Posts in WIPO

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced on Friday that Lisa Jorgenson, former Executive Director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and Group Vice President, Intellectual Property and Licensing, of STMicroelectronics, was appointed World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Deputy Director General (DDG) for the Patents and Technology Sector. Jorgenson succeeded John Sandage and was appointed alongside Hasan Kleib of Indonesia, who will serve as DDG over Regional and National Development; Binying Wang of China as DDG over Brands and Designs; and Sylvie Forbin of France as DDG over Copyright and Creative Industries. Four Assistant Directors General were also appointed.

I am going to make a bold statement: every non-provisional patent application for an invention originating in the U.S. should be filed via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) first. Then, after another six months, following the international search, and PCT publication, those who desire U.S. patents should enter the U.S. National Stage. That’s right: every single application, no exceptions. No, I have not lost my mind. Here’s why.

In the latest decision regarding inventions made by the DABUS artificial intelligence machine, the England & Wales High Court has upheld two decisions of the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) deeming the UK patent applications to be withdrawn. In a judgment on September 21, Mr Justice Marcus Smith found that all the grounds of appeal filed by the applicant, Dr Thaler, must be dismissed. (Thaler v The Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs And Trade Marks [2020] EWHC 2412 (Pat).) As previously reported by IPWatchdog, the patent applications (for a fractal container and a neural flame) have been filed in many jurisdictions. The applicant claims that they are the autonomous output of the DABUS machine. Like the UKIPO, the EPO and USPTO have published decisions refusing to accept them.

Last week, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) issued the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020 report jointly with Cornell University, INSEAD and the 2020 GII Knowledge Partners, which included The Confederation of Indian Industry, Dassault Systèmes – the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, and The National Confederation of Industry (CNI) – Brazil. The report showed that the United States remains in third place behind Switzerland and Sweden in WIPO’s ranking of global economies in terms of innovation capacity and output.

Greetings; John White here. It is time for you to “Think PCT” [Patent Cooperation Treaty] anew. If the last thing you remember hearing me say about the PCT was some pneumonic about how to ensure an International Filing Date (English Applicant Requests Priority Designation!), or how to calculate an old Section 102(e) date under the FOoT/DUSE  (Fee Oath Translation/ Designate United States (publish in) English) Rule for the Patent Bar Exam: good, you still remember it! You’ve put off senility a little further by keeping these things circulating in your steel-trap like brain! (Sadly, my voice is probably still rattling around in there as well, I suppose. Sorry about that…) But, let’s move on; it is now time to really understand the use and implementation of a PCT strategy in the modern era. The world is changing rapidly!

Earlier this year, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) received hundreds of submissions commenting on the Draft Issues Paper on Intellectual Property Policy and Artificial Intelligence. Contemporaneously, the notable DABUS cases were rejected by the EPO, UKIPO, and USPTO on the ground that AI cannot be named as inventor. The uncertainty in the ownership/inventorship of AI technology could impede investment and development of AI technology. This article aims to look into the WIPO submissions and arguments for addressing AI inventorship. Considering balancing the incentive of fostering AI technology and genuine inventorship, this article suggests seeing AI as a tool, or a pet, and that requiring the applicant to disclose any AI technology involved is the better resting place.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published a Revised Issue Paper on Artificial Intelligence and IP Policy. The Revised Issues Paper updates the Draft Issues Paper published in December 2019 with the addition of a glossary and sections on trademarks and trade secrets, and an expansion of the sections covering patents, copyright, infringement and deep fakes. As reported by IPWatchdog in February, WIPO received more than 250 submissions from IP offices, companies, organizations and individuals in response to the draft paper. These have been taken into account in the Revised Issues Paper, which lists a large number of questions (many of them not included in the draft paper) under 16 separate issues.

On Friday, May 29, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially launched the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), an initiative which is intended to improve access to treatments, vaccines and other medical technologies which are developed in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The program, initially proposed by Costa Rica, has highlighted the tension between pharmaceutical developers and advocates for access to medicine, which has been magnified by the economic concerns created during the global shutdown.

It’s World IP Day! This year, the day will not be celebrated in the traditional fashion; there will be none of the usual panels, receptions, gatherings or educational events that are organized annually to commemorate the holiday, which was launched in 2000 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). While some remote panels will be held in lieu of the traditional affairs, there are decidedly fewer organizations participating this year. Here are some of the virtual events, reports and statements focusing on World IP Day 2020— the official theme of which is, “Innovate for a Green Future.”

We live in interesting times. No corner of professional or personal life seems untouched in at least some way by the latest coronavirus (named SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes (named “coronavirus disease 2019” abbreviated COVID-19). Governments all around the world are either demanding or suggesting that people quarantine themselves or engage in social distancing. The intellectual property world is no different. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), IP Australia, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), and the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) are just some of the Offices that have in recent days issued COVID-19 guidance to inform stakeholders of how the Offices will handle workflow and meetings during this global health emergency.

U.S. Government officials have congratulated Daren Tang on his nomination as WIPO Director General. As reported by IPWatchdog yesterday, Tang was nominated to the post by the WIPO Coordination Committee at a vote in Geneva. The nomination is expected to be confirmed by the WIPO General Assembly when it meets on May 7-8, 2020. Tang will then succeed Francis Gurry on October 1, 2020. According to reports from Geneva, Tang won after two rounds of voting. He led the first round with 37 votes out of the 83 members of the Coordination Committee, with the Chinese candidate, Wang Binying, in second place with 19. Tang then secured a clear victory in the second round, with 55 votes to Wang’s 28.

Daren Tang has been elected to be the next WIPO Director General, succeeding Francis Gurry. Tang is currently the Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). He has served in this capacity since 2015. Prior to that he was Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Legal Counsel for IPOS and Senior State Counsel, International Affairs Division at the Singapore Attorney-General’s Chambers. He also has served as Chairperson for WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights.

Twenty-two member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), more than 100 organizations, and over 100 individuals have submitted comments and suggestions in response to WIPO’s Draft Issues Paper on IP Policy and AI. The submissions have been posted in the form and in the languages in which they were received on WIPO’s website. The comments will feed into a revised issues paper for discussion at the second session of the WIPO Conversation on IP and AI, which takes place in Geneva in May 2020.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Copyright Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held a joint event titled, “Copyright in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” (AI) at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The event explored how global copyright law and intellectual property law, as well as broader policy, may currently address AI technology, and included dialogue about changes that may be needed. Panelists also shared how AI is being utilized now and what future technology deployment and innovation may look like. The event was part of a series of conversations organized by the U.S, Copyright Office and WIPO both in the United States and Europe, with the next conversation scheduled for May 11 and 12 in Geneva, Switzerland. The summit illustrated that AI presents unique opportunities for innovation, assuming intellectual property rights are respected, but questions remain in several areas, including whether machine learning is producing “original” work and whether the product of such software is inherently reproductive, derivative or the result of a system or process devoid of human action.

Dr. Marco Alemán  is one of 10 candidates to succeed Francis Gurry as Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The WIPO Coordination Committee will nominate one candidate on March 5 and 6, before he or she is formally appointed by the WIPO General Assembly. Alemán currently holds the post of Director of the Patent Law Division. After acting as Director of the Colombian Industrial Property Office, he started his career in 1999 at WIPO as Principal Administrator of Cooperation Programs for the Development for Latin America and the Caribbean, then as Deputy Director of the Division of Public Policy and Development, and later as Deputy Director of the Patent Law Division.