a product to a definite geographical territory and the manufactured goods should be produced or processed or prepared in that territory. GI registration helps in preventing others from commercially exploiting a brand name that has evolved over a period of time.