Law and Innovation

The 5th edition of ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL) International Action Group is hot off the press. Enjoy the current legal updates, commentaries, and opinions from around the world. Here is the link to it. Happy reading! 

Fresh and interesting article posted by WIPR  concerning a European patent for a "device for preparing a drink extracted from a capsule", owned by Ethical Coffee Company (ECC). As you all know, Nespresso machines brew espresso from coffee capsules, a type of pre-apportioned single-use container of ground coffee and flavorings. In the case at hand, ECC, a Swiss Company, also creating capsules compatible with Nespresso machines, is suing Nestlé, in Paris, for alleged patent infringement. In other words, ECC is not happy with the way Nestlé modified the Nespresso machines back in 2010, keeping competitors’ capsules out of them and, more importantly, violating the patented "harpoon mechanism". Happy reading! "The man who oversaw  Nestlé’s Nespresso brand of coffee machines  has sued his former employer for alleged patent infringement.   Ethical Coffee Company , which makes coffee capsules that can be used in the Nespresso machine, has claimed that...

Recently, the Supreme Court of the United Sates, the highest federal court in the United States, has sought help from the Solicitor General concerning whether it should hear a Android-Java copyright case between Oracle America and Google.  The U.S. Supreme Court has so far not confirmed whether it will hear the case.  Instead, "[t]he Solicitor General is invited to file a brief in this case expressing the views of the United States". As explained on the Department of Justice's site , this person (Donald Verrilli) "determines the cases in which Supreme Court review will be sought by the government and the positions the government will take before the Court. The Office's staff attorneys, Deputy Solicitors General and Assistants to the Solicitor General, participate in preparing the petitions, briefs, and other papers filed by the government in the Supreme Court. The Solicitor General conducts the oral arguments before the Supreme Court". As a reminder...

Fresh and interesting article posted by Reuters yesterday about the rumors that Samsung was talking about buying BlackBerry for as much as $7.5 billion. However, later that day, Blackberry issued a statement denying that it's in negotiations with with Samsung. Here's what Blackberry said: "BlackBerry Limited ("BlackBerry") is aware of certain press reports published today with respect to a possible offer by Samsung to purchase BlackBerry. BlackBerry has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry. BlackBerry's policy is not to comment on rumors or speculation, and accordingly it does not intend to comment further". The story is definitely not over... Happy reading!  "(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics recently offered to buy BlackBerry Ltd ( BBRY.O ) ( BB.TO ) for as much as $7.5 billion, seeking its valuable patents as it battles Apple ( AAPL.O ) in the corporate market, according to...

“The U.S. government doesn’t have the power to search a home in another country, nor should it have the power to search the content of email stored overseas” (David Howard - Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft). Microsoft's overseas data warrant dispute is definitely one the cases that privacy lawyers will be watching in 2015. The fight will now take place in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit . Here is a brief summary of the main issues at stake.  The debate over privacy and technology has intensified. As it is common with new technology, the advent of cloud computing brought with it a variety of legal challenges, including privacy, jurisdictions, and intellectual property concerns. The “idea” that location is irrelevant because data simply flows in the “Neverland world of the cloud” has come to an end. Recently, a U.S. District Judge held that Microsoft must comply with a U.S. search warrant to disclose the content of digi...

Following an article on what startup should do in order to protect a mobile application idea (see here ), it may also be important for startup to register a trademark as a username on social media/networks websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, Instagram, etc. Indeed, we are living in a world where the next Facebook, Google+ is about to come. Ello, for instance, the ad-free social networking service created by Paul Budnitz and Todd Berger in March 2014 could be the next one. If you don’t want a “competitor-user” stealing your username and misusing your brand, you should be the first to secure and reserve it; and read this article! Ello's  smiley face logo Let’s start with a crazy scenario. You just graduated, have a brilliant idea that’s solving an important daily problem, and are one of the best startups ready for the battlefield at the next TechCrunch Disrupt in front of a panel of expert judges, press, and an online audience of millions. Fantastic! Wha...

Fresh and interesting article posted on TechCrunch about the Chinese E-commerce market, more precisely how Dalian Wanda Group Corporation Limited ('Wanda Group') just raised one billion RMB in funding. The company was founded in Dalian in 1988 as a residential real estate company by Wang Jianlin and "entered" the E-commerce market in August 2014 as part of a joint venture with Chinese Internet giants, Tencent and Baidu, with the goal of challenging the supremacy of Alibaba. Happy reading!  "China-based Wanda E-commerce, which hopes to position itself as a rival against Alibaba, has  raised one billion RMB  (about $161 million) in funding from investment funds Centec Networks and Xude Rendao. Wanda E-commerce says this quadruples its valuation to 20 billion yuan (about $3 billion). Wanda E-commerce was  founded in August  as a five billion RMB ($814 million) joint venture by mega-conglomerate Wanda and two of China’s biggest Internet ...

Tech predictions for 2015 are all around: A smartphone-PC marriage , cyber attacks, the continuing rise of wearable technology (particularly smart watches), phablets, drones, Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, mobile payments system, etc. In sum, 2015 is going to be exciting!  But what about smartphones, more precisely, iPhone? It seems the iPhone generation is over. La boucle est bouclée. Most of the mobile trends to watch in 2015 articles are talking about everything related to mobile except a new iPhone... and that makes sense.  Let's take a closer look at the Apple iPhone timeline and evolution And now at the Apple iPad timeline and evolution And finally a closer look at the recent iDevices Considering how big the iPhone 6 Plus is, a new iPhone 7 seems unlikely. A "super" mini iPad too. The iDevice generation is completed. And that's a good thing. Big improvements are sometimes better than small new evolutions. Or perhaps Apple is still ...