This week on MIP: UPC backs document access as Ireland's position in doubt

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This week on MIP: UPC backs document access as Ireland's position in doubt

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We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP

UPC Court of Appeal backs document access

The Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court has dismissed Ocado's appeal against a decision to grant a member of the public access to court documents, in what was a closely watched dispute with transparency implications.

The court said that when weighing a direct interest against the general interest of the integrity of proceedings, the balance will “generally be in favour of granting access to the written pleadings and evidence of such proceedings”.

To read the full article, click here.

Fees flexibility draws IP quintet to Merchant & Gould

A group of five senior lawyers were inspired to join intellectual property boutique Merchant & Gould because of the pricing flexibility that the firm can offer clients.

Merchant & Gould announced on April 10 that it had hired a team of five lawyers from IP firm Oblon to join its Washington DC area office. The group consists of partners Daniel Pereira, John Kern, Eric Schweibenz, and Donald McPhail, as well as of counsel Alexander Englehart.

Pereira was managing partner and led the chemical practice group at Oblon, while Kern led the electrical and mechanical group. Schweibenz managed the litigation practice.

To read the full article, click here.

Other articles published on Managing IP this week include:

Pearce IP chief: generosity pays huge dividends

How law firms help technical experts pass the bar

Weekly take: INTA’s broadside against free riders raises tough questions

Trademark counsel weigh in on proposed USPTO fee hikes

Five minutes with… Joshua Harris, Burford Capital

Strategy Shifts? Counsel mull proposed patent fee increases

A UK first: Carpmaels & Ransford sets UPC precedent

Elsewhere in IP

Ireland’s UPC doubt

Ireland could postpone a scheduled referendum on whether the country should join the Unified Patent Court, Irish broadcaster RTE reported yesterday, April 11.

The broadcaster said Peter Burke, the newly appointed minister for enterprise, will bring a memo to the Cabinet next week outlining the next steps but that a June 7 vote now appears unlikely.

Huawei SEP deal

Huawei revealed that it had granted a cellular IoT standard-essential patents licence to metering solution company EDMI on Thursday, April 11. David Wang, head of Huawei's Asia Pacific IP department, said: "Huawei is pleased to reach this license agreement with EDMI, which will greatly promote innovations in traditional industries such as utilities."


AI guidance

The USPTO released guidance on the use of artificial intelligence tools when preparing patent and trademark applications on Wednesday, April 10.

“While the USPTO is committed to maximising AI’s benefits and seeing them distributed broadly across society, the USPTO recognises the need, through technical mitigations and human governance, to cabin the risks arising from the use of AI in practice before the USPTO,” the office wrote.

Apple appeal

Apple asked the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reverse a US International Trade Commission decision to ban certain Apple Watches on Friday, April 5. The company claimed that the ITC had exceeded its authority by issuing an injunction.

“The commission compounded that fundamental error by issuing a series of substantively defective patent rulings. Apple respectfully submits that this court should correct the commission’s errors and ensure the agency observes the jurisdictional limitations Congress prescribed,” Apple wrote in its court filing.

AI bill

Democratic US congressman Adam Schiff introduced a bill to require companies to disclose the copyright-protected works they use to train their AI models on Tuesday, April 9.

Before releasing a new generative AI system, companies would have to notify the Register of Copyrights about all copyrighted works used in building or altering the system’s training dataset. The bill would also apply retroactively.

 ‘Top Gun’ copyright

The US District Court for the Central District of California dismissed a copyright case on Friday, April 5 that was filed against movie studio Paramount concerning ‘Top Gun: Maverick’.

The heirs of author Ehud Yonay, who wrote the article that inspired the original ‘Top Gun’ movie, argued that that ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ infringed the article’s copyright.

Mishcon hire

London-based law firm Mishcon de Reya announced that trademark partner Angela Fox had joined the firm on Wednesday, April 10. Fox joined from Maucher Jenkins.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Deals between five more law firms and President Trump and an antitrust lawsuit against Amgen were also among the top talking points this week
US counsel explain how they win new cleantech IP business and how they’re navigating the industry’s challenges
Leaders at the IP firms, which have joined forces with backing from a PE investor, share their vision of building the number one pan-European IP practice
Firms will steer clients towards other ways of getting quicker examinations, but fear the ramifications of the USPTO’s decision
Melissa Haapala added that returning to client advocacy and the chance to work on patent litigation were reasons for returning to private practice
Michelle Clark, who has a generalist litigation background, plans to focus on IP disputes at Alston & Bird
Philips and Vivo have entered into a licensing agreement, putting an end to a five-year-old telecom SEP dispute in India
Stefan Müller discusses managing deadlines, the importance of reflection, and why IP is more than just a 'nice to have'
The three founders of the IP firm’s new US offering say they plan to offer a unique proposition in a market fixated by the billable hour
The opinion provides useful guidance when it comes to how courts might consider contributory infringement, DMCA claims, and other issues in AI copyright cases
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