EU unified patent system approved

After years of debate, a unitary patent system entailing both a unified patent Court and a single, unified patent for 25 EU states was finally approved. The unified court will be located in Paris. The unified patent system can profoundly reduce costs for SMEs and encourage innovation. Two further sections will be established: one will be located in London dealing with chemistry, including pharmaceutical and human necessities; while the other one will be located in Munich dealing with mechanical engineering

Galaxy Tab did not infringe Apple’s designs

The High Court of England and Wales ruled that the Galaxy Tab made by Samsung did not infringe on the design of iPad, 50 differences between the two tablets were apparent. The ruling covered three versions of the Samsung tablet: the Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Galaxy Tab 8 and the Galaxy Tab 7.7. The Court stated that the differences could be found in aspects such as the thickness of the devices, the front and rear surface design of the devices, and the lack of physical buttons.

Reduced online registration requests fees

Since July 1st, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) reduced the registration fees for 33 types of online patent requests using e-documents and allowed registration requests to be amended to facilitate faster and easier patent grants (use rights) and the recording of transfer of industrial property rights. To inform people of the returning fees, in addition to the current paper notice and phone call, email and cell phone SMS will be made available so that people can receive notification of the return in a timely manner.

Japan amended Copyright Law could mean jail time for illegal downloaders

Japan’s Parliament passed the modification of the copyright law on June 20th. According to the newly amended copyright law, which will be enforced on October 1st, of this year, illegal downloaders would face a punishment of up to two years in prison or up to 2 million yen (approx. US$25,000) in fines. In addition, the practice of copying DVDs to a hard drive is also considered illegal. However, the operability of the revision is being questioned. People are worrying about their privacy infringement.

ALRC released the final terms of reference of its review of copyright

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has released the final terms of reference of its review of copyright. The Copyright Act has been amended annually over the past 12 years, but has not been reviewed from the perspective of the impact digital transformation has had on the economy, policy and practice. The key issue of the review is whether the exceptions in the Copyright Act are adequate and appropriate in the digital environment. The ALRC will publish an Issues Paper in August, 2012 and collect opinions at that time. Meanwhile, the ALRC is required to provide a Final Report with amendment recommendation by the end of November, 2013.

India to provide free drugs

India has adopted a policy to provide free medicine to the public. From city hospitals to rural clinics, India’s public doctors will be able to prescribe free generic drugs to all patients soon. This is an immense improvement on the current situation, where only a quarter of India’s population can afford prescription drugs.

The total funding would be 5.4 billion dollars. This policy will profoundly reduce patients’ medical care expenses. The Indian government said this scheme will benefit up to half of India’s 1.2 billion citizens within five years. However, branded medicines are excluded from the scheme which will affect pharmaceutical giants. This policy could greatly impact the pharmaceuticals industry. Pharmaceutical firms would rethink their emerging market strategies and closely follow similar regulations in other regions.