UN agency: China has explosive growth in patent applications; Associated Press via ABC News, March 15, 2017

Associated Press via ABC News; 

UN agency: China has explosive growth in patent applications

"The U.N.'s intellectual property agency says China is showing "quite extraordinary" growth in international patent applications, putting Chinese applicants on track to outpace their U.S. counterparts within two to three years.

Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, says China posted nearly 45-percent growth in such patent applications last year, saying "the country continues its journey from 'Made in China' to 'Created in China.'""

Why the FDA hides the names of grocery stores that sell contaminated food; Washington Post, March 13, 2017

Caitlin Dewey, Washington Post; Why the FDA hides the names of grocery stores that sell contaminated food

"The SoyNut Butter and a related granola were sold in stores across the country, according to the Food and Drug Administration. It was also served in an untold number of child-care centers and schools.

The FDA does not specify, however, which stores, centers or schools — because that would violate its interpretation of an obscure trade secret rule...

In the case of releasing retailer lists during major outbreaks, the FDA has historically sided with business, ruling that such lists constitute “confidential commercial information” and thus should not be available for public consumption."

Trademark infringement award for Sturgis rally set aside; Associated Press via Minneapolis StarTribune, March 14, 2017

Associated Press via Minneapolis StarTribune; 

Trademark infringement award for Sturgis rally set aside

"A federal judge has vacated a nearly $1 million trademark infringement award made to the owners of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally brand.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Inc., which owns the Sturgis logo, sued Walmart and a Rapid City retailer for allegedly improperly using the Sturgis trademark on merchandise. A jury awarded $912,500 to SMRI following a civil trial in October 2015, the Rapid City Journal reported (http://bit.ly/2mnnZYY ).

Federal Judge Jeffrey Viken upheld SMRI's trademark rights, but set aside the jury award against the defendants."

Lloyd Conover, Inventor of Groundbreaking Antibiotic, Dies at 93; New York Times, March 12, 2017

Denise Gellene, New York Times; 

Lloyd Conover, Inventor of Groundbreaking Antibiotic, Dies at 93

"With tetracycline’s commercial success, however, came a slew of patent challenges. Three pharmaceutical companies claimed that their scientists had discovered tetracycline before Dr. Conover, although their patent applications were filed later. After Pfizer licensed tetracycline to its competitors to end the dispute, the federal government challenged the licensing deals as anticompetitive, along with the validity of the patent.

“I had essentially a second career, preparing for and giving depositions and testifying,” Dr. Conover wrote in a 1984 article in the journal Research Management.

At scientific meetings, he wrote, he felt a coolness from peers who thought that his patent claim was false. A federal appeals court in Philadelphia finally affirmed the patent — and, by extension, the licensing agreements — in 1982, three decades after Dr. Conover invented tetracycline."

Patent Office finally confirms Michelle Lee is Director of the USPTO; IP Watchdog, March 10, 2017

Gene Quinn, IP Watchdog; Patent Office finally confirms Michelle Lee is Director of the USPTO

"At some point the story will be told about why it took 7 weeks for the Office to make a statement regarding the Director, and why the statement only came as the result of a FOIA request. But the more immediate question now becomes: How long will Michelle Lee remain Director of the USPTO?"

USPTO Freedom Of Information Act Inquiry; National Law Review, March 10, 2017

National Law Review; 

USPTO Freedom Of Information Act Inquiry

"The Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) can be a very powerful tool. It provides unqualified right to access certain public records. Patent attorney Gary Shuster used it to file a FOIA request (Request No. F-17-00099) with the USPTO on January 26, 2017, seeking the following:

1. Any document written by or on behalf of Michelle Lee constituting a resignation from office, a request to withdraw a resignation from office, or a request to refrain from her position."

Under pressure from tech companies, ‘Fair Repair’ bill stalls in Nebraska; Guardian, March 11, 2017

Olivia Solon, Guardian; 

Under pressure from tech companies, ‘Fair Repair’ bill stalls in Nebraska

"“This has the potential to weaken security features in a host of electronic devices. It’s not about dead screen or battery,” said CompTIA’s Alexi Madon, adding that the bill applied to medical equipment and government servers. “Manufacturers are also required to give up sensitive intellectual property.”

Tony Baker, a Nebraska politician who previously provided information solutions to the US military, countered the suggestion that repair rights would infringe on the intellectual property rights and the security of software. He explained how his organization created software running on classified networks that granted different levels of access to different groups of people, depending on their level of authorisation or security clearance. He argued that manufacturers could do the same with their products."