28th October , 2009

Nokia v. Apple Inc. Patent Infringement Suit over Wireless Technology
The Finnish mobile device and telecom giant Nokia Inc. had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against its Californian rival Apple Inc on 22nd October, 2009 over 10 of its patented technologies before US Federal District Court in Delaware. Nokia owns 10000 patents related to wireless technology and there are almost 40 companies, including world’s largest mobile device vendors that have entered into a license agreement with Nokia for the use of these technologies.

The plaintiff's argument is that the defendant is infringing its patents for core technology which allows iPhone to make calls and connect to third generation, or 3G wireless networks, as well as to wireless local area networks (LANs). Nokia also argues that it owns patent on the integration of GSM, UMTS and Wireless LAN technologies contained by the mobile device whereas Apple is using this same technology in their iPhone device. The plaintiff also urged that it has invested sufficient money and time to develop these technologies through its several R&D projects over the past few years and it has also contributed its intellectual property to global standard bodies and in this situation the users of these technologies need to compensate to Nokia Inc. for the losses incurred.

U.S. Chamber files civil complaint to protect its IP
The world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a civil complaint in federal district court to protect its trademarks and other IP from illegal use by the "Yes Men" and others for commercial purposes.

The Yes Men is a group of around 300 imposters who practice what they call "identity correction" by pretending to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent organizations. They have their offices in Milwaukee, from where they create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they want to spoof, and then they accept invitations received on their websites to appear at conferences, symposia, and TV shows.

The "Yes Men" and their associates misused the Chamber's logo and created a fake website that was an exact copy and linked it to the Chamber's actual site; and misleadingly claimed to be speaking as the Chamber under the Chamber's copyright.

The lawsuit was filed after lawyers representing the "Yes Men" refused to decommission the false Web site.

Allergan wins ruling in patent case
Allergan Inc. has won a ruling against two drugmakers in the U. S. District Court in Wilmington. Allergan Inc. had alleged that its patents on Alphagan were infringed. Alphagan lowers pressure in the eye in patients with open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

The two drugmakers involved in the patent-infringement suit were Exela of India and Apotex of Canada.

The federal court had ruled that five patents asserted by Allergan against the defendants' proposed generic versions of the drug were valid and enforceable.

Patent for Nefecon(R) – a nephropathy drug
Pharmalink AB a privately held Swedish specialty pharma company has been granted Japanese Patent entitled, "Methods and means for treating glomerulonephritis" for its product Nefecon(R) which is useful in treating IgA nephropathy, a glomerulonephritis leading to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Patents have been already issued in other territories including the EU, US and China.

Nefecon(R) has high significance in Asia as Japan and China represent areas with significant prevalence of IgA nephropathy. With product protection in the form of patent Pharmalink is in a better positioned to reach out to patients in Asia.

The Nefecon concept as a renal disease medication is an invention patented by Professors Bengt Fellstrom and Roger Hallgren at Uppsala University, Sweden. The drug is delivered using Archimedes' proprietary TARGIT(R) drug delivery technology which enables the localized delivery of drugs to the lower small intestine or colonic regions of the gut. Pharmalink is in charge for the management of the clinical trials.

Patent Granted for MLD(TM) Technology to PureDepth(TM)
PureDepth, Inc., the creator of Multi-Layer Display (MLD) technology and a leader in new visualization experiences, has been granted patent in the United States, expanding its worldwide protection.

The patent covers PureDepth's exclusive method of displaying data or images on a multi-level screen display and provids the broadest protection for almost all existing uses of MLD.

PureDepth's MLD displays contain two or more layers of display panels placed in front of one another in a single monitor. This is the 79th patent awarded to PureDepth and covers the simultaneous, individual, transparent and opaque control of layered imagery, which allows the user to view overlaid objects at the same time - a word processing program and a spreadsheet program for instance - without having to switch from one to the other.

The patent's claims cover MLD operating systems, Web browsers, medical and financial applications, GPS, gaming - including casino gaming - video and more. This MLD technology offers 3-D-like imagery without the need for special glasses.

USPTO names Sacred Heart University Library a Patent & Trademark Depository
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has designated Sacred Heart University's (SHU) Ryan-Matura Library as an official Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL).

PTDLs preserve entire collections of over 6.7 million patents and nearly 2 million active or pending trademark registrations, as well as related information in various print and electronic media. SHU's library joins an exclusive group of only 80 PTDLs in the U.S. The official opening was made on Monday, October 26th at the library.

USPTO's PTDL program which began in 1871 is a network of public, state and academic libraries authorized to publicize patent and trademark information and to support inventors, intellectual property attorneys and agents, business people, researchers, entrepreneurs, students, historians and the general. Services at the libraries are free of cost.
Dr. Gavin Ferriby, the library's interim director, says that this initiative will be of great value to the large business community in would allow the Ryan-Matura Library to provide inventors and entrepreneurs with right of entry to a wealth of information on IPR.

SanDisk loses trade commission ruling over memory chip patents
The world’s largest maker of cards that store digital pictures SanDisk Corp. had alleged that almost 50 companies, including LG Electronics Inc. and Imation Corp., violated its memory chips patents and asked the U.S International Trade Commission to ban imports of infringing products to the U.S.

The U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington said that there had been no violation of patent rights and   SanDisk could do little to convince officials at the U.S International Trade Commission, that its patents for flash-memory technology were infringed by more than a dozen companies.

Flash-memory chips are used to store data in digital cameras, cell phones and MP3 players. A ban of imports of any products that infringe the SanDisk patent would have resulted if the infringement could have been proved. From the original group named in the complaint only five companies defaulted, according to the ITC.

The companies named in the case include Phison Electronics Corp., Silicon Motion Technology Corp. and Skymedi Corp., Taiwan; Power Quotient International Co., Transcend Information Inc. and Apacer Technology Inc. of Taipei; Syscom Development Co. of the British Virgin Islands; Kingston Technology Corp. of Fountain Valley, California; and Dane-Elec Memory of Bagnolet, France.