EPO top for quality; Vidal’s SEP hostage to fortune; Calls for China pool reform; Biogen patent disaster; Uber’s Moneyball strategy for portfolio ROI; plus much more
Everything we covered on IAM over the last seven days – and all you need to know from the global IP market to set yourself up for the start of another busy week
The Long Read
For US patent litigators the caseload is no longer all about infringement disputes, write Michelle Avery, Nicole McTernan and Drew Sills of Ocean Tomo. Instead, they are increasingly being called on to act in a diverse range of corporate lawsuits. Read more here
MONDAY 29 November
Micron and UMC have reached a global settlement to end a trade secret dispute that has taken centre stage in IP tensions between the US and China. Read more here
The 2021 IAM benchmarking survey of the IP5 has been published and once more the EPO is top of the pile for patent quality. Read more here
A recent $180 million Sanofi deal with AI biotech Owkin suggests that barriers to exploiting the vast commercial potential of healthcare data are being torn down. Read more here
TUESDAY 30 November
Largan Precision, which supplies camera lenses for iPhones and other mobile devices, has sued Lenovo’s Motorola Mobility unit in an unexpected assertion of its US patent portfolio. Read more here
While a huge advantage for innovators, patent term extensions in China are set to create new regulatory headaches for pharma IP teams. Read more here
Bill Harmon, head of IP at Uber Technologies, explains how Moneyball inspired the company’s approach to calculating patent portfolio ROI. Read more here
Kathi Vidal is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her USPTO Director nomination hearing tomorrow. Read more here
WEDNESDAY 1 December
IPBC China kicks off on Monday, 6 December, as a virtual event and will tackle themes relevant to Chinese companies going global and foreign entities measuring up opportunities in China. Read more here
Companies are placing renewed emphasis on tech transfer to spread their IP further by fuelling smaller firms that are pitching new use cases. Read more here
THURSDAY 2 December
A new report by an adviser to China’s IP courts calls for revisions to the country’s antitrust law as it relates to patent pools. Read more here
A split decision handed down by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has all but confirmed a multi-billion-dollar patent catastrophe for Biogen. Read more here
In her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, USPTO Director nominee Kathi Vidal avoided big commitments on issues such as 101 and Fintiv but may have left a FRAND hostage to fortune. Read more here
FRIDAY 3 December
China’s patent office has nullified two patents owned by IP Bridge after they faced challenges from Huawei as part of the pair’s global SEP dispute. Read more here
Moderna’s blockbuster covid vaccine income will be at stake in an infringement lawsuit likely to be brought by owners of platform technology patents recently upheld by the Federal Circuit. Read more here
Derek Gilliland, Alan Albright’s choice as the new US magistrate judge in the WDTX’s Waco court, has a long record representing plaintiff patent owners in infringement litigation. Read more here
SATURDAY 4 December
There are worrying signals in data on Australian patenting activity and recent measures announced by the government won’t do much to help. Read more here
