The conference flyer

The next Annual General Meeting of CIOPORA will take place in Miami Beach, FL from April 23 to 27, 2012. The traditional meetings of the Board, Working Groups, Crop Sections, the AGM, which shall take place in the afternoon of April 24, the IP seminar, the International IP Conference, as well as a meeting with US-breeders, are on the current agenda.

In the evenings, the hard work and commitment of the participants will be rewarded in get-together events under palms. On April 26 the members and their guests will be invited to join in on a business excursion, whereas April 27 will be dedicated to a networking event offering great opportunities for business talks and finding new business contacts. A side program will be organized for accompanying persons. The venue of the event will be announced in a circular letter in short, but the curious are welcome to look for a hint in the title of the article.

Our panellists will be: Anne Fairpo, Barrister, Atlas Chambers. Anne is a senior tax lawyer based in London with extensive experience of international cross-border tax transactions, particularly inbound US/UK deals. She has a particular interest in IP taxation and has presented at several conferences on the taxation of R&D and IP. Steef Huibregtse, Global Partner, Transfer Pricing Associates. Steef is the founding member of TPA, based in Amsterdam, a firm with a wide reputation in the area of transfer pricing strategy, risk management, design, documentation and implementation services. He has over 20 years’ experience in the area of international tax and transfer pricing consulting. The presentations will be followed by a Q&A session where you can raise your issues for discussion by the panellists.

The webinar takes place on Tuesday, January 17 at 16:00 Greenwich Mean Time (17:00 CET, 11:00 EST). Participation is free of charge to INTIPSA members After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. For more information on INTIPSA, please visit www.intipsa.com

IP PANORAMA was designed to help SMEs utilize and manage Intellectual Property (IP) in their business strategy. In the past, most of the IP education materials had a legal orientation, even though businesses had a real need for a business-oriented IP education. IP PANORAMA increases IP-awareness among enterprise sector and a wide range of university students by providing practical knowledge about using IP for business success.

IP PANORAMA relies on a brand new instructional design strategy based on ‘Storytelling’ along with educational technology. The learning content of each module was designed with a practical story regarding intellectual property. It is informative as well as interesting.

IP PANORAMA deals with IP issues from a business perspective, especially focusing on the situation of SMEs.

The panellists discussed the role of the CIPO, the skills required, and whether it was better to recruit from outside or promote from within. Their presentations stressed the CIPO’s role as a facilitator, brokering between research, commercial, legal and other departments and ensuring IP thinking is given due regard in business decisions. CIPOs should have a broad range of skills, from strategist and technologist, to communicator and sales person. Most of all they have to have a passion for IP.

The webinar was viewed by INTIPSA members worldwide as well as by a Master’s class at the Illinois Institute of Technology / Kent Law School.

A full recording for my personal contacts is available via the following link: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/309200902.

Presentations are available for INTIPSA members to download via the INTIPSA website.

BioPharma India, Grand Hyatt Mumbai, Mumbai

Attendees can expect to learn how to develop biomanufacturing operations in India, integrate the latest technology for rapid vaccine development and production, and overcome challenges in biosimilars manufacturing.

http://www.terrapinn.com/2011/biopharma-india-convention

The conference and trade exhibition will provide an overview of best practice solutions for many aspects of professional IP management, allowing attendees to learn about filing, annuities and renewals, software, information and searching services, and more.

http://www.ipserviceworld.com/

For further details and registration:

http://www.marques.org/conferences/20111125/Default.asp

CIPA Life Sciences, Coombe Abbey Hotel, Coventry

Sessions will cover European, US and South American patent law and practice updates, supplementary protection certificates in Europe, protecting medical devices and diagnostics, and regulating biosimilars.

http://www.cipa.org.uk/pages/events/details?99B93B1D-D808-4605-9EFA-2506CA8F7500

For further details and registration:

http://www.marques.org/conferences/20111116/Default.asp

The partnering conference is attended by biotechnology, pharma and finance professionals. It will put nanotechnology under the spotlight and it will include panel discussions on topics such as creating deal and business models that lead to faster returns

http://www.ebdgroup.com/bioeurope/index.php

For further details and registration:

http://www.marques.org/conferences/20111104/Default.asp

For further details and registration:
http://www.marques.org/conferences/20111027/Default.asp

The LES Annual Meeting in San Diego will be this year’s venue for the exchange of best practices and hands-on experience among the thought leaders and legal and commercial professionals representing the leading companies, research institutions, government laboratories and organizations from life sciences, high technology, consumer products, and chemicals/energy/clean-tech/environmental/materials.

Engage with and learn from industry-leading senior executives from companies like Apple, Celgene, Dupont, GM, Gilead, Microsoft, Nokia, Pfizer, P&G, Qualcomm, RIM, Roche, Samsung and more! Plus, don’t miss the newly-added Featured Panel, “The Insiders’ Perspective on the Nortel Auction: What Really Happened and What It Means” featuring speakers from Nortel, Microsoft and Ericsson (View the full meeting agenda).

The Academic Program will be in charge of international speakers of the utmost importance, who will deal with current issues:

• Legal Marketing
• Dilution of Facto-Anti-IP Sentiment
• Crafts and Traditional Knowledge
• Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs
• Use of trademarks on the Internet: new top level domains
• Administration of Intellectual Property Law Firms
• Copyright administration in Internet: Global Blanket License
• Patentability of inventions that involve software in the legislations of Latin America and in comparative jurisprudence (USA and Europe)

Santa Cruz de la Sierra is located 900 km east of the city of La Paz. The climate is tropical and humid.  In the month of October has an average temperature of 26 degrees Celsius with a maximum of 32. Located at 437 meters. It has a population of 1, 800, 000 inhabitants approximately.

Further information may be found here.

Registration for the forthcoming AIPPI Forum / ExCo meeting is open at www.aippi.net.  Register for the AIPPI Forum / ExCo 2011 before 15 June 2011 and take advantage of the reduced registration fees.

Attendance at the Forum is open to both members and non-members. The ExCo meeting is open to appointed delegates and all other members of AIPPI.  Hot topics which will be discussed include:

• New medical issues
• India and the Madrid Protocol
• Regulatory approval — patent linkage
• How to reconcile indigenous rights with the protection of intellectual property rights
• Twitter®, Facebook® and other social networks — implications on trademark and domain name protection

Don’t miss the Pharma Day! AIPPI will devote four workshops to IP issues in the pharma sector.  And of course you can’t miss the mystical and unforgettable atmosphere you will experience during the social events and your stay in India.

We look forward to welcoming you in Hyderabad.  Namaste!

For further information or to download a copy of the brochure, refer to the section on AIPPI’s website.

GRUR will hold its Annual Meeting 2011 at the Hotel Intercontinental Berlin.

For over 50 years GRUR’s Annual Meeting has been the most popular and constant German IP event, bringing together over 700 German and European IP experts every year, including scientists, judges, governmental officials, lawyers, patent attorneys and representatives from companies and associations.  The event covers all areas of intellectual property with particular focus on specific, in‑depth discussion of topical IP‑related issues and offers an intensive, high‑level review of the latest developments in German and European IP law as well as outlooks on in relevant topics for the coming year.

In addition to current German issues like ‘joinder of claims for infringement of industrial property’ or ‘legislation by non-specialized courts’, attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the European Commission’s new considerations on the creation of unitary patent protection in Europe, the future European Trademark System after the MPI system as well as the European Commission’s new horizontal guidelines in antitrust law with the presidents of OHIM and DPMA, EU representatives and renowned experts from science and private practice.

On our additional ‘European focus’ session, EPO President Benoît Battistelli will present his insights into the role of the European Patent Office in the consolidation of the European patent system.  Furthermore, GRUR is delighted to welcome Dr.  Christian Wichard, Deputy Director General of WIPO, to a interdisciplinary session for an overview of WIPO´s current challenges and strategies with regard to intellectual property rights.

Alongside the main programme, attendees will be offered an attractive social programme in and around the interesting metropolitan city of Berlin.

You may download a copy of the brochure.

FICPI is pleased to announce its International Symposium to be held in Seoul, Korea, on 1-2 December 2011. FICPI has previously held successful Symposia in Beijing, Yokohama and Delhi, offering attendees opportunities to meet professionals from all over the world, and to debate issues of concern to them today.

Working within a central theme, IP specialists will review the challenges presented by the desire to protect complex technologies within the framework of an IP system designed for simpler times. There will be an entertaining and active social program that will allow both delegates and accompanying persons an opportunity to enjoy the treasures of Korea while making new friends.

FICPI’s 13th Open Forum is open to members and non-members of FICPI, intellectual property practitioners, and colleagues from industry and official bodies. Featuring FICPI’s multi-stream working programme, the Forum will deal with topics of interest and relevance to all attendees, including privilege, patent filing and prosecution strategies, new opportunities for the IP profession in IP audits and intellectual asset management, and standards of professionalism.

An exciting social program will feature a gala dinner at the historic Santo Spirito in Sassio, a “Gladiator Tour” of ancient Rome for the accompanying persons, and an optional guided visit to the Galleria Borghese.

The new court will work in the fields of industrial property and copyrights. Until now, the two courts, which functioned in Lisboa and Vila Nova de Gaia were specialized in the industrial property. With the establishment of IP Court -  there will be one general authority that will examine the disputes connected to the intellectual property. This is a precondition for reduction of the time taken for sentences in IP litigation.

Source:OHIM

German Federal Patent Court refused to register the mark”Trademarker” for :

• Class 16: Printed matter, pamphlets, periodicals newspapers, books, brochures, magazines;
• Class 35: Services of an accountant, services of an auditor
• Class 42 (according to current classification Class 45): Legal advice and representation, representation of a third party in court and in extrajudicial litigation, services in process-related matters, services of a jurist, services of a lawyer.

Lack of distinctiveness, the relation that can be done by the relevant audience with the English term ‘Trademark’ are some of the arguments of the Court to consider the mark as not registrable.

After that decision, the registration of such mark seems impossible……

Yes but after one check in the database of OHIM – everybody can see that there is a registered CTM - trademarkers with date of registration - 12/10/2010 for class35, class 38 and class 45.

It is strange how according to OHIM “trademarkers” is registrable sign and according to German Court it is not.

And here comes the question : Is it justified the German decision to refuse this registration?