Around the Blogs

This Kat seeks catnip on FRAND terms

This week's whistle-stop tour of the IP-blogosphere has a transatlantic character, with a Swiss patent litigation detour.

Patents

Last week brought widespread coverage of the the Supreme Courts of England and Wales's decision in the case of Unwired Planet vs. Huawei and Conversant vs. Huawei and ZTE (see Kat coverage here and here), including from Juve Patent, the Kluwer Patent Blog, Patentlyo and FOSS Patents.

What is the effect of a partial waiver of a patent filed late on in proceedings? The FPC Review covered the Swiss Supreme Court's answer, dismissing the ‘Einschlagbarer Hüftgelenkprothesengrundkörper’ case as being devoid of purpose since (a) the patentee no longer had any interest in the patent as originally filed, and (b) the partially-waived patent could not be admitted at a late stage. 

IP Finance reported on the findings of two interesting studies - one in the US, the other in the UK - about women's increasing involvement in the patent system, and racial diversity in startups, respectively.

Trade Marks

As explained on the IP Watchdog, a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a trade mark infringement finding of the district court in Tiffany & Co. vs. Costco Wholesale Corp., with the reasoning turning on a number of factors including descriptive use and lack of bad faith by Costco in selling 'Tiffany'-set rings.

In another decision born in the USA, the USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed a refusal to register 'born in the USA' as a trade mark for clothing, finding it to be merely descriptive, according to the TTABlog.

Other

The Fashion Law provided an update in the ongoing litigation involving fast-fashion company Fashion Nova and established designer brand Versace, with a judge siding with the latter in refusing to compel Donatella Versace to give evidence personally in the trade dress element of the dispute.

Photo by Danielle Daniel from Pexels