Anderson

Patent licensing remains a flashpoint for mobile telecom as it moves towards a future of 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) Cellular technology pioneers are being marginalized with diminished financial returns on their research and development investments while leaders in devices and “over-the-top” services are flourishing. Calls to weaken the basis of licensing standard-essential technologies are misplaced. There are no indications of profiteering or harm caused by licensors. All evidence is to the contrary. Innovations in standards including technologies based on standard-essential patents can be exploited in product and service implementations by anyone. Undermining the value of SEPs will choke off vital R&D investments along the path to “5G” and cause other harmful disruptions to the mobile ecosystem, including reduced contributions to or withdrawals from standard setting. The innovation game As I noted  here   a couple of months ago  in a cellular industry trade...

The devil will no doubt follow in the Finance Bill detail, but the heads up on IP tax points from the Chancellor's statement is: Fiscal: - the new (post-1 July 2016) patent box rules are to be updated by adding provisions to deal with cost sharing arrangements so that companies using these are not advantaged/disadvantaged when it comes to calculating the R&D fraction - 'new spending' of £4.7 billion between 2017 and 2021 to enhance the UK’s position as a world leader in science and innovation (whatever that means …), apparently to be rolled out as £425m in 2017-18, £820m in 2018-19, £1.5bn in 2019-2020, and £2bn in 2020-2021. This is apparently direct funding (grants) into an Industry Strategy Challenge Fund, to be modelled on the USA's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency programme, as well as allocating funding more generally. - £0.7 billion to support the market to roll out full-fibre connections and future 5G communications Non-fiscal: - review tax environm...

OxFirst has announced a free webinar, entitled “The Economic Contribution of IP Rights”, to take place on December 8, 2016, at 14:00 GMT (being 15:00 CET and 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time). The speaker will be Dr. Nathan Wajsman, Chief Economist of EUIPO. The webinar will build on prior work carried out by Dr. Wajsman. The first phase of the IP Contribution study was published in September 2013 and shows which industries are IPR-intensive and measures their contribution to GDP, employment, international trade and wages in 2008-2010 at EU, as well as country, level. (A similar study was published for the US by the USPTO in 2012.) In October 2016, an update of the EU study was published, considering the period between 2011-2013. The IP rights considered in the most recent study include patents, trademarks, registered designs, copyright, geographical indications and plant variety rights. In addition to the industry-level study, the EUIPO has also conducted research to estimate the cont...

From the UK Prime Minister's speech to the Conferation of British Industry today: " So in the Autumn Statement on Wednesday, we will commit to substantial real terms increases in government investment in   R&D   – investing an extra £2 billion a year by the end of this Parliament to help put post-Brexit Britain at the cutting edge of science and tech. A new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will direct some of that investment to scientific research and the development of a number of priority technologies in particular, helping to address Britain’s historic weakness on commercialisation and turning our world-leading research into long-term success. And we will also review the support we give innovative firms through the tax system. Since 2010 we have made the Research and Development Credit more generous and easier to use – and support has risen from £1 billion to almost £2.5 billion a year. Now we want to go further, and look at how we can make our support even more effec...

After the hangover of the U.S. presidential election subsides, some serious issues will be addressed, including our current tax and innovation system.  Will the U.S. adopt a patent box?  Will the U.S. lower the corporate tax rate?  What will the Donald do?  I am hopeful that he will push more resources to research and development (which has been in decline in real dollars), and education. Perhaps a gaze across the pond will not only give him some inspiration, but may also solve some of our problems.   On October 26, the EU Commission announced a new way to tax corporations operating in the EU.  The EU Commission website states: EU Commission have announced the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), a new EU-wide tax system to improve the Single Market, combat tax avoidance and support growth and investment in the EU. The CCCTB will also support Research and Development (R&D) through tax incentives for companies that invest in real res...

This blogger is involved in a unique IP Forum dedicated IP issues in BRICS countries to be held in London next Monday and Tuesday (21-22 November 2016) at the Grange City Hotel. It is a jointly hosted conference by five well known IP firms dedicated to each country and region plus industry speakers from AB InBev, BSA The Software Alliance, Brand Finance, Novartis and Richemont. There are a few seats still left. The cost of this two-day conference is US$550 pp. This includes the two-day conference, mid-morning refreshments, lunch and afternoon refreshments. The organisers have offered a 10% discount for readers of this blog, please just mention this when booking. Click here to register and send an email here  to obtain the special rate.

A short time ago, I wrote about an article by Ma Si in the China Daily concerning the likelihood of an increase in patent suits filed in China.  On November 7, 2016, the Wall Street Journal has published an article by Juro Osawa, titled "China's Patent Lawsuit Profile Grows," about a Canadian non-practicing entity's (NPE) suit against Sony in Nanjing, China.  The article notes that China's IP enforcement system has changed substantially in the last few years and is less expensive than other systems making it an attractive place for NPE litigation for licensing leverage.  For one, according to the article, enforcement of the NPE's patents could result in stopping Sony from exporting infringing parts manufactured in China.  Notably, China's government has made clear its intention to move to an innovation and services based economy for continued economic growth and intellectual property protection will play an important part in that move.  The focus is usual...

This is the first post of a series dealing with the role of IP in corporate governance in the wake of the launch of the KingIV report in South Africa by the Institute of Directors earlier this week. The conference had well over 1000 business leaders based in Gauteng and a stellar line-up of speakers. This post explores the relationship between the KingIV Report on sustainable governance and IP, the next traverses a three step approach to IP management, followed by a case study illustrating the need for a deft touch on IP enforcement where brands cater for social good, and the power of measurement. ----- Professor Mervyn King , the name that is inextricably linked to the KingIV report on sustainable governance , started off his presentation at the launch this week with a slide that I often use to start off my own presentation on intellectual property and innovation. I am sure he would be pretty bashful about using my favourite slide. That’s not true of course, but the fact that he us...

The Stanford Law School is holding a Patent Assertion Entity (PAEs) symposium based on the empirical research of Mark Lemley and Shawn Miller on lawsuits involving PAEs.  Proposals to participate should be based on the research and directed to PAE reform efforts.  This is a timely symposium based on the release of the recent FTC Report on PAEs .  The details are pasted below. Call for Proposals PAE Reform Symposium at Stanford Law School May 11, 2017 We hope that you will be able to join us at the Stanford Patent Litigation Policy Practicum’s Symposium on patent assertion entities (“PAEs”) on May 11, 2017 at Stanford Law School. The Stanford Program in Law, Science & Technology is cosponsoring this event. The Practicum is directed by Professors Mark Lemley and Shawn Miller. Since 2013, over twenty Stanford students have been working to create the  Stanford NPE Litigation Dataset (the “dataset”), which when complete will categorize the patentees in all patent la...

OxFirst will be holding a free webinar on the subject of ‘Assessing the Impact of Patent Strategy’. The program will take place on November 16, 2016, at 15:00-16:00 BST. The speaker will be Dr Nick Papageorgiadis , Lecturer in International Business of the University of Liverpool and Associated Researcher at the department of Business Studies of Uppsala University (Sweden). In his presentation, Dr Papageorgiadis will focus on a new approach to the measurement of the effectiveness of the patent systems of 49 countries. He will then discuss the implications of the extent of the effectiveness of international patent systems on the patent strategy of firms, by explaining the results of his latest econometric studies. Further details on signing up for what seems to be a most interesting presentation can be found here .