Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Latest Issues at the Crossroads of Antitrust and IPR

B. Foer, here

An Overview of the "Patent Trolls" Debate

US Congressional Research Service, here

Bundesregierung verabschiedet Gesetzentwurf zu neuem Leistungsschutzrecht

Heise.de, hier

Motorola Agrees to License Standard Essential Patents to Apple in Germany

Allthingsd.com, here

The International Dimension of Proprietary Technical Standards: Through the Lens of Trade, Competition Law and Developing Countries

Y. Pai, here

Apple vs. Samsung: Infringing by design

Latimes.com, here

ICANN: Antitrust Allegations Before US District Court


Manwin Licensing International S.A.R.L., et al. v. ICM Registry, LLC, et al.,  Case CV 11-9514 PSG (JCGx), Order GRANTING in Part and DENYING in Part the
Motions to Dismiss, here.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Apple-Samsung Amended Jury Verdict

US District Court, Northern District of California, Case No.: 11-CV-01846-LHK, here

Friday, August 24, 2012

La Hadopi réfléchit à une "suite de la réponse graduée" sans amendes

Numerama.com, ici

WIPO: 2012 IP Facts and Figures: Computer Technologies' Patent Dominance

Here.
However, "most national  and regional IP office statistics refer to 2010".
At p.21: "(I)n 2010, computer technology (117,576) and electrical machinery (104,543) accounted for the largest numbers of applications, with a combined share of 15% of all published application" (emphasis mine).



Seoul court rules Samsung didn't violate Apple design

Reuters.com, here.

Travel Business: The ineluctable Middlemen

The Economist, here

Anti-competitive Agreements and Unilateral Conduct/Abuse of Dominance: Some Current Issues

R. Whish, Presentations here and here

The Interface Between Competition Law and Sectoral Regulation

N. Ee-Kia, Presentation here

Striking a balance between competition compliance and business costs – an Australian perspective

J. Walker, Presentation here

Fair use for Australia?

Barrysookman.com, here

Thursday, August 23, 2012

The Internet a Decade Later

Infographic, here

Why are UK producers the superheroes of the global format trade?

Bbcworldwide.com, here

Ökonomen sollen ihre Geldgeber offenlegen - Die Volkswirte-Vereinigung beschließt einen Ethikkodex

Faz-community.faz.net, hier.

Lemley on what drives competition in the IT space

“Apple presented the intellectual property view of innovation — we created it, we own it, you can’t use it. Samsung presented the competition view of innovation — everyone should make great products and let consumers choose. IP law generally sides with Apple at this broad level, though there is a pretty good argument that it is competition, not monopoly, that drives great innovation in the IT space”, from Competing Views of Competition in Apple-Samsung Trial, Allthingsd.com, here.

For Non-Twitter Users: Video of the TPI Aspen Panel on Antitrust and Internet Competition

Here, panelists here.

Schritt nach vorne für die offene Verwaltung in Deutschland?

Ifross.org, hier

The Supreme Court of Canada Speaks: How To Assess Fair Dealing for Education

M. Geist, here

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

So Close, Yet So Far Apart: The EU and U.S. Visions of a New Privacy Framework

C. Wolf, W. Maxwell, here

Embracing Magic

K. Walker, here. #TPIAspen

Quotation from  Magical Patent Policy: "one third of all patent lawsuits now involve software
patents, way out of whack to the relative size of the industry. Software and Internet patents are litigated
eight times more often than other patents. Troll lawsuits cost productive U.S. companies $29 billion in
direct payouts last year, $80 billion a year when you take all costs into account, and more than $500
billion in the years since the Federal Circuit first authorized software patents. Worst of all, wasteful
patent litigation is costing customers real money and real choices in the devices they love.
This happens because software patents too often allow ownership of broad, sometimes trivial ideas. It
should not be this way. It is the execution as much as the idea that often matters in the
marketplace. Facebook wasn’t the first social network -- but it thrived because it executed well. Google
wasn’t first in search, but the way we executed has made our results better."

Quotation from Magical Competition Policy: "we should pay close attention to switching costs and lock-in. Since everyone is competing against
everyone else, consumers, advertisers, and publishers typically have lots of options. But those options
are less useful if walled gardens or proprietary formats make it difficult for users to switch. That’s why
Google created our Data Liberation Front, letting users easily export their data. The inability to move
your data -- like contacts, emails, and web history -- from one service to another can sometimes make
switching more difficult in ways that are bad for consumers and bad for competition."

Panel - Internet Competition: Implications for Antitrust

ASPEN 2012 AGENDA, Technology Policy Institute 

August 21, 2012
Susan Athey, Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Harvard University and Visiting Researcher, Microsoft Research New England
Tim Bresnahan, Landau Professor in Technology and the Economy, Stanford University
Carlos Kirjner, Vice President and Senior Analyst, Internet, Alliance Bernstein
William Kovacic, Global Competition Professor of Law and Policy; Professor of Law; Director, Competition Law Center, George Washington University
Edith Ramirez, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission
Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google
Thomas Lenard, President and Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Institute (moderator)
Full Agenda here.

  , Video here.


- EU setting standards for competition policy globally 
- Platform competition and multihoming
- Complements/substitutes
- counterfactuals and harm to competition by innovation
- leadership in the vertical stack
- lesson from MS: from complement to possible substitute
- dangerous competition threats ex-post and ex-ante (Google/Netscape)
- counterfactual analysis when high quality products are given away for free (multi-sided markets)
- screen control and design
- fines' irrelevance
- changing nature of switching costs  (e.g. privacy issues suddenly relevant to Internet users and Google users in particular)
- the importance of behavioural economics in order to understand consumers' actions

Canada modernizes its Copyright Act (beyond the Canadian Copyright Modernization Act)

T. Margoni, here

Gesetzliche Verankerung der Netzneutralität in Österreich?

Blog.lehofer.at, hier

‘European Square’ iZettle Now Works With Android; Visa Europe Dispute Drags On

Techcrunch.com, here

Android Litigation Update

Techrights.org, here

2012 EU Survey on R&D Investment Business Trends

Here.

From the Report, p. 12:
"For some sectors, the expected R&D investment changes of the respondents are higher than the growth rates observed in the past (both for the responding companies and the whole sector):  software & computer services (11% p.a. over the next three years), general industrials (6.8%), automobiles & parts (6.0%),
chemicals (5.5%), oil & gas producers (4.6%), aerospace & defence (4.1%), construction & materials (3.8%), technology hardware & equipment (3.5%), and fixed line telecommunications (2.6%).For a few other sectors,
the expected changes are lower than the past growth rates (both for the responding companies and the whole sector): electricity (4.6% p.a. over the next three years) and pharmaceuticals & biotechnology (3.2%)." (emphasis added).

Can this really be true? Patents for TV programme formats ...

Tht IPKat, here

Bundeskartellamt verhängt Bußgeld gegen TTS Tooltechnic wegen vertikaler Preisbindung

Pressemitteilung, hier

Judge Asks Google to Supplement Its List of Any Paid Folks

Groklaw, here

The Impact of Free Music Downloads on the Purchase of Music CDs in Canada

G. Barker, T. Maloney, here

Legal Challenge To ICM Registry’s and ICANN’s .XXX gTLD Continues – What Are The Implications For Other gTLD Applicants?

Jdsupra.com, here

Monday, August 20, 2012

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Should antitrust law enjoin injunctions on standard essential patents?

M. Dolmans, Presentation here

Lemley on Patent Wars in the Smart Phone Industry

People In the Know (China), Audio here

Anti-Competitive Stumbling Stones on the Way to a Cleaner World: Protecting Competition in Innovation without a Market

J. Drexl, here

AKTUELLE FRAGEN DER GEODATEN-NUTZUNG AUF MOBILEN GERÄTEN


INSTITUT FÜR TECHNIKFOLGEN-ABSCHÄTZUNG  DER ÖSTERREICHISCHEN AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN, hier.

Software Becomes that Much Harder to Patent in the United States

Iposgoode.ca, here

A Very Short Primer on Design Patents and Trade Dress

M. Risch, here

Cloud Legal Guidelines

Optimis ("the cloud's silver lining"), Part I here, Part II here

Mapping Cloud Interoperability in the Globalized Economy: Theory and Observations from Practice

U. Gasser and J. Palfrey, here

Friday, August 10, 2012

La licence globale négociée jusqu'à fin 2013 en Suisse

Numerama, ici.

Review Essay: New Perspectives on International Antitrust

M. Gal, here

University of Chicago Press Partners with OUP on E-book Platform

Publishersweekly.com, here

Online tracking: questioning the power of informed consent

N. van Eijk, N. Helberger, L. Kool, A. van der Plas and B. van der Sloot, here

Google Faces Rising FTC Ire

Nationaljournal.com, here

Online Piracy: Challenging the 'three strikes' approach

Nakedsecurity.sophos.com, here

Is consumer welfare the (only) way forward? A re-appreciation of competition law objectives ante portas in both US and EU

A. Skourtis, kluwercompetitionlawblog.com, here

Sharing site of legally purchased ebooks shuts down

Eff.org, here

Urheberrechtsrevision in der Schweiz: Arbeitsgruppe eingesetzt

Eidgenössisches Justiz- und Polizeidepartement, hier

GRUPPO FS HA ABUSATO DELLA PROPRIA POSIZIONE DOMINANTE PER OSTACOLARE L’INGRESSO DELLA SOCIETA’ ARENAWAYS NEL TRASPORTO FERROVIARIO PASSEGGERI

Provvedimento A436, qui. Comunicato stampa, qui

Solving the Patent Settlement Puzzle

E. Elhauge, here

Datenschutz: Googles gnädige Kontrolleure

Spiegel.de, hier

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Public Statement on the U.S. Proposal for a Limitations and Exceptions Clause in the Trans-Pacific Partnership

P. Jaszi, M. Carroll and S. Flynn, here

UK copyright and orphan works: the facts

The BIS Blog, here

Eléments pour la réforme du droit d'auteur et des politiques culturelles liées

Laquadrature.net, ici

Grading the Professor: Evaluating Bill Kovacic’s Contributions to Antitrust Engineering

D. Sokol, C. Wilson, J. Nord, here

Google Book Search Case Threatens Librarians' Access to Information

Eff.org, here

The Orphans, the Market, and the Copyright Dogma: A Modest Solution to a Grand Problem

A. Katz, here

Does Behavioral Economics Have a Role in Antitrust Analysis?


Book Review: Lessons from Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, H. Singer and A. Card, here.

From the Prairie to the Ocean: More Developments in State RPM Law

M. Lindsay, here

Open Government Data Deutschland


J. Klessmann, P. Denker, I. Schieferdecker, S. Schulz, et al., here.

UK SCL Position on E-Book Lending in Libraries

The Society of Chief Librarians, here

Monday, July 30, 2012

Software Patents and the Return of Functional Claiming

M. Lemley, here

Why panning for gold may be detrimental to open access research

Guardian.co.uk, here

Publication of responses to UK Copyright Consultation  

Here

Google argues fair use in Google Books case

Futureofcopyright.com, here

EU Commission sends Statement of Objections on perindopril to Servier and others

Press Release, here

US and EU blocking treaty to give blind people access to books

Guardian.co.uk, here

The uncertain economics of lending virtual books

The Economist, here

It Was Never a Universal Library: Three Years of the Google Book Settlement

W. Crawford, here

Friday, July 27, 2012

The European Commission's Closer Look on the Pharmaceutical Sector - New Development on the Interface between IP and Antitrust Law

S. Baier, here

Civil Society statement on Exceptions and Limitations for Education

WIPO 24th SCCR, here

The Role of the Intellectual Property Office

UK IPO, here

Online Software Piracy

The Economist, here

A Comparative Look at Foreign State Compulsion as a Defence in Antitrust Litigation

M. Martyniszyn, here

Higher Education Institutions and EU Competition Law

A. Gideon, here

Blinde müssen weiter für Urheberrechtsausnahmen kämpfen

Heise.de, hier

Cloud Computing: An Overview of the Technology and the Issues facing American Innovators


U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet, here.

Google and Antitrust

R. Picker,  Presentation here

Exclusivity in High-Tech Industries: Evidence from the French Case

P. Bougette, F. Marty, J. Pillot, P. Reis, here

Copyright, Free Speech, and the Public's Right to Know: How Journalists Think about Fair Use

P. Aufderheide and P. Jaszi, here

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

WIPO SCCR24: Ruth Okediji - speaking on behalf of Nigeria - on the Development Agenda

Streamtext: "As other Delegations have said, the Delegation of Nigeria would like to appreciate and thank the Development Agenda Group for the statement and to support that statement. It was exactly 100 years ago and 30 days today that the first copyright act came to Africa by ordering counsel number 912 of the English crown. That copyright act extended to 11 countries, all of which remain independent countries today in the African continent. When one looks back at the developments both in international relations but also in particular in international copyright law, it is clear that this is a system that will always need adjustments. The pendulum swings sometimes too far in the area of protection. Sometimes too far in the area of deference and sometimes too far in the area of ignorance.
It is in fact important to note that the accomplishments today are only the first step in a very long journey with regard to the treaty for the visually impaired. It is in our view not so much what we have done here but what we must do that we must pay attention to. When we are addressing the needs of the visually impaired or those that have long been underserved by the system, there can be no question that our responses must be law, not sentiment. They must be a commitment, not just an ideal. They must be a promise, not just a wish.
In the end, copyright law is government policy, not private policy. It is not the entitlement of users, consumers, authors or intermediaries. We must have the leadership and the moral courage to establish principles that are sustainable, fair, and implemented at the highest levels of integrity. As the Distinguished Delegate of Egypt has said in his statement on behalf of the African Group, a balanced system is not just a system that articulates principles that cannot or will not see the light of day. Nigeria is proud to have produced the first blind physiotherapist, the first blind professor on the continent, and to have established the first organisation to train and teach the blind and the visually impaired.
The exceptions and limitations Agenda is a reflection of a long history and commitment to ensure that the copyright system and indeed all other systems support the full integration of individuals into a meaningful and productive life. We believe it is time to convene a diplomatic conference in 2013. We believe it is time to recognize that the Development Agenda is serious and that it is one of the instruments by which as a community and as an institution we will be able to see the copyright system productive, adaptable and transformative not only for developing countries but for developed countries as well.
However, and whatever we feel about the WIPO Development Agenda, it is clear that the legal, social, and political reality is that an Intellectual Property system specifically an international copyright system that does not work for all will not work at all. Thank you, Mr. Chair."

EU Commission sends Statement of Objections to Lundbeck and others for preventing market entry of generic antidepressant medicine ("pay for delay")

Press release, here. See also the July, 16 "pay for delay" ruling delivered by the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in re K-DUR ANTITRUST LITIGATION, here

Open access versus subscription journals: a comparison of scientific impact

B. Björk and D. Solomon, here

Revised Draft Working Document on an International Instrument on Limitations and Exceptions For Visually Impaired Persons/Persons with Print Disabilities

SCCR/24/9 Prov, here (via keionline). 

Government may be in breach of EU copyright laws over volunteer-run libraries' royalty payment commitments, authors' body claims

Out-law.com, here

WIPO SCCR24 Draft Conclusions

Here, from keionline.org.

WIPO SCCR24: Ruth Okediji speaking on behalf of Nigeria on library issues

Streamtext: "The Nigerian delegation and also on behalf of the African Group wants to stress like other speakers the importance of this issue. Personally as the daughter of a librarian, I can emphasize the importance of libraries, particularly with ensuring that the access needs, the educational needs, the research needs of the population are met. In this regard parallel importation is of particular importance. Both in ensuring the vitality of libraries as cultural institutions but also to ensure that users not only in Developing Countries but in Developed Countries are able to access the rich trove of resources that are not often within national boundaries. So I think it's important that as this body begins to look at an international treaty on this issue, that the question of what libraries do, how they are able to preserveto distribute works. And the necessary limitations that will facilitate parallel importation for libraries as well as library lending be of utmost priority. I think it is fair to say that the international copyright system and national copyright systems on the whole have only been successful because libraries have been in existence. I think that it is important to note that in the absence of parallel importation and limitations and exceptions on distribution right it would be virtually impossible for even the work we are doing in this body to go on. So without saying much at this point, again, just to stress the importance of this issue and to encourage that this body treats this with utmost seriousness"

Der EuGH zum Erschöpfungsgrundsatz in UsedSoft v. Oracle

Ifross.org, hier

'Do Not Track' Internet spat risks legislative crackdown

Reuters.com, here

Considering Canada’s Supreme Court Decisions in this week’s WIPO Proceedings

Iposgoode.ca, here.