Bloomberg; China Announces Punishments for Intellectual-Property Theft
'China announced
an array of punishments that could restrict companies’ access to
borrowing and state-funding support over intellectual-property theft, a
key sticking point in its trade conflict with the U.S.
News
of the measures came just days after President Xi Jinping promised to
resolve the U.S.’s “reasonable concerns” about IP practices in a
statement after meeting President Donald Trump at the Group of 20 summit
on Saturday in Argentina. The White House said the sides agreed to hold
off on tariff action for at least 90 days as they negotiate to resolve
specific U.S. complaints.
China set out a total of 38 different punishments to be applied to IP
violations, starting this month. The document, dated Nov. 21, was
released Tuesday by the National Development and Reform Commission and
signed by various government bodies, including the central bank and
supreme court.
“I think it’s potentially significant if they are implemented and result
in a reduction in IP theft,” Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “We’ve
been down this road with China many times on IP. The attention companies
pay to IP theft has risen dramatically, and despite the great attention
it’s getting the violations have increased.”"
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
US IP Stakeholders Seek To Strengthen Public Support For IP, Ensure Future US Competitiveness; Intellectual Property Watch, December 4, 2018
David Branigan, Intellectual Property Watch; US IP Stakeholders Seek To Strengthen Public Support For IP, Ensure Future US Competitiveness
"United States intellectual property stakeholders from academic, business and legal backgrounds gathered recently to discuss how to increase public support to strengthen the intellectual property rights system in the US, in light of China’s steady rise in numbers of patent and trademark filings. US IP stakeholders argued that developing public awareness and understanding of IP is key to building this support, with some holding diverging views on how to go about this."
"United States intellectual property stakeholders from academic, business and legal backgrounds gathered recently to discuss how to increase public support to strengthen the intellectual property rights system in the US, in light of China’s steady rise in numbers of patent and trademark filings. US IP stakeholders argued that developing public awareness and understanding of IP is key to building this support, with some holding diverging views on how to go about this."
China keeps global crown in patent applications; Nikkei Asian Review, December 4, 2018
Rintaro Hosokawa, Nikkei Asian Review; China keeps global crown in patent applications
"China was responsible for around 40% of the 3.17 million patent applications submitted worldwide last year, putting the country at the top for the seventh straight year and driving Asia's growing presence in the global intellectual property arena.
The World Intellectual Property Organization said Monday China's 1.38 million applications mark a new record, though the group did not give a year-on-year percentage increase due to changes in the way China's patent office counted filings.
China's patent applications in 2017 mainly concerned electronic devices, computer technology and digital data transmission. Chinese tech companies, such as telecommunications equipment makers Huawei Technologies and ZTE, significantly boosted their application counts.
At 607,000, patent applications from the U.S. were less than half of China's total. That places America in second place, followed by Japan's 318,000 applications in third and South Korea's 200,000 in the No. 4 spot."
"China was responsible for around 40% of the 3.17 million patent applications submitted worldwide last year, putting the country at the top for the seventh straight year and driving Asia's growing presence in the global intellectual property arena.
The World Intellectual Property Organization said Monday China's 1.38 million applications mark a new record, though the group did not give a year-on-year percentage increase due to changes in the way China's patent office counted filings.
China's patent applications in 2017 mainly concerned electronic devices, computer technology and digital data transmission. Chinese tech companies, such as telecommunications equipment makers Huawei Technologies and ZTE, significantly boosted their application counts.
At 607,000, patent applications from the U.S. were less than half of China's total. That places America in second place, followed by Japan's 318,000 applications in third and South Korea's 200,000 in the No. 4 spot."
Defending Fair Use In South Africa; Intellectual Property Watch, December 4, 2018
Sean Flynn, Peter Jaszi, and Mike Carroll, American University Washington College of Law; Intellectual Property Watch; Defending Fair Use In South Africa
"On Wednesday the South African National Assembly vote on the Copyright Amendment Bill, which includes a new “fair use” right. Learned professors at the University of Stellenbosch have taken to calling the bill “shambolic”, and “an abomination.” It is certainly time for a little light to go with the heat."
"On Wednesday the South African National Assembly vote on the Copyright Amendment Bill, which includes a new “fair use” right. Learned professors at the University of Stellenbosch have taken to calling the bill “shambolic”, and “an abomination.” It is certainly time for a little light to go with the heat."
Tell the Senate Not to Put the Register of Copyrights in the Hands of the President; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), December 3, 2018
Katharine Trendacosta, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); Tell the Senate Not to Put the Register of Copyrights in the Hands of the President
"Update 12/03/2018: The December 4 hearing has been postponed, but it could be rescheduled. Keep telling the Senate to vote "no."
With just a week left for this Congress, one of the weirdest bad copyright bills is back on the calendar. The “Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act” would make the Register of Copyrights a presidential appointee, politicizing a role that should not be made a presidential pawn.
On Tuesday, December 4, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration is scheduled to vote on S. 1010, the Senate version of the “Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act” already passed by the House of Representatives as H.R. 1695. If it passes out of the committee, the whole Senate will be able to vote on it with only days left in the 2018 session."
"Update 12/03/2018: The December 4 hearing has been postponed, but it could be rescheduled. Keep telling the Senate to vote "no."
With just a week left for this Congress, one of the weirdest bad copyright bills is back on the calendar. The “Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act” would make the Register of Copyrights a presidential appointee, politicizing a role that should not be made a presidential pawn.
On Tuesday, December 4, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration is scheduled to vote on S. 1010, the Senate version of the “Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act” already passed by the House of Representatives as H.R. 1695. If it passes out of the committee, the whole Senate will be able to vote on it with only days left in the 2018 session."
Congress Using Lame Duck Session To Push Through Awful Plan To Politicize The Copyright Office; TechDirt, December 3, 2018
Mike Masnick, TechDirt; Congress Using Lame Duck Session To Push Through Awful Plan To Politicize The Copyright Office
"I explain all the details below, but the short version is that Hollywood is trying to use the lame duck Congress session to push through a bill that would be very bad for copyright, and would politicize the Copyright Office. EFF has an action page where you can tell Congress not to do this. The bigger explanation of all of this is below."
"I explain all the details below, but the short version is that Hollywood is trying to use the lame duck Congress session to push through a bill that would be very bad for copyright, and would politicize the Copyright Office. EFF has an action page where you can tell Congress not to do this. The bigger explanation of all of this is below."
Monday, December 3, 2018
Einstein’s ‘God Letter,’ a Viral Missive From 1954; The New York Times, December 2, 2018
James
Barron, The New York Times;
Einstein’s ‘God Letter,’ a Viral Missive From 1954
[Kip Currier: This article is interesting in and of itself, but as someone teaching IP, where we frequently look at issues of digitization, I was especially intrigued to learn about the ongoing Einstein Papers Project. Knowing how phenomenally useful Cambridge University's Darwin Correspondence Project's digitized letters were for my own dissertation research exploring Charles Darwin's information behaviors, I can imagine the treasure trove of insights relevant to many disciplines that will be gleaned--and now made accessible to diverse worldwide users--from Einstein's digitized writings.
These kinds of massive "knowledge access for the public good" projects (--like Harvard's recently inaugurated Caselaw Access Project) are commendable exemplars of the positive intersections that technology, academic scholarship, and research institutions like CalTech and Cambridge can promote and achieve on behalf of global audiences.]
"Diana L. Kormos-Buchwald, a professor of history at the California Institute of Technology and the director of the Einstein Papers Project, said that Einstein was “not particularly thrilled at the special place that Gutkind devotes to Einstein’s science as the — how shall we put it — the best example of Jewish deterministic thought.”"
Einstein’s ‘God Letter,’ a Viral Missive From 1954
[Kip Currier: This article is interesting in and of itself, but as someone teaching IP, where we frequently look at issues of digitization, I was especially intrigued to learn about the ongoing Einstein Papers Project. Knowing how phenomenally useful Cambridge University's Darwin Correspondence Project's digitized letters were for my own dissertation research exploring Charles Darwin's information behaviors, I can imagine the treasure trove of insights relevant to many disciplines that will be gleaned--and now made accessible to diverse worldwide users--from Einstein's digitized writings.
These kinds of massive "knowledge access for the public good" projects (--like Harvard's recently inaugurated Caselaw Access Project) are commendable exemplars of the positive intersections that technology, academic scholarship, and research institutions like CalTech and Cambridge can promote and achieve on behalf of global audiences.]
"Diana L. Kormos-Buchwald, a professor of history at the California Institute of Technology and the director of the Einstein Papers Project, said that Einstein was “not particularly thrilled at the special place that Gutkind devotes to Einstein’s science as the — how shall we put it — the best example of Jewish deterministic thought.”"
Sunday, December 2, 2018
I Wanted to Stream Buffy, Angel, and Firefly for Free, But Not Like This; Gizmodo, November 30, 2018
Alex Cranz, Gizmodo; I Wanted to Stream Buffy, Angel, and Firefly for Free, But Not Like This
"This is TV that should be accessible to everyone, but Facebook Watch? Really? In order to watch Buffy take on a demon with a rocket launcher you have to be willing to sit there and stare at a video on the Facebook platform—the same place your cousin continues to post Daily Caller Trump videos and that friend from high school shares clips of a Tasty casserole made of butter, four tubes of biscuit dough, baked beans, and a hot dog? The price for complimentary access to three of the best shows produced is bargaining away your data and privacy?
No, thanks.
But Facebook is hoping we’ll all say yes, please. Facebook’s user growth in the U.S. notably hit a wall over the summer and it’s been trying to fix things. It’s also trying to make itself more “sticky,” so people stay on Facebook to get not just family and friend updates and memes, but also the streams and standard videos more commonly found on YouTube. Last year Facebook launched Watch, its YouTube competitor that was, from the start, filled with trash. But things have slowly improved, with the show Sorry for Your Loss gaining rave reviews."
"This is TV that should be accessible to everyone, but Facebook Watch? Really? In order to watch Buffy take on a demon with a rocket launcher you have to be willing to sit there and stare at a video on the Facebook platform—the same place your cousin continues to post Daily Caller Trump videos and that friend from high school shares clips of a Tasty casserole made of butter, four tubes of biscuit dough, baked beans, and a hot dog? The price for complimentary access to three of the best shows produced is bargaining away your data and privacy?
No, thanks.
But Facebook is hoping we’ll all say yes, please. Facebook’s user growth in the U.S. notably hit a wall over the summer and it’s been trying to fix things. It’s also trying to make itself more “sticky,” so people stay on Facebook to get not just family and friend updates and memes, but also the streams and standard videos more commonly found on YouTube. Last year Facebook launched Watch, its YouTube competitor that was, from the start, filled with trash. But things have slowly improved, with the show Sorry for Your Loss gaining rave reviews."
Dark web dealers voluntarily ban deadly fentanyl; The Guardian, December 1, 2018
Mark Townsend, The Guardian; Dark web dealers voluntarily ban deadly fentanyl
[Kip Currier: Noteworthy development, and hopefully this will save lives. Interesting to ponder what ethical theory this "commercial decision" might fall under:
"Major dark web drug suppliers have started to voluntarily ban the synthetic opioid fentanyl because it is too dangerous, the National Crime Agency has said.
They are “delisting” the high-strength painkiller, effectively classifying it alongside mass-casualty firearms and explosives as commodities that are considered too high-risk to trade. Fentanyl can be up to 100 times stronger than heroin and can easily cause accidental overdoses, particularly when mixed with heroin.
Vince O’Brien, one of the NCA’s leads on drugs, told the Observer that dark web marketplace operators appeared to have made a commercial decision, because selling a drug that could lead to fatalities was more likely to prompt attention from police.
It is the first known instance of these types of operators moving to effectively ban a drug."
[Kip Currier: Noteworthy development, and hopefully this will save lives. Interesting to ponder what ethical theory this "commercial decision" might fall under:
[excerpted from the article] "...dark web marketplace operators appeared to have made a commercial decision, because selling a drug that could lead to fatalities was more likely to prompt attention from police."]
"Major dark web drug suppliers have started to voluntarily ban the synthetic opioid fentanyl because it is too dangerous, the National Crime Agency has said.
They are “delisting” the high-strength painkiller, effectively classifying it alongside mass-casualty firearms and explosives as commodities that are considered too high-risk to trade. Fentanyl can be up to 100 times stronger than heroin and can easily cause accidental overdoses, particularly when mixed with heroin.
Vince O’Brien, one of the NCA’s leads on drugs, told the Observer that dark web marketplace operators appeared to have made a commercial decision, because selling a drug that could lead to fatalities was more likely to prompt attention from police.
It is the first known instance of these types of operators moving to effectively ban a drug."
Saturday, December 1, 2018
The Real Reasons Netflix Is Cancelling Their Marvel Shows; Forbes, November 30, 2018
Mark Hughes, Forbes; The Real Reasons Netflix Is Cancelling Their Marvel Shows
"Netflix pays money to produce the Marvel shows, but they don't own the IP."
"Netflix pays money to produce the Marvel shows, but they don't own the IP."
USMCA, the new trade deal between the US, Canada, and Mexico, explained; Vox, November 30, 2018
Jen Kirby, Vox; USMCA, the new trade deal between the US, Canada, and Mexico, explained
"Intellectual property protections and digital trade provisions
Some experts told me these digital trade provisions fall short of what’s needed for a modernized NAFTA, but it’s a start."
"Intellectual property protections and digital trade provisions
This is seen as a win for the United States. The new agreement extends the terms of copyright
from 50 years beyond the life of the author to 70 years beyond the
life of the author. It also offers increased protections for a certain
type of drug from eight years to 10 years — which basically extends the
period that a drug can be protected from generic competition.
There’s also the fact that NAFTA was negotiated more than
two decades ago, so it didn’t really deal with the internet. The USMCA
aims to fix that by adding new provisions for the digital economy. These
provisions include
things like no duties on products purchased electronically, such as
music or e-books, and protections for internet companies so they’re not
liable for content their users produce.
Some experts told me these digital trade provisions fall short of what’s needed for a modernized NAFTA, but it’s a start."
Friday, November 30, 2018
Why Are College Textbooks So Expensive?; Business Insider, November 27, 2018
Video, Business Insider; Why Are College Textbooks So Expensive?
"Almost 80% of the textbook industry is dominated by 5 publishing companies. They use restrictive codes and re-publish new versions of textbooks every 2 to 3 years. Due to these tactics, textbook costs overall have risen 67% from 2008 to 2018."
"Almost 80% of the textbook industry is dominated by 5 publishing companies. They use restrictive codes and re-publish new versions of textbooks every 2 to 3 years. Due to these tactics, textbook costs overall have risen 67% from 2008 to 2018."
Copyright and the "male gaze": a feminist critique of copyright law; BoingBoing, November 20, 2018
Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing; Copyright and the "male gaze": a feminist critique of copyright law
"Film theorist Laura Mulvey coined the term "male gaze" to describe the "masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer": in a paper for the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, Southwestern Law School professor John Tehranian applies Mulvey's idea to the complex and often nonsensical way that copyright determines who is an "author" of a work and thus entitled to control it, and shows how the notion of authorship reflects and amplifies the power imbalances already present in the world...
Copyright's Male Gaze: Authorship and Inequality in a Panoptic World [John Tehranian/Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, Vol. 41, 2018]"
"Film theorist Laura Mulvey coined the term "male gaze" to describe the "masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer": in a paper for the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, Southwestern Law School professor John Tehranian applies Mulvey's idea to the complex and often nonsensical way that copyright determines who is an "author" of a work and thus entitled to control it, and shows how the notion of authorship reflects and amplifies the power imbalances already present in the world...
Copyright's Male Gaze: Authorship and Inequality in a Panoptic World [John Tehranian/Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, Vol. 41, 2018]"
Press Release: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office releases 2018-2022 Strategic Plan
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Why Trump tariffs on China not stopping theft of trade secrets; USA TODAY, November 28, 2018
Why Trump tariffs on China not stopping theft of trade secrets
[Kip Currier: Interesting to see a flurry of articles in wide-ranging media about IP--particularly IP theft--placed front and center by the U.S. at the G20 Summit in Argentina (see here and here).
Yesterday I listened to a free webinar, "Modernizing NAFTA into a 21st Century Trade Agreement: The New USMCA & IP", from the ABA IP Law Section on IP-related aspects of the U.S., Mexico, Canada Agreement (USCMA); what was previously informally referred to as NAFTA 2.0.
Ms. Kira Alvarez, Esq., provided an excellent overview of trade agreements like NAFTA and insightful comparative analysis of key IP-focused sections of the TRIPS agreement, Trans-Pacific Partnership (which Donald Trump, fulfilling his campaign promise, opted the U.S. out of as one of the first acts of his presidency in January 2017), and the USCMA. Time will tell if the beefed-up protections for Trade Secrets in the USMCA are successful in curbing IP theft.]
"The theft of U.S. intellectual property, mostly by the
Chinese, costs the U.S. an estimated $225 billion to $600 billion a
year and represents “an assault the likes of which the world has never
seen,” analyst Richard Ellings said.
“You can’t
find a company that hasn’t been assaulted, and half of them don’t even
know it,” said Ellings, executive director of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property.
President Donald Trump cited China’s theft of intellectual property as one of his reasons for slapping $200 billion in tariffs on
Chinese imports earlier this year. Tariffs, intellectual property theft
and the forced transfer of intellectual property will be among the
topics of discussion when Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet
over dinner Saturday during the G-20 summit in Argentina, White House officials said.
"The
rest of the world knows full well about the issues of IP theft and
forced transfers of technology," Trump's top economic adviser Larry
Kudlow said. "This idea that other countries are not with us is just not
true. It's time for a change in their behavior.""
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Intellectual Property to Take Center Stage as Trump and Xi Meet; The New York Times, November 28, 2018
Alan Rappeport, The New York Times;
"When President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China sit down to talk trade this week at the Group of 20 summit meeting, their negotiations are likely to be framed by a highly charged topic: the White House’s insistence that China routinely steals American technology and intellectual property."
"When President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China sit down to talk trade this week at the Group of 20 summit meeting, their negotiations are likely to be framed by a highly charged topic: the White House’s insistence that China routinely steals American technology and intellectual property."
Navy Official: Concerns About Intellectual Property Rights Becoming More 'Acute'; National Defense, NDIA's Business & Technology Magazine, November 29, 2018
Connie Lee, National Defense, NDIA's Business & Technology Magazine;
"Capt. Samuel Pennington, major program manager for surface training systems, said the fear of losing data rights can sometimes make companies reluctant to work with the government.
“We get feedback sometimes where they’re not willing to bid on a contract where we have full data rights,” he said. “Industry [is] not going to do that because they have their secret sauce and they don’t want to release it.”
Pennington said having IP rights would allow the Defense Department to more easily modernize and sustain equipment.
“Our initiative is to get as much data rights, or buy a new product that has open architecture to the point where [the] data rights that we do have are sufficient, where we can recompete that down the road,” he said. This would prevent the Navy from relying on the original manufacturer for future work on the system, he noted.
The issue is also being discussed on Capitol Hill, Merritt added. The fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Pentagon to develop policy on the acquisition or licensing of intellectual property. Additionally, the NDAA requires the department to negotiate a price for technical data rights of major weapon systems."
Navy Official: Concerns About Intellectual Property Rights Becoming More 'Acute'
"Capt. Samuel Pennington, major program manager for surface training systems, said the fear of losing data rights can sometimes make companies reluctant to work with the government.
“We get feedback sometimes where they’re not willing to bid on a contract where we have full data rights,” he said. “Industry [is] not going to do that because they have their secret sauce and they don’t want to release it.”
Pennington said having IP rights would allow the Defense Department to more easily modernize and sustain equipment.
“Our initiative is to get as much data rights, or buy a new product that has open architecture to the point where [the] data rights that we do have are sufficient, where we can recompete that down the road,” he said. This would prevent the Navy from relying on the original manufacturer for future work on the system, he noted.
The issue is also being discussed on Capitol Hill, Merritt added. The fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Pentagon to develop policy on the acquisition or licensing of intellectual property. Additionally, the NDAA requires the department to negotiate a price for technical data rights of major weapon systems."
IP is the G20 Issue; Forbes, November 29, 2018
Lorenzo Montanari, Forbes; IP is the G20 Issue
"The official priorities at the G20 Summit in Argentina include worrying about soil erosion, mainstreaming public-private partnerships, and voicing anxiety over whether government run schools can equip kids with employable skills.While those certainly are complex issues, they miss the urgency of a real global crises that President Trump has brought to the table.
The new agenda is intellectual property, intellectual property, and intellectual property.
President Trump has not shied away from the complex issue that Obama and other world leaders preferred to ignore. At the summit the United States, Mexico, and Canada are expected to sign the new USMCA trade agreement- an agreement that has the strongest IP protections than any other trade agreement in history."
"The official priorities at the G20 Summit in Argentina include worrying about soil erosion, mainstreaming public-private partnerships, and voicing anxiety over whether government run schools can equip kids with employable skills.While those certainly are complex issues, they miss the urgency of a real global crises that President Trump has brought to the table.
The new agenda is intellectual property, intellectual property, and intellectual property.
President Trump has not shied away from the complex issue that Obama and other world leaders preferred to ignore. At the summit the United States, Mexico, and Canada are expected to sign the new USMCA trade agreement- an agreement that has the strongest IP protections than any other trade agreement in history."
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Did Uber Steal Google’s Intellectual Property?; The New Yorker, October 22, 2018 Issue
Charles Duhigg, The New Yorker; Did Uber Steal Google’s Intellectual Property?
"Levandowski, for his part, has been out of work since he was fired by Uber. It’s hard to feel much sympathy for him, though. He’s still extremely wealthy. He left Google with files that nearly everyone agrees he should not have walked off with, even if there is widespread disagreement about how much they’re worth. Levandowski seemed constantly ready to abandon his teammates and threaten defection, often while working on an angle to enrich himself. He is a brilliant mercenary, a visionary opportunist, a man seemingly without loyalty. He has helped build a technology that might transform how the world functions, and he seems inclined to personally profit from that transformation as much as possible. In other words, he is an exemplar of Silicon Valley ethics.
Levandowski is upset that some people have cast him as the bad guy. “I reject the notion that I did something unethical,” he said. “Was I trying to compete with them? Sure.” But, he added, “I’m not a thief, and I’m not dishonest.” Other parents sometimes shun him when he drops his kids off at school, and he has grown tired of people taking photographs of him when he walks through airports. But he is confident that his notoriety will subside. Although he no longer owns the technology that he brought to Google and Uber, plenty of valuable information remains inside his head, and he has a lot of new ideas."
"Levandowski, for his part, has been out of work since he was fired by Uber. It’s hard to feel much sympathy for him, though. He’s still extremely wealthy. He left Google with files that nearly everyone agrees he should not have walked off with, even if there is widespread disagreement about how much they’re worth. Levandowski seemed constantly ready to abandon his teammates and threaten defection, often while working on an angle to enrich himself. He is a brilliant mercenary, a visionary opportunist, a man seemingly without loyalty. He has helped build a technology that might transform how the world functions, and he seems inclined to personally profit from that transformation as much as possible. In other words, he is an exemplar of Silicon Valley ethics.
Levandowski is upset that some people have cast him as the bad guy. “I reject the notion that I did something unethical,” he said. “Was I trying to compete with them? Sure.” But, he added, “I’m not a thief, and I’m not dishonest.” Other parents sometimes shun him when he drops his kids off at school, and he has grown tired of people taking photographs of him when he walks through airports. But he is confident that his notoriety will subside. Although he no longer owns the technology that he brought to Google and Uber, plenty of valuable information remains inside his head, and he has a lot of new ideas."
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