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FICPI will this year take place in Vienna, an architecturally stunning music city. Our expert, European Patent Attorney Hanna Laurén is attending the open forum and will be happy to discuss IP issues with you.
You can make an appointment in advance by e-mail: hanna.lauren@laineip.fi.
See you at FICPI!
Hanna
Venue: Congress Hotel Paasitorni, Paasivuorenkatu 5, Helsinki
Helsinki IP Summit is the biggest IP event in Finland and Scandinavia. It is aimed at IP professionals, business executives, startup companies, IP students and anyone interested in the subject.
Helsinki IP Summit speakers are top experts, including LAINE IP’s European Patent Attorney Jari Nieminen. He will speak on Thursday, October 24, on “5G and IPR”. You can find the full program of the event here.
The topics of the Helsinki IP Summit include:
Sign up for the Helsinki IP Summit!
The event is organized by IPR University Center. Laine IP is one of the sponsors.
AIPPI World Congress will be held this year in London in mid-September. You can meet our expert, European Patent Attorney Christopher Devine on site at Queen Elizabeth II Center and Central Hall Westminster, September 15-18, 2019.
You can schedule an appointment with Chris by sending him a message on Twitter @ChrisDevine_IP or a private message via LinkedIn.
Chris intends to listen to eg. the following Pharma Day lectures:
And the following panel sessions:
Since the referendum on membership of the EU in 2016, there has been lots of speculation regarding EU trademarks in the UK, the fate of the Unified Patent Court and the fate of the Unitary patent. From the outside looking in it seems that nobody knows whether the UK will leave the EU, if the UK does leave the European Union nobody knows on what terms. During the congress, Christopher would like to receive answers or at least get some insight into the situation.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often said to be the backbone of the European economy. However, a large proportion of their contribution to growth and new job creation is in fact generated by a small fraction of SMEs, which may be referred to as high-growth firms (HGFs).
Economists of the European Patent Office (EPO) and European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have examined (1) the relationship between IP activity and the growth prospects of European SMEs.
Main findings of the study include that SMEs with prior IPR activities are more likely to grow than other SMEs. SMEs that have filed at least one IPR are 21% more likely to experience a subsequent growth period, and 10% more likely to become an HGF. Naturally the mere filing of IPR is not sufficient to trigger growth, but it indicates company ability and intention to sustain innovation-based growth, through IPR creation and exploitation.
One interesting finding was that European patent protection activity predicts particularly clearly likelihood of high growth for SMEs classified in low-technology domain (2). See Figure 1.
Figure 1. Increase in odds of high growth with prior use of a European patent
This well illustrates competitive advantage that a firm in a low-tech sector may gain by innovating.
Utilization of different IPR types supports SME growth potential as shown in Figure 2 (14.1% of all SMEs of the study had filed for trademark, and only 4.6% for patent).
Figure 2. Increase in odds of high growth with prior use of an IPR bundle
Besides trademarks as a fundamental tool especially for consumer-oriented industries, the study found also the prior filing of patents to be a significant indicator of future HGF potential. This also implies the importance of strategic use of the IPR toolbox – how to select the tools to protect a new product or service, taking into account the various affecting dimensions, such as associated business value versus costs, scope of protection likely available, presence and nature of markets and competitors, etc.
Our IPR experts assist to prepare an IPR strategy and optimized use of the IPR toolbox to support your company. We also review current IPR status, such as assessment of coverage of current technology and/or brand related IPR portfolio with respect to product/service offering. We have unique mixture of IPR consulting expertise, many of our attorneys have earlier IPR management experience within companies.
Take contact to our expert to review your IPR status and plan how IPR can fuel your growth.
References:
(2) Eurostat classification, the low-tech domain including i.a. manufacturing of food products, beverages, textiles, wood products, paper products, and furniture
Important news for Finnish-based companies and individuals – effective 03 August 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will require all foreign-domiciled trademark applicants, registrants, and parties to Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings to be represented by an attorney who is licensed to practice law in the United States. The current rules allow foreign-based individuals and companies to represent themselves before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in such trademark matters.
The requirement applies to all trademark applicants, registrants, and parties whose permanent legal residence or principal place of business is outside the United States (e.g., Finland). According the USPTO, “…this new rule will help improve the quality of submissions to the USPTO.” The announcement is at the link below:
If you are a Finnish individual or company whose permanent legal residence or principle place of business is within Finland, LAINE IP’s trademark team and own U.S.-licensed attorney, Mark Scott (who works within the firm’s Helsinki office, shown in the picture above), are available to serve your global and U.S. trademark needs. Please contact us at our offices or any our trademark practitioners directly.
The reform of the Finnish Trademarks Act has reached the final steps as the new Act has been ratified by the President of Finland on 26 April 2019. The new law will enter into force on 1 May 2019 implementing EU Trademark Directive ((EU) 2015/2436) and Singapore Treaty (Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks 2006) and introducing a number of significant changes to the current trademark practice.
The aim of the reform is to get a clear, consistent and modern Act that enables a completely digital trademark process. The most relevant amendments to be adopted in the reform are outlined below.
The requirement for graphic or visual representation of a trademark will no longer be a prerequisite for protection. In line with the provisions in the European Union Trade Mark Regulation (EUTMR), the new provision now states that all trademarks which can be represented in the trademark register in such a way that the competent authorities and the public can “clearly and unambiguously determine the object of trademark protection” will be admitted for registration. The aim of this change is to facilitate the registration of new trademark forms, such as sound marks or multimedia marks.
Black and white trademarks filed under the new law will cover only the black and white version of the mark. It is important to note that trademarks filed and registered under the new practice in black & white but used in color can be invalidated by third parties due to non-use after five years.
The term of protection for trademarks filed under the new law expires 10 years after the filing date instead of the registration date.
One of the most significant changes of the reform applies to the classification of goods and services and what a list of goods and services is considered to cover. The main objective of this amendment is to make the trademark register clearer and more uniform. Under the new Act, applicants must clearly identify and sufficiently specify the applicable goods and services covered by the trademark.
The new Act offers trademark owners an opportunity to specify list of goods and services of trademark registrations which meet one of the following criteria:
The specification can be filed at any time after the new Trademarks Act has entered into force, and at the latest in connection with the next renewal of the trademark.
If no specification is requested, the scope of protection of the trademark registration is limited to those goods and services that are clearly covered in the literal meaning of the class heading in question. However, this does not apply to applications filed between 1 October 2012 and 31 December 2013 containing also references to the Nice alphabetical list. If the owner of such registration does not request specification, the Office will confirm that each class of the registration covers all the goods and services of the Nice alphabetical list and removes references to the Nice alphabetical list.
The above specification requirements also apply to international registrations designating Finland.
Once the new legislation comes into force, it will be possible to apply for administrative revocation and invalidation of trademark registrations at the Finnish Patent and Registration Office as an alternative to filing revocation or invalidation action to the Finnish Market Court. Registered company names can also be cancelled through an administrative procedure at the PRH in the future.
In opposition proceedings, it will be possible to request the proof of use of the opponent’s trade mark, if it has been registered for more than five years. The new Act also introduces possibility for the parties to file a joint request for suspension of the proceedings.
Our chemistry team attended the ChemBio 2019 – event on 27. – 28.3.2019 in the Helsinki Fair Center as an exhibitor. ChemBio is the biggest meeting place for experts in the chemical and bio fields with over 4000 attendants and over 140 exhibitors. The event has a lot of interesting program and seminars on current topics.
Nobelists Barry Sharpless (on the left), Ada Yonath and Fraser Stoddart with Professor Ari Koskinen on stage.
This year, ChemBio’s absolute attraction was the panel discussion of three nobelists on science, its future and its role in society. Barry Sharpless, Ada Yonath and Fraser Stoddart took part in the panel discussion which was led by Professor Ari Koskinen.
Other interesting seminar topics were for example “Future of food – what will we eat in the future” and “Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence – an unbeatable combination”, so the topics were sure to suit everyone’s taste. The exhibitors were also quite versatile from the field of chemistry and biotechnology all the way from different service providers to laboratory equipment manufacturers. By studying the area of the event, it was easy to get an idea of what is going on currently in the field of chemistry and biotechnology and in what direction development is going. In addition to the seminars and the exhibition event, ChemBio offered an excellent opportunity for networking, as there were plenty of visitors from all over Finland and abroad.
LAINE Intellectual Property
For the first time, Laine IP took part in the ChemBio event and the timing was excellent for the introduction of our new brand. At our stand, we had some of our client’s products, which we have helped protect, on display for the visitors to see. Inspired by concrete examples, patenting and trademark protection sparked brilliant questions from the event visitors for our experts to answer.
If you did not get to ChemBio this time, the next opportunity will be in April 2021, when it will be held together with the PulPaper event and the Helsinki Chemicals Forum. So the event is becoming even more versatile and interesting. See you at the fair!
When drafting patent applications, the choice of wording, particularly that of the claims, is always highly important. With the correct wording, you can avoid trouble relating to the relevant patent law.
The European Patent Convention, among others, indicates that a patent application should disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art, while another section of the Convention states that the claims should be clear and concise and be supported by the description.
Thus, clarity and a complete description or a description providing support for the claims is mentioned in both sections. The main difference between the sections is that one focuses on the claims, and their clarity and support, while the other focuses on the description, and the support it provides to the claims.
There exists also another interesting issue, where the above mentioned section mentioning the disclosure of the invention in the description is compared to a further section focusing on the inventive step, or non-obviousness, of the invention.
The former section states that the application shall disclose “the” invention, whereas the latter section mentions “an” invention, and continues by comparing this invention to the state of the art.
The sufficient disclosure must be included in the description of the application at the point of drafting, after which no new matter or support can be introduced into the application.
However, the inventive step is determined based on the wording of the claims, which can be amended long after the point of drafting the application. For example, an amendment of the claims could have been made in view of a prior art document that became known to the applicant long after the application was filed at the Patent Office. Such an amendment could even be based on a feature that was mentioned in the original application as a type of by-plot.
However, the description in its original form should still provide sufficient support for the invention, as described in the amended claims.
Laine IP is very happy to announce our newest US team member: Mr. Mark W. Scott.
Mr. Scott is a US Patent Attorney (licensed in three US states) with 16+ years of experience assisting clients in defending, procuring, and asserting intellectual property rights. By way of example, Mr. Scott has expertise in patent and trademark application preparation and prosecution, and in the preparation of patentability, freedom to operate, and infringement opinions for clients ranging from start-up entities to large corporations.
“I thoroughly enjoy working with clients to achieve their business interests.”
For the past 11.5 years, Mr. Scott has served as outside counsel and as in-house counsel for Siemens AG and its global organizations, including Siemens Energy, Inc. in the US. Mr. Scott has experience in a wide range of technologies, including but not limited to medical devices, diagnostic tests, new chemical entities, high temperature materials, wastewater treatment processes, gas turbine components and repair processes, manufacturing processes, and computer-related technologies.
Mr. Scott is located in Helsinki and mainly works with our chemistry patent practice, as well as advising clients in US IPR matters.
In his spare time, Mr. Scott enjoys film, studying languages, guitar, dogs, triathlons, and travel.
In 2018, the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) received 21,286 patent applications from abroad. This means a significant increase of about seven percent compared with the previous year. Also the number of trademark applications from abroad rose to 4863, i.e. just under six percent.
Most patent applications from abroad came from Japan (8013), the United States (6669) and the Republic of Korea (1313). Trademark applications were mostly filed by applicants from China (1564), the United States (528) and the United Kingdom (450).
In total, 67,895 patent applications were filed with the DPMA in 2018. Most patent applications were filed in the fields of transportation (12273), electric machines, electric devices and electric energy (7420), machine elements (5872), measurement technology (4979) as well as motors, pumps and turbines (4274).
A significant rose of about 26,7 % in filing numbers took place in the fields of computer implemented inventions and artificial intelligence. The number of patent applications from automotive industry continued to increase further. Six car manufacturers and three suppliers are among the top ten applicants.
The total number of utility model applications decreased by 7,4 percent to 12311. The DPMA further received in total 42670 single designs, that is a decrease in 8,7 percent compared with the previous year.
Seppo Laine Oy is also active in filing of Intellectual Property Rights in Germany and our patent attorney Teemu Kiviniemi will be happy to answer any of our client´s questions.
Laine IP Oy
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