USPTO Proposes Electronic Patent Issuance to Speed Up the Process

USPTO Proposes Electronic Patent Issuance to Speed Up the Process

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently in its Federal Register published a public rulemaking notice proposing that it wants to stop the mailing of issued patents to the inventors.

As part of this proposed change, the USPTO would issue all patents electronically using its patent document viewing systems, i.e., Patent Center and Patent Application Image Retrieval (PAIR). According to the notice, patents would go paperless, i.e., no longer issued on paper. Consequently, patents would no longer be mailed to any address of record submitted during the patent issuance process.

The USPTO said in a recent statement delivered that this proposed change, done via a digital seal, will shave two weeks off the time to patent issuance.

The notice reads that once the patent number and issuance date are assigned, electronic patent publication would lead to electronic patent issuance under the USPTO seal and along with the Director’s signature within only one week, in place of three weeks. It further mentions that by putting an end to the assembling, printing, and mailing of a paper patent upon its issuance, the USPTO would conveniently reduce the pendency of every issued patent application by roughly two weeks. In this way, the patent applicants and the public at large would undoubtedly benefit from the time saved. Additionally, the notice states that the patentees would easily be able to view and print their electronically issued patents, along with their cover sheets, via the USPTO’s patent document viewing systems, instead of waiting for their paper patent to arrive in their mail.

As per the public stats put forward by the USPTO, the office issued 388,900 patents last year, out of which 352,049 were 20-year utility patents.

The public is most welcome to comment on the proposed change by 14th February 2022.

No rule change as of now would be required to implement similar changes to Trademark Registration certificates; however, the USPTO still looks forward to soliciting public feedback concerning its proposal to replace paper trademark registration certificates with digital versions. Presently, the USPTO issues 6,000 to 9,000 printed trademark registration certificates every week; therefore, the change would significantly reduce the paper processing and associated costs.

The notice also states that stakeholders who still may want the paper ‘presentation copies’ of their issued patents and trademark registration certificates can get the same with an embossed gold seal and the Director’s signature in exchange for a nominal fee of $25 per copy. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Big Win for Farmers – India Revokes Patent Rights for PepsiCo Inc’s Lay’s Potato Chips

Big Win for Farmers – India Revokes Patent Rights for PepsiCo Inc’s Lay’s Potato Chips

It was two years ago when PepsiCo India had provoked outrage by suing nine farmers from Gujarat for allegedly infringing upon the Patent Rights by growing its registered potato variety, and now, recently, the company’s registration has been revoked by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights’ Authority (PPV&FRA).

The Convener at the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture, Kavitha Kuruganti, said this judgment is undoubtedly a historic win for the Indian farmers. She further added that the judgment would prevent any other food or seed corporation from misbehaving with the legally granted farmers’ seed freedom in India. Ms. Kuruganti had filed the petition to revoke PepsiCo’s registration.

PepsiCo did review this recent judgment but declined to give any further comments.

The PPV&FRA questioned the documents submitted by PepsiCo, which claimed that the food giant was the owner of the potato variety and could therefore be considered the registered breeder under the law. The Authority accepted Ms. Kuruganti’s contention, according to which many farmers were put to hardship in this case, along with the threatening possibility of having to pay an enormous penalty on the purported instance of infringement they were supposed to have been committing. As per the order issued by K.V. Prabhu (the Chairperson at PPV&FRA), the same violates public interest.

Used in Lay’s potato chips, the FL-2027 variety of potatoes came into the limelight two years ago in April when it became the center of interest in the David v. Goliath dispute in the potato belt of northern Gujarat. It was 2009 when the potato variety was introduced in India. It was grown by somewhere around 12,000 farmers, with whom PepsiCo had an exclusive agreement corresponding to selling the seeds and buying back the produce. In 2016, PepsiCo registered the potato variety under the PPV&FR Act, 2001.

According to PepsiCo’s infringement lawsuit filed under the Act against nine farmers in Gujarat, including a Rs 4.2 crore lawsuit filed against four small farmers, many farmers who were not involved in the ‘collaborative farming program’ were also growing and selling this variety in the state.

Amidst the critical election season, boycott threats and widespread protests by different political and farmers’ groups forced the government of Gujarat to intervene, thereby pushing PepsiCo to withdraw all cases in May 2019. In the same year, in June, Ms. Kuruganti had then applied to revoke the food giant’s registration.

Shalini Bhutani (a legal researcher and agriculture Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) expert) saluted the judgment as a precedent. She said that the Authority’s acceptance of Ms. Kuruganti’s revocation application (including the grounds of the same being against the public interest) sends an important signal concerning the aspect that farmers’ rights cannot be taken lightly by the IP rights holders in the country.

Kapil Shah, a member of the Kisan Beej Adhikar Manch and one of the activists who spearheaded the initial protests in Gujarat, said in a recent statement delivered that both the Authority and the Government do have a responsibility to make all registrants and applicants under the PPV&FR Act understand well that their rights do not supersede the farmers’ rights. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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EdTech Company upGrad Sues Scaler Alleging Trademark Infringement

EdTech Company upGrad Sues Scaler Alleging Trademark Infringement

EdTech firm, upGrad, has recently filed a Trademark Infringement lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against its fellow EdTech company called Scaler. According to upGrad, Scaler has violated the Intellectual Property (IP) related to its trademark. The company has now sought damages worth more than rupees three crores.

upGrad has accused Scaler of illegally using its business/brand name, i.e., ‘upGrad,’ on Google Ads to appear on top of the search results on Google, thereby gaining illicit benefits.

As per a recent press statement issued, the Delhi High Court, in this case, has granted an ad-interim injunction in upGrad’s favor. Also, until further notice, the Court has ordered Scaler not to bid on the Registered Trademarks (or any other variants) owned by upGrad using Google Ads or any other keyword program.

The CEO (India) at upGrad, Arjun Mohan, said in a recent statement that the lawsuit filed would ensure the protection of upGrad’s IP and trademarks and would also discourage unauthorized and unlawful usage in the future. He further said that upGrad has undoubtedly made considerable investments in building its brand name, which makes it even more essential for them to safeguard their rights. He also mentioned that the team at upGrad is looking forward to evaluating and filing trademark infringement lawsuits against other EdTech firms involved in similar Google Ads bidding activity.

Quite recently, the Delhi High Court, in a similar Google Ads lawsuit, granted an interim injunction in favor of MakeMyTrip (an Indian online travel company headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana) and against its competitor, HappyEasyGo (an online platform that caters to act as a one-stop solution for travel needs). In the same lawsuit and as part of the recent orders passed, the Court also directed Google to suspend/block the Google Ads account owned by HappyEasyGo.

In another lawsuit filed on similar grounds by DRS Logistics (one of the most trusted names in India in the field of logistics and transport), the Delhi High Court said that Google could never really exonerate itself from the liability of ensuring that a specific keyword doesn’t infringe upon a registered trademark. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Display Social Completes Acquisition of Patent & IP from LookWithUs

Display Social Completes Acquisition of Patent & IP from LookWithUs

Display Social Inc. (an online social media and networking service, widely known as ‘Social That Pays’) has recently announced its acquisition of a patent from LookWithUs (a Los-Angeles based powerful platform that specializes in combining collaborations and social communications for the digital content). The Intellectual Property (IP) owned by LookWithUs covers collaboration on any digital object out there and enables the integration of rich media that could be text, voice, images, video, files, documents, hyperlinks, and so on.

LookWithUs was founded by a talented team of media and tech experts. The company wanted to discover a modern, web-enabled, and social communication platform that would go beyond the limited collaboration systems and reflect the way using which people interact, communicate, and collaborate with others in their day-to-day lives. The robust software architecture and IP, which now belongs to the portfolio of Display Social, presents a complete suite of new tools for creators and developers on the app. It would allow them to embed and share collaborations across the globe via the Display Social platform and the much expected and awaited Display metaverse.

The Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Display Social, John Acunto, said in a recent statement delivered that the company is unlocking the enormous power of collaboration and introducing a fundamental transformation in the way people usually communicate, share content with others, and create value. He further mentioned that it is a critically important step in their shared journey to a brand new form of social commerce using which influencers and innovators belonging to different levels of the economy can extract benefits directly from their energy, passion, and creativity, which is undoubtedly exciting and thrilling.

The CEO at LookWithUs, Mark Smith, said they had been looking for a company with an objective and roadmap that matched their own and provided the next-generation platform to deliver that objective – and they found it in Display Social. He further stated that the company is elated to join an incredible team of innovators at Display Social that would leverage and scale their technology. LookWithUs is immensely proud today to see their powerful IP and other tools integrated throughout the Display Social platform.

The metaverse capabilities will certainly prove to be a success story for Display Social as it would enable brands and creators alike to interact well with one another. The IP offers the tools that help marketers and creators in generating virtual microsites and distributing them all over the internet by using simple hyperlinks. The same could then be embedded in websites, used on different social media platforms, implemented via email campaigns for blogs, coupons, NFTs, shopping links, and even other areas of the metaverse itself; thereby, allowing Display Social to play an integral part in everyone’s digital journey.

In the present era, content creators increasingly expect social media networks to treat them fairly and impartially – for which Display Social differentiates itself from others in the industry by rewarding creators as per their advertising and affiliate revenue. It empowers creators with build-in tools to enhance the creative processes, which, in turn, helps them grow their audience and engage well with them. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Intellectual Property Filings Improve Globally Despite Covid-19 Pandemic

Intellectual Property Filings Improve Globally Despite Covid-19 Pandemic

At the global level, Intellectual Property (IP) filings, including trademarks, patents, and industrial designs, rebounded last year (as per the latest data presented by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), thereby indicating the resilience of human innovation and creation despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the contrary, the filing activity of both patent and Trademark Applications during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 (the Great Recession) had contracted sharply.

As per the World Intellectual Property Indicators report (compiling new data from 150 national and regional authorities), the trademark filing activity rose by 13.7% globally, patents by 1.6%, and industrial designs by 2%.

India has shown a pretty decent improvement in filings related to IP, with higher applications in trademarks (over 15%) and patents (10%), specifically driven by the ones filed in the pharmaceutical sector in 2020.

In 2020, the IP Office in China recorded the highest number of trademark applications. Also, India left behind Japan to secure the 5th position in terms of trademark filing activity.

The ultimate factor influencing such strong growth in the global trademark filing activity is the robust growth in products and services related to pharmaceuticals, surgical, dental, and medical goods, and advertising and business management.

Concerning pharmaceuticals, the number of filings increased from 4.1% in 2019 to 4.6% in 2020, while those of surgical, medical, and dental goods increased from 1.5% to 2.3%. Such trends were mirrored by some nations that saw significant increases in their respective trademark filing activities. For instance, India’s near about 15.4% growth in its trademark filing activity was driven majorly by the applications filed in the pharmaceutical sXctor.

Furthermore, global patent filing activity returned to growth last year after experiencing the first dip in a decade in 2019 due to a decline in China. In 2020, the IP office in China reported 1.5 million Patent Applications, followed by the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the European Patent Office (EPO). These five offices, together, accounted for 85.1% of the patent applications filed throughout the world.

Among the top ten IP offices, only three nations, including the Republic of Korea (3.6%), India (5.9%), and China (6.9%), recorded growth in the applications filed in 2020.

The Director-General at WIPO, Daren Tang, expressed his views on the strong growth in trademark filings (in particular) in 2020. He said that the double-digit growth in the trademark filing activity shows how enterprises worldwide have brought new products and services to the market despite the massive economic shook.

It is interesting to note that IP’s center of gravity has now shifted to Asia, considering the number of applications filed from the region as per the latest data recorded by WIPO. A decade ago, half of the overall ten IP-related applications were filed in Asia, and, in 2020, this number went close to seven. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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South Africa & India Ask EU to Break Silence on the TRIPS Waiver for Covid-19 Vaccines

South Africa & India Ask EU to Break Silence on the TRIPS Waiver for Covid-19 Vaccines

After several weeks of deadlock, South Africa and India have asked the European Union (EU) to put forward a clear solution and break silence on the TRIPS waiver for Covid-19 vaccines and drugs instead of only blocking the proposal that looks forward to ensuring that people in developing and poor nations are protected from the pandemic.

According to the Indian officials, in recent weeks, the EU has come to the negotiating table to work on a possible way out with various sources in Geneva, hinting that the trading bloc might come around to agreeing to limit the flexibility to patent waiver only for Covid-19 vaccines.

To date, the proposal put forward by India and South Africa has been backed by more than 100 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It looks forward to providing copyright, patent, and other Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) waivers for vaccines, medical devices, and therapeutics.

As of now, the EU has recommended that the vaccine manufacturers who can and are ready to produce the Covid-19 vaccination shots may start producing them without worrying about obtaining Patent Protection.

The WTO secretariat is eager to find an adequate solution way ahead of this month’s ministerial meeting in Geneva, although the details are very much unlikely to be finalized in the coming three weeks. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Chief at WTO, is eager to deliver a trade and health package at the ministerial meeting and is looking forward to receiving support from different countries, including India, to back the fisheries agreement in return.

The EU, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK are the only nations opposing the proposal and are not even willing to discuss the draft floated by South Africa and India. Also, within the EU, only a handful of nations like Germany are opposing the proposal.

Even though South Africa has its ‘vaccine hub,’ it doesn’t seem to have extracted many benefits from it, keeping aside the mRNA facility fulfilling the requirements of other African nations.

India, on its part, is keen to find a solution to the vaccination issue at the earliest though many officials have claimed that ratcheting up the demand has implied that developed nations, at the minimum, stop blocking the supply of the key inputs and look forward to addressing the major vaccine inequality. Furthermore, India has also got the EU to suggest using the route of compulsory licensing, which enables opting for the patent waiver in the case of national emergencies; and this is something that the developed nations had always opposed.

As per the Government sources, multiple options are being looked at by various developing nations, and some of them may go ahead with the compulsory licensing route. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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PhonePe Decides to File a Fresh Lawsuit Against BharatPe Alleging Trademark Infringement

PhonePe Decides to File a Fresh Lawsuit Against BharatPe Alleging Trademark Infringement

PhonePe (a digital payments and financial services company headquartered in Bangalore, India) has recently decided to file a fresh lawsuit against BharatPe’s ‘buy now, pay later’ platform known as PostPe over Trademark Infringement. For this, PhonePe is now withdrawing its previous petition (over PostPe violating the ‘Pe’ trademark of the brand) filed in the Bombay High Court.

The Flipkart-owned PhonePe said in a recent statement delivered that the company would file a fresh lawsuit against BharatPe and continue opposing the use of ‘PostPe’ or ‘postpe’ mark ardently.

PhonePe had earlier approached the Bombay High Court to seek an injunction for restraining ‘Resilient Innovations’ (which operates BharatPe) from misusing its Registered Trademarks by using and promoting the ‘PostPe’ or ‘postpe’ mark.

The Court, during the hearing, noted that Resilient Innovations’ PostPe mark is indeed visually, structurally, and phonetically similar to the PhonePe mark, due to which, even it thought that the ‘PostPe’ or ‘postpe’ mark is a natural evolution of the word PhonePe and has emanated from the same. However, for addressing some specific observations noted by the Court in the pleadings filed by PhonePe, the company is now withdrawing the lawsuit. It will be seen filing a fresh suit for opposing the adoption of the mark ‘PostPe’ or ‘postpe’ mark by Resilient Innovations. PhonePe said that while allowing the withdrawal of the lawsuit and keeping the contentions and rights of both parties open, the Court granted it the liberty to come up with a fresh lawsuit.

A BharatPe spokesperson said in a statement delivered that the company doesn’t wish to comment on any part of the recent proceedings in the Bombay High Court that haven’t been recorded in the order passed. He further added that the company would eagerly wait for the receipt of the order that has recently been passed by the Bombay High Court to maintain the dignity of the entire legal process. He also mentioned that the bottom line of the case remains that PhonePe has now withdrawn its previous lawsuit, and it is needless to say that BharatPe would continue defending any legal action that PhonePe threatens to use against it.

In the meantime, PostPe is heavily advertising itself across various mediums. Recently, it came up with the ‘De Dena Aaram Se’ campaign, which is live across multiple TV and digital channels – throughout the ongoing ICC World Cup 2021 and the festive season. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Parus Files Second Lawsuit Against Samsung Alleging Patent Infringement

Parus Files Second Lawsuit Against Samsung Alleging Patent Infringement

Parus Holdings Inc., a company specializing in creating voice-driven applications, has recently filed its second lawsuit alleging Patent Infringement against Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the US Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas. According to the lawsuit, Samsung has infringed upon Parus’ patents concerning device control and voice-browsing technology. The infringed upon patents, as mentioned in the lawsuit, include US Patent No. 6,721,705, US Patent No. 8,185,402, and US Patent No. 7,386,455. As of now, Parus is looking forward to seeking all available remedies, which include damages against Samsung for all of the sales it made by infringing upon the patents in question.

The lawsuit asserts that the infringement on the part of Samsung has been ‘willful.’ Parus now wants the Court to make Samsung pay treble damages along with its attorneys’ fees. It also wants Samsung to be permanently restrained from infringing upon the said patents.

This is the second time that Parus has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung over the use of Parus’ voice-user interface technologies for retrieving information. In 2019, Parus had filed lawsuits against Samsung, Apple, and Google in the Western District of Texas for patent infringement over the ‘431 and ‘084 patents. This case is still pending as it also involves the infringement of various other forms of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). Parus has asserted different patents in some other district court cases as well, which are at present pending in the Western District of Texas against Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

Taj Reneau, the Chairman and CEO at Parus, said in a recent statement delivered that the company holds a responsibility towards its shareholders and customers corresponding to the investments that it has made in coming up with innovative technologies. He further added that Parus, at all times, aims at vigorously safeguarding its valuable patent portfolio and other Intellectual Property (IP) assets. He also mentioned that Parus is now looking forward to presenting its case in court and prevailing in the said matter.

Parus Holdings, Inc. is a privately-held company founded in 1997 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It is a pioneer of voice assistants and voice-enabled unified communications, which includes voice search, messaging, collaboration, and video and real-time communications for different mobile communities and even more than 50,000 business customers. What has kept Parus at the forefront of the voice communications industry for more than twenty years now include its patent solutions, its deep understanding of the requirements and challenges of potential customers, and its passion for delivering outstanding customer service. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Mondelez Threatens Primal Pantry for Exploiting the Trademark of its Milka Chocolate Range

Mondelez Threatens Primal Pantry for Exploiting the Trademark of its Milka Chocolate Range

Mondelez, a US-based multinational confectionery company, has recently threatened legal action against Primal Pantry, a London-based vegan snack maker, over the color of its Milka chocolate range. Mondelez has alleged that the cocoa bar owned by Primal Pantry exploits the trademark of Milka.

The lawyers fighting the case for Mondelez are now demanding that the use of lilac packaging in Primal Pantry’s cocoa bar must stop, and for every time the company infringes upon the trademark of Mondelez, it must pay £5,200 as penalty. On the other hand, Primal Pantry, owned by Nurture Brands, denies hurting or exploiting Mondelez’s trademark.

Adam Draper, the Managing Director at Nurture Brands, said in a statement delivered that the cocoa snack bars were launched in the market in 2016 in a wide range of colors for having a good differentiation on the shelf together.  He further said that the packaging of the cocoa bars is neither in the same color as that of Mondelez’s Milka chocolate range nor in the same spectrum. He also mentioned that Mondelez, despite the legal letter, has not provided any evidence to prove that the packaging color is similar enough to infringe upon the Milka trademark.

Nurture Brands, founded in London, supplies snacks that are plant-based all across Europe. It has employed 26 people in its Barbican headquarters and runs a factory in northeast England.

Mr. Draper is of the view that if Mondelez could prove that the packaging color of the cocoa bar is in the same color range as Milka, he would cooperate with the company, but in no case would he throw away all his products in the EU for an irrelevant justification. He also estimated that recalling the products and removing all packaging that at present is in circulation could cost somewhere between £30,000 and £50,000 without factoring in all the fines.

Mondelez owns many widely-known brands and names, such as Toblerone and Oreo. Even the British brands Kenco and Cadbury are a part of its empire. Cadbury, its subsidiary, lost an appeal in 2019 to safeguard the specific shade of purple that it uses to wrap its range of chocolates.

A spokesperson for Mondelez said that the company owns a Color Trademark in Europe for the unique lilac-colored packaging of Milka and its other brands. He further said that for safeguarding the value of all the brands, which have taken hundreds of years to earn goodwill in the market, Mondelez expresses its concerns to third parties whenever they use a protected brand element. He also mentioned that Mondelez has opened up conversations with Primal Pantry to try and resolve the issue amicably. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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GM & Ford Look Forward to Settling Trademark Dispute over Hands-Free Driving

GM & Ford Look Forward to Settling Trademark Dispute over Hands-Free Driving

In the present era, semi-autonomous features like crash-avoidance technology and hands-free driving are becoming hotly contested battlegrounds as car manufacturers seek to boost the prices. In the same context, there’s a trademark dispute between two automakers that we are going to discuss here.

Ford Motor Company (a US-based multinational automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford) and General Motors (a US-based automotive multinational corporation founded by William C. Durant) are looking forward to settling a Trademark Dispute (out of court) over the branding of their hands-free driving technology.

The lawyers for both the companies involved have informed a San Francisco federal judge that they are attempting to work well on the settlement terms and would undoubtedly report back to court within two months if in case an accord isn’t reached.

The counterattack legal battle began this year in July when General Motors sued Ford for infringing upon its trademarked driver-assistance technology. According to the company, it took legal action against Ford to safeguard its ‘Super-Cruise’ brand and ‘Cruise,’ (which is the name of its self-driving affiliate called Cruise LLC) after Ford gave a new name to its Co-Pilot360 automated driving system – ‘BlueCruise.’

Ford hit back at GM by asking the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to deprive the company of the two trademarks in question. It argued by saying that the whole automobile industry should be allowed to use the word ‘cruise’ freely for describing the driver-assistance technologies. To make its point stronger, the company also stated that the USPTO doesn’t usually register words or phrases as trademarks that are commonly used.

The first time GM introduced Super Cruise, which enables the drivers to take their hands off the wheel for brief periods, was on the Cadillac CT6 ( a full-size luxury car manufactured by Cadillac) in 2017. Ever since then, General Motors has expanded the technology significantly to enable cars to change lanes on their own. The company also has plans to offer this feature in more models. In 2020, Ford disclosed its plans of offering its BlueCruise hands-free driving technology in its F-150 pickup truck, which is also the top-selling vehicle in the United States. Furthermore, it is also offering the technology in its electric Mustang Mach-E as an over-the-air software update. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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