The EPO violated the fundamental right of free association of its staff in 2014 by giving (former) president Benoit Battistelli the power to determine the detailed conditions relating to the staff committee elections. The Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization (ILOAT) has ruled this in its judgment 4482, which was published after its 133d…
Update 03/02/2022: The preview has been re-published and the links to it in this article are live again. Update 02/02/2022: The original press release regarding the advance preview of the Guidelines and the pdfs of the preview have been taken down. The links in this article will be updated once the advance preview is re-published….
Executive version: Quite a few scholars have tried to decipher the hymn sheet shown on Elias Haussmann’s famous portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach. This blog tries to decipher the latest changes in the EPO Management just announced by the President. On a peaceful, sunny morning as we had it today I sometimes indulge in the…
A French government press release dated January 20, 2022, announces the creation of a harmonized intellectual property framework with the entry into force of the Unified Patent Court following the ratification of the international agreement concerning it. But what does it means exactly for us? Regular readers of this blog are aware of my…
In two recent decisions the District Court of The Hague assumed cross-border jurisdiction in FRAND / Standard Essential Patent (‘SEP’) proceedings. In a first case the Court assumed jurisdiction on claims related to the FRANDness of a SEPs (patent pool) license. In a second case the Court assumed jurisdiction on an anti-anti-suit injunction (‘AASI’) claim…
The recruitment of judges for the Unified Patent Court will start soon, now that the Preparatory Phase preceding the opening of the Unified Patent Court has officially begun. According to the UPC Preparatory Committee the preparatory phase will last at least eight months. The UPC Preparatory Committee stated on its website: “Austria was the first…
Breaking News: According to the EU Council’s Website, Austria has deposited its instrument of ratification yesterday, which means that the Period for Provisional Application begins today. Let’s see when it ends. Good luck to the Preparatory Committee with the numerous preparation activities that must now be started.
Recently, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has launched a call for views in order to better understand how effective the current Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) framework is in encouraging creativity, innovation, and promoting competition. Ultimately, the call aims to determine whether legislative changes are required. An interesting aspect of this call is that an…
After the disruption brought on by the pandemic, it seems that this year the Mobile Word Congress (“MWC”), the largest mobile trade event in the world and one of the most significant trade fairs held in Barcelona, will take place from 28 February to 3 March 2022 under normal conditions. Against this background, on 10…
Since the Eurasian Patent Convention was signed in 1994 it has been shaping the global IP landscape. In the 25 years 22.700 Eurasian patents were granted at the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO). Recently Eurasia expanded the activities to include the applications of industrial designs and although it is not yet possible to file Eurasian trademarks,…
