Patents

The Japanese Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued, earlier this month, a new patent classification (ZIT) incorporating only Internet-of-Things-based (IoT) inventions and technology. As such, from 2017 onwards, any interested party will be able to find data and information related to inventions in the IoT department, through the Japanese PTO platforms.

Internet-Of-Things technology is the technical name given to the so-called smart devices networks, the connection between any physical device, be it a microwave or a vehicle.

India’s new Trademark Law might come into effect shortly, either during the current month or during the next month of December, after the Controller of Patents, Designs and Trademarks disclosed a public draft of the amendment to the 2002 Trademark Rules, dated November 19th, inviting stakeholders to comment the same.

The new Act was approved July 14th, 2016 by the House of Representatives of Liberia and was published past July 22nd, 2016. It is noteworthy that it has received unanimous approval by the Liberian legislators, a decision which was based on a report issued by a join commission with members of the areas of commerce, industry and justice.

Inventa International will be present in the first edition of Web Summit in Portugal. This year's edition will take place in Lisbon, between 7 and 10 November, with the expected participation of more than 50,000 professionals and a thousand international investors.

THE CONTEXT

The society of today galloped through technological evolutionary steps. Everyday life has been hijacked by Wi-Fi and all types of connectable devices. From smartphones to smart-fridges, everything is connected through wireless systems, various networks existing simultaneously, intertwined amongst themselves. While it may not be possible to protect the aforementioned programs by themselves, what is protected is exactly the method or a system implemented by software.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Web Summit 2016 is almost here (7th-10th November, Lisbon) and startups and entrepreneurs will come together to share ideas about technology but also to show-case new products and projects, but Intellectual Property protection should not be thrown to the sidelines.

On September 8th 2016, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry received the instruments of accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) from Cambodia’s Senior Minister and Minister of Industry and Handicraft, Cham Prasidh.

Cambodia’s accession brings the number of PCT members to 151.

PCT considerably facilitates international protection of inventions helping applicants to seek patent applications internationally for their inventions, providing a cost effective system.

The Cayman Islands had an outdated IP legislation in force, but waves of change are in progress. With the new Cayman Islands Intellectual Property Office (CIIPO), the Cayman Islands Government fully intends to revolutionize the organization and application of new Intellectual Property laws.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Cook Islands has notified that they have deposited the instrument of accession of the Convention Establishing the Word Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), signed at Stockholm in 1967.

The deposit occurred past July 2th, 2016 and will enter into force October 27th, 2016.

In the last few years we have seen the rise in popularity of multiple software applications, with the latest and biggest example being “Pokémon Go” developed by NIANTIC, Inc. However, where there is a rise in popularity of a product, there is always an increase on the amount of copycats and counterfeits.

While in Europe there is a larger restriction for software patents, in the United States these restrictions are softer and the American Supreme Court has already issued several decisions concerning the matter.