Patent Agreements Together With Disagreements

Nokia together with InterDigital settle

Reuters reports that Nokia has settled its dispute alongside InterDigital. After having lost the case, concerning licence fees for 2G wireless applied scientific discipline patents inwards New York, Nokia has agreed to pay $253m. In provide they volition larn what they depict as

a fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable license to all of InterDigital's electrical flow patent portfolio, together with whatever patents InterDigital may afterwards acquire, for purposes of making or selling 2G products, including handsets together with infrastructure.

In other words, Nokia 2G handsets won’t infringe. However, things aren’t thence unproblematic thence far every bit 3G applied scientific discipline is concerned. Nokia volition non survive held liable for infringement concerning their 3G handsets together with infrastructure upwards until 26 Apr 2006 (the Midweek that simply happened) but phones etc produced after that appointment are unlicensed together with thence farther negotiations are necessary.

is inwards favour of the sensible short town of IP disputes. It’s a shame though that thence much courtroom fourth dimension was taken upwards over this. In the Great Britain alone, weeks together with weeks of trial took place.


Substantive patent harmonisation setback

ICTSD reports on the collapse of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents informal session which took house on 10 to 12 April, chaired past times the UK’s really ain Ron ‘Comptroller’ Marchant. The utilization of the coming together was to outline an agenda for the formal SCP coming together which was due to lead keep house June.

However, no understanding could survive reached, together with the June coming together has been abandoned for now. Instead, the WIPO General Assembly volition consider what to do adjacent inwards September. It seems that the segmentation was on developed/developing globe lines. Developed countries are pushing for wider patent protection alongside a lower inventive mensuration criterion, acre developing countries are afraid that this volition strength them to grant wider patent protection inwards a agency that is detrimental to their interests.

The United States of America of America together with Nippon wanted the next issues on the agenda:

*prior art
* novelty
*grace period
* inventive step

The developing countries desire these issues on the agenda:

*development together with policy space
*exclusions to patentability
*exceptions to patent holders' rights
* anticompetitive practices related to patents
*requirements to expose the rootage of genetic fabric or traditional cognition used inwards an conception along alongside proof of prior informed consent together with do goodness sharing
*effective mechanisms to challenge the validity of patents
*technology transfer,
*alternative models for promoting innovation.

Ron Marchant concluded that the fourth dimension was non nevertheless correct for these issues to survive considered, together with called on the countries involved to consider their positions inwards gild to survive able to travel towards practical solutions.

While the IPKat doesn’t desire to reckon patents which are harmful or inadequately examined issued, he finds himself veering towards the US/Japan declaration here. The developed countries’ concerns should surely survive addressed, but it makes feel to the Kat to travel out what the basics of the patent arrangement are together with and then travel out how they request to survive modified to ensure that the wider populace involvement is sufficiently protected.

Read the WIPO spin on the coming together here.