[International IP Briefing] Mar. 2020

US

On Feb. 28, 2020, IAM, a global media providing IP contents, announced the ranking of the top 100 companies with the most patents in the United States in 2020.

This research was jointly conducted by IAM and ktmine, an intellectual property data analysis platform, and is subject to invention patents, design patents and plant patents which were published in the United States as of January 1, 2020. However, inactive cases such as the expired, withdrawn etc. were excluded from the research.

pixabay.com

The top companies that hold the most patents in the United States are Samsung Electronics, IBM, Canon, and Microsoft, which were the same as last year, while Toyota (9th) and Apple (7th) have significantly increased.

Asian companies and North American companies are neck and neck showing the top 10 companies share an equal share of the two regions.

www.kiip.re.kr

<Source>

https://www.kiip.re.kr/board/trend/view.do?bd_gb=trend&bd_cd=1&bd_item=0&po_item_gb=US&currentPage=2&po_no=19479

EP

Major European patent offices, including the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO), notify European countries  to the spread of the COVID-19.

As the COVID-19 spread to the continental Europe, the European Commission (EU Commission) approved temporary provisions for non-essential travel, urging member/non-member countries to carry out preventive measures against the COVID-19.

Patent offices in major European countries such as the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have issued a notice in preparation for Coronavirus.

EUIPO postponed the period limit for Chinese applicants for a month in February, and through an official announcement on Mar. 16, they postponed the all period limit related to the application process for all EUIPO applicants from Mar. 9 until Apr. 30, 2020.

pixabay.com

- The European Patent Office (EPO) said that China, Korea, Iran, Italy, Germany, and France were selected as high-risk areas, and that oral proceedings related to the parties or persons who visited the area were postponed or replaced by video conference upon request.

- The German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) has announced that it will close the information center and the research room and extend the deadline for all open pleadings until May 15, 2020, without further process.

- The UK Patent and Trademark Office (UKIPO) has announced that although there is no explicit extension of the period limitation, it is possible to consider extending the period under domestic and international law depending on the case, and to guide the procedure for recovery in case of loss of rights.

- France's National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) announced that it will perform home-working, provide new applications for patents, trademarks and designs, renew trademarks, file patent fees, geographical indications and other online services.

- The Italian Patent and Trademark Office (Patice) announced that it would work at home and provide normal services through online.

< Source>

https://www.kiip.re.kr/board/trend/view.do?bd_gb=trend&bd_cd=1&bd_item=0&po_item_gb=EU&po_no=19504

Can AI hold patents?

  WIPO announced draft of the patent right of AI,

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) initiated an open consultation process on AI intellectual property policy in December of last year and requested comments from member countries. The draft created by WIPO was about giving intellectual property ownership to AI itself, not to companies that have the AI technologies. If the technology created by AI is registered as a patent, the owner becomes AI, not an AI technology holder or inventor.

🔺 flickr.com © mikemacmarketing

  Comments on the WIPO draft,

Since the announcement of the draft, it has been reported that members of 100 companies in about 22 countries have sent their opinions to the WIPO. Intel has submitted that intellectual property inventors should not be allowed to be named AI, and that inventors must be absolutely human. Philips also strongly opposed saying that it should not recognize patents on development products based on AI technology. As such, most companies seem to have expressed opposition to the WIPO’s draft. On the other hand, there were opinions of IT experts and scientists that AI, not a company / institution with AI technology, should have intellectual property rights. It is insisting that the system should be changed in line with the new era.

🔺 WIPO.int

   Several precedents on AI programs,

AI developer Stephen Thaler developed the AI-invented program “Dabus,” which expands neural networks and creates new ideas. In 2018, the Dabus research team filed a patent for two technologies invented by Dabus to the Intellectual Property Office (GOV.UK), the European Patent Office (EPO), and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In January, the EPO rejected that the technologies invented by Dabus because the technology met the requirements of the patent, but that the machine could not replace the inventor under the European Patent Convention. On the other hand, a court in Shenzhen City, China, recently filed a copyright infringement on Shanghai's Yingxun Science and Technology for the unauthorized use of articles written by AI program Dream writer. Dream writer is an article writing system developed by Tencent in 2015. Although it was a damage judgment of US$250 , the Chinese court recognized the AI ​​program as the subject of the work. Due to this, it is still controversial a lot.

🔺 wipsglobal.com
<Dabus' patent>

  In the new era, will AI be able to hold patent rights?

Controversy continues over the earlier comments, saying that AI should be patented, as in Europe and China. It may be that the world has advanced one step as much as this controversy. It seems necessary to think seriously about how far the role and position of AI should be allowed in a changing era. If AI becomes a patent holder, it is necessary to prepare for the fundamental problems that may arise.

Samsung Electronics tired of Patent Lawsuit

Accused from UK company Nanoco, 

Recently, Nanoco, a British quantum dot material technology company, filed a patent lawsuit in the Eastern District Court of Texas, USA. Because Samsung Electronics has infringed five patents of Nanoco, which are related to quantum dots. Nanoco disclosed related technologies such as providing quantum dot samples in the process of developing LCD module materials collaborating with Samsung Electronics in 2010, and claimed that Samsung Electronics achieved great success after developing QLED TV through this technology.

nanocotechnologies.com

What is Nanoco's lawsuit about?

Nanoco has been trying to sell the company for several years. It has been proposed to mergers and acquisitions with some companies, but it has not been known to date. Industry officials believe that Nanoco has started noise marketing to close the sale early. This is because if they get the attention from the market by suing Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 quantum dot display technology company, Nanoco could be sold easily. In particular, many say that Chinese companies, which are trying to catch up with Samsung’s display technology, will be attracted to Nanoco with the technology necessary for QLED development.

wipsglobal.com
<Nanoco's patent related to display technology>

Samsung Electronics sued by patent monster,

Neodron, founded in Ireland in 2018, is a patent monster that makes profits by purchasing patents at low prices from companies from different countries and then suing other companies. Recently, Neodron sued global companies such as Samsung, LG, Amazon and Apple to ITC for violating its smartphone touch screen patent. Samsung Electronics was accused of NeoDron last year, and it is known that investigation is underway. The ITC must decide whether to begin the investigation within one month after receiving the complaint from Neodron.

wipsglobal.com
<Neodron's patent related to display technology>

How can you avoid a patent dispute?

Samsung Electronics will be very tired of being accused of the old partners and patent monsters. In fact, Samsung Electronics won’t think it would be a big blow because it has a system to prepare for it through numerous patent disputes, but it is certainly not good to be involved in patent disputes. This is because a lot of time and the cost are inevitable. Hope the dispute will be resolved well.

Samsung’s trademark application telling the evolution of foldable display

Samsung, filed for the first UTG-related trademark in the industry,

Samsung recently applied for a trademark in 38 countries under the name of “SAMSUNG UTG”. UTG is an ultra thin tempered glass, which is used as a protective film for foldables. Samsung UTG's trademark contains the phrase, `` Though, yet Tender. '' It is made of glass material and expresses the characteristics of UTG that has rigidity and foldability.

🔺intomark.com <Samsung UTG trademark>
* intomark.com : the trademark search database of the WIPS

Half successful Galaxy Fold,

Samsung's first foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, was unveiled in February 1919. However, in April, its launching was delayed because the display protection film was easily removed and foreign matter entered into the hinge. This problem was solved and relaunched in September, and as a result, it made a great success that the volume could not keep up with demand, but the fundamental problem of display was not completely solved.

🔺Samsung.com

UTG, a new protective film for troubleshooting the Galaxy Fold,

The protective film used for the Galaxy Fold was plastic CPI (Colorless Polyimide). Because plastic is easy to process and very elastic, it doesn't leave any marks after folding it thousands of times, but on the other hand it’s weak to heat and easy to scratch. Experts anticipate that CPI replacement will be inevitable to solve the display problem in the Galaxy Fold. Samsung has developed a glass-based UTG to solve this problem. Unlike CPI, UTG is not easily scratched, has a good touch, and  expresses luxury that is difficult with plastic materials.

🔺Samsung.com

 Samsung enters UTG full-scale mass production,

On February 11, Samsung Electronics unveiled its first foldable phone, the ‘Galaxy Z Flip’. Samsung Display said it has received UTG durability verification from Bureau Veritas, a French technology certification company, and has passed the folding test of folding/unfolding 200,000 times in order not to repeat the mistake of the previous Galaxy Fold. Accordingly, it announced that it plans to apply UTG to various foldable devices to be released in the future. There is some concern that it is difficult to see UTG as fully durable. We’re going to have to pay attention to how Samsung, which has shown the best technology, can dispel concerns and show high degree of completeness.

Portable reusable cup

Here's an idea for a recycled cup that's easy to carry around.

🔺kickstarter.com

🔺kickstarter.com

🔺kickstarter.com

🔺kickstarter.com

HUNU

The reusable cup that fits in your pocket

As the reduction of disposable products is spreading around the world, the use of reusable cups is recommended. However, most reusable cups are large and inconvenient to carry. People will find disposables which are more convenient than inconvenient reusable cups.

However, to make disposable paper cups, millions of trees are cut down every year and the environment is destroyed. Plastic cups also use a variety of chemicals in the manufacturing process, so they are recycled less than 1%.

HUNU is an idea product that originates from these environmental issues. Made from silicone, it is recyclable, certified to LFGB in Germany and FDA in the United States, and has also proved its stability.

It is also very light, weighing less than 100g and is folded into 2cm, making it easy to carry around in your pocket.

It's an idea product that can be easily used anywhere in today's atmosphere where thinking about the environment is a necessity, not an option.