International Ip Developments
| Citation | Vol. 39 No. 1 |
| Publication year | 2014 |
| Author | Aurelia J. Schultz |
Aurelia J. Schultz
Schultz Law Office
Between copyright, trademark, patents, trade secrets and their various step-siblings, there is often so much going on in American intellectual property law that we miss out on things beyond our borders. But the IP landscape is changing all over the place and in ways that impact California practitioners.
Italy has new regulations for online copyright enforcement.1 Issued by the Italian Communication Authority, Autorità per le Ga-ranzie Nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM), at the end of 2013, the new regulations apply only to ISPs, not to end-users. The regulations are scheduled to go into effect on March 31, 2014.
The new regulations include a notice and takedown procedure.2 Unlike the US DMCA notice and takedown procedure, notices of infringing material are sent to AGCOM rather than directly to the infringing site.3 AGCOM reviews the claim and then alerts the alleged infringers, both the party responsible for uploading the material and the hosting ISP, of the claim.4 If the alleged infringers disagree with the claim, they can file a defensive brief.5 There is a very short time-limit to respond, only five days.6 If no response is made within five days and the material is not removed, AGCOM forwards the file to a special ACGOM collective body to review the case.7
The collective body, whether deciding a case due to lack or response or due to a dispute between parties, orders a takedown method.8 For websites hosted on servers located outside of Italy, for example in the United States, the collective body can order the ISP to block the entire website that is hosting the infringing material.9 If the server is located in Italy, the hosting provider will be required to selectively remove only the infringing material.10 Again, the time for complying is quite short, three days.11 After the three days pass, AGCOM can begin assessing large administrative fees up to €258,000 (approximately US$353,000).12 There is also a special category for massive infringements with an even shorter time-frame.13
Two new customs-focused trademark programs were recently announced. The World Customs Organization (WCO) launched a new tracking tool t called Interface Public-Members, or IPM for short. IPM connects customs officers and brand owners in real-time to help customs identify counterfeit goods. As of January, 60 countries connected their customs offices to IPM. It is free for custom offices from WCO member countries to join, but brand owners must pay a fee.14
The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) has announced a new database for customs-level trademark enforcement in the European Union. Rights holders will be able to enter a variety of information about their products and marks for custom agents to review when inspecting goods.15 The database will be free and is set to launch in April, 2014.16
Also in trademark news, those using the Madrid System to register a mark in multiple countries can now include India, Mexico, Tunisia and Rwanda in their registrations. 17 The Libya Trademark Office, which had ceased some operations due to internal conflict, is accepting trademark renewal applications again.18
On April 1, 2014, the European Patent Office will permit a Divisional application to be filed at any time up to Grant.19 Currently, Divisional application- must be filed within two years of receiving a substantive Examination Report with a Disunity of Invention holding.20 This provision may be retroactive, to include those patents that are still under examination but are now outside the prior 2-year period.21 Israel has followed this change to the EPO practice with respect to divisional practice.
Recently, the Australian Patent Office has enacted new provisions that permit patenting of methods of...
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