NEWS JANUARY 2016 - DECEMBER 2016
ARGENTINA
October 17, 2016
There is a widespread consensus among the different Divisions of the Federal Court of Appeals, sharing that trademark infringement causing an unjustified damage should be compensated.
ARGENTINA
October 17, 2016
On September 19th, 2016 the Argentine Patent and Trademark Office (ARPTO) issued a Resolution that will come into force on October 15th, 2016 pursuant to which patent applicants will be able to request accelerated examination of patent applications.
AUSTRALIA-EPO
October 17, 2016
Pilot program between the Australian Patent Office and the European Patent Office (EPO) started on July 1st, 2016.
BAHRAIN
October 17, 2016
Bahrain increases official fees (1,392USD) to conform to the Law 6/2016 of the GCC Trademark Law.
CAMBODIA
October 17, 2016
The Ministry of Commerce introduced a new regulation on the procedures to record and file permission letters for imported goods bearing exclusive trademarks.
CAYMAN ISLANDS
October 17, 2016
Started in August 1st, 2016 patent and trademark annual fee payments will no longer be accepted in advance of January 1st in the year in which they fall due.
DIJIBOUTI
October 17, 2016
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
INDONESIA
October 17, 2016
The Indonesian Government recently issued the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Regulation No. 8 Year 2016 on the recordal of Intellectual Property (IP) Licensing Agreements.
IRAQ
October 17, 2016
All trademark application shall contain the following information in order to proceed with the registration procedure:
BRAZIL
October 17, 2016
Any interested party can now request priority examination status for a patent application by another applicant.
CHINA
October 17, 2016
SIPO issued three regulations to promote China's patent law enforcement: (i) guide of determining patent tort; (ii) evident rule on patent administrative enforcement; and (iii) guide on patent disputes administration mediation.
EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
October 17, 2016
Changes to the EPO opposition procedure came into force on July 1st, 2016.
HONG KONG
October 17, 2016
Key changes that will hopefully be implemented by early 2018.
INDIA
October 17, 2016
The Indian Government's Patent (Amendments) Rules 2016 came into effect on May 16th, 2016. The purpose of these amendments is to speed up the patent prosecution before the Indian Patent Office.
JAPAN - VIETNAM
October 17, 2016
A bilateral agreement has been signed between National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) and Japan (PPH - Patent Prosecution Highway).
RUSSIA
October 17, 2016
The Registry is designed to become an efficient means of dealing with infringements of exclusive rights on the Internet, as well as proving the ownership of intellectual property rights.
SAUDI ARABIA
October 17, 2016
The new GCC Trademark Law and Implementing Regulations will come into force on September 28th, 2016.
SINGAPORE
October 17, 2016
Important updates that will apply to new patent applications on or after May 16th, 2016.
SINGAPORE
October 17, 2016
On July 19th, 2016 the IPO announced that post-grant amendments may not be possible if:
KUWAIT
October 17, 2016
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Trade and Industry approved Law no.115 of 2016 on the regulations implementing patent Law no. 71 of 2013.
NEW ZEALAND
October 17, 2016
The three main new Act divisional issues are:
TAIWAN
October 17, 2016
New practice for submitting priority documents for new patent applications filed in Taiwan became effective on July 1st, 2016.
THAILAND
October 17, 2016
Among the amendments that became effective on July 28th, 2016 it is important to point out the new chapter on trademark registration.
WIPO
October 17, 2016
As from June 6th, 2016, users of the Madrid System will be able to request the expedited establishment of an attestation or of a certified copy from the International Register.
BRAZIL
May 17, 2016
The Brazilian PTO strengthens its position against ANVISA's issuance of opinions regarding patentability of applications related to pharmaceutical inventions. Within the frame of a litigation raised by a pharmaceutical company against ANVISA, the Brazilian Patent Office has filed an opinion regarding the role that ANVISA is adopting in the examination of patent applications.
COLOMBIA
May 17, 2016
Some important changes recently imposed by the Colombian Patent Office, effective immediately, will impact the procedure of patent applications. The Colombian Patent Office has issued Resolution No.3719 dated February 2, 2016, by means of which it has regulated, (i) divisional and conversion of patent applications (a complete information will follow shortly as the changes need to be further explained) and (ii) the examination of patent applications in process.
GUATEMALA
May 17, 2016
Guatemala has approved the accession to the Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) (1994), administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization which will enter into force on March 31, 2016. The accession is aimed at simplifying the filing of applications and expediting the registration of trademarks.
MEXICO
May 17, 2016
On April 28th, the Mexican Industrial Property Law was amended to implement the new trademark opposition system which was approved at the end of 2015.
URUGUAY
May 17, 2016
Based on a resolution issued early this year, the Uruguayan Patent Office is expected to request holders of patent applications filed before 2010 to ratify if they are still interested in pursuing their patent applications.
VENEZUELA
May 17, 2016
After increasing substantially the official fees, the Venezuelan Government has now approved a new official currency exchange rate with the US Dollar. As a result of that, the official fees to be paid may enjoy a more convenient exchange, so that payments are decreased.
EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
May 17, 2016
In case G1/15, the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal is considering the question of whether a patent publication can be cited as prior art against a second application which derives from the same parent.
EUROPEAN UNION
May 17, 2016
The European Parliament voted in favor of the Trade Secrets Directive on April. The Directive pretends to harmonize trade secrets laws across Europe, defying what constitutes trade secret and providing remedies for misappropriation.
TUNISIA
May 17, 2016
Following the agreement between the EPO and the Tunisian Patent Office, European Patent Validation Law will enter into force in Tunisia once the implementing regulations are issued.
INDIA
May 17, 2016
On February 19th, the Indian Patent Office amended its guidelines to provide clarity for patent examiners and practitioners on patenting computer-related inventions (CRIs).
KUWAIT
May 17, 2016
Pursuant to an unexpected decision, and shortly after Kuwait's Council of Ministers voted and published on March 27, 2016 a new law, Law no. 11/2016, which paves the way for the country's accession to the PCT, the Kuwaiti Patent Office has decided to stop accepting patent applications.
CHINA
May 17, 2016
On March 24th, the Chinese Trademark Office announced the introduction of new measures to facilitate the prosecution of trademarks.
INDIA
May 17, 2016
The new trademark rules have been published for "Public Comments". These changes bring significant Amendments to current Trademark Rules.
INDIA
May 17, 2016
On March 29th, 2016 the Indian Trademark Registry surprisingly decided to abandon approximately 200,000 applications and 20,000 oppositions.
INDONESIA
May 17, 2016
Current applicable Law in Indonesia requires that all license agreements regarding IP rights (copyright and related rights, patents, marks, industrial design, integrated-circuit layout design, and trade secrets) are registered for recordation at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia.
JAPAN
May 17, 2016
As of April 1st, Paris route applications filed in Japan can be filed in any language and then, within 16 months of the priority date, file the Japanese translation.
LAOS
May 17, 2016
The Lao People's Democratic Republic has notified that the recording of licenses in the International Register of the WIPO shall have no effect in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
TAIWAN
May 17, 2016
In April 2016, amended Guidelines for the substantive examination of design patents are applicable in Taiwan.
SOUTH KOREA
May 17, 2016
As of June 30th, some relevant amendments in the Korean Patent Act will enter into effect. Among others, (i) any interested party can file a cancellation action against a patent application, (ii) the time frame to request examination for patents filed after March 1st, 2017, will be shortened to 3 years from the filing date and (iii) the burden of proof in patent infringement actions will be switched to the alleged infringer, in case they do not produce relevant material or information if requested by the Court.
SOUTH KOREA - TAIWAN
May 17, 2016
Under the PDX program, an applicant who first files an invention or utility model patent application with the TIPO and who subsequently files an application with the KIPO claiming priority of the earlier Taiwan patent application may request the KIPO to adopt electronic priority documents.
VIETNAM - JAPAN
May 17, 2016
Vietnam launched on April 1st a PPH pilot program with the Japan Patent Office applicable to Vietnamese patent applications (i) claiming priority to a Japanese application under the Paris Convention, (ii) PCT national stage entries in Vietnam of applications filed with the Japanese Patent Office without priority, as well as (iii) applications as indicated in (ii) which claim priority from a PCT application.
AUSTRALIA
May 17, 2016
On February 1st, 2016, the Australian Patent Office released the new guidelines for assessing whether computer-related inventions relate to patentable subject matter.
ANDORRA
February 14, 2016
As of January 25th, 2016 patent applications can be filed in Andorra. Even though the patent law had been approved back in 1999, it had never entered into force.
ARGENTINA
February 14, 2016
The Argentinian Congress has passed a law pursuant to which the mediation proceedings will no longer suspend the 1 year term to settle trademark oppositions. As of March 26th, 2016,
BRAZIL
February 14, 2016
A bilateral agreement between the USPTO and BRPTO has recently been enacted allowing for a PPH request. The program will be valid for a period of two years (or until 150 US or BR priority applications are accepted by each of the offices following this program). Please note
CHILE
February 14, 2016
On January 4th, 2016, a series of amendments were introduced to the bill of law that modifies the Health Code in order to regulate generic bioequivalent pharmaceutical products and prevent the vertical integration of pharmaceutical laboratories and pharmacies. Among other provisions
COSTA RICA
February 14, 2016
Costa Rican Patent Office is changing its interpretation on the calculation term to pay patent annuities. As a result, overdue annuities are to be paid retroactive from the international application date.
COLOMBIA
February 14, 2016
The Superintendence of Industry and Trade of Colombia has issued Resolution No.73446 of 2015, approving the new official taxes for patents, industrial models, industrial designs, trademarks, collective marks and similar, which have come into effect as of January 1st 2016. There are some
EUROPEAN UNION
February 14, 2016
On 15 December 2015 the negotiating teams of the European Parliament and the Council reached a preliminary agreement on the text of the Directive o. The Commission participated in the negotiations as a facilitator. The agreement will need to be formalized
EUROPEAN UNION
February 14, 2016
The EU trademark reform legislative package has been approved and will enter into force on March 23rd, 2016. The OHIM will now be called EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and community trademarks will be EU trademarks (EUTM). This legislative package aims at
JAPAN
February 14, 2016
Effective April 1st, 2016, fees for trademark registration and renewals are lowered as follows.
Office fee per class (JPY) Current New Reduction Registration fee for 10 years 37,600 - 28,200 - 9,400 - for 5 years 21,900 - 16,400 - 4,400 Renewal fee for 10 years 48,500 - 38,800 - 9,700 - for 5 years 28,300 - 22,600 - 5,700
LAOS
February 14, 2016
The Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) deposited with the Director General of WIPO its instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Marks on December 7, 2015. With this accession,
MEXICO
February 14, 2016
Last November 10th, 2015, a proposal to amend the Mexican IP Law was published. The proposal needs to be studied but, if approved it will set up an opposition system for trademarks in Mexico.
SAUDI ARABIA
February 14, 2016
Saudi Arabia has recently implemented new regulations on its Patent Law concerning the national stage entry of PCT patent applications. These new regulations
TURKMENISTAN
February 14, 2016
the Government of Turkmenistan deposited with WIPO its instrument of accession to the Geneva (1999) Act of the Hague Agreement
VENEZUELA
February 14, 2016
In accordance to recent Official Gazette 40.846, the Venezuelan Government has established a new and increased Official Tributary Unit. The Tax Unit is
VIETNAM
February 14, 2016
A PPH program will begin on April 1st, 2016 to enable accelerated patent examination based on the findings of the Japanese Patent Office.