"Good news: the Senate Judiciary Committee has dropped one of the two terrible patent bills it was considering, the patent-troll-enabling Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA).

Bad news: the committee is still pushing the PREVAIL Act, a bill that would hamstring the U.S.’s most effective system for invalidating bad patents. PREVAIL is a windfall for patent trolls, and Congress should reject it.

One of the most effective tools to fight bad patents in the U.S. is a little-known but important system called inter partes review, or IPR. Created by Congress in 2011, the IPR process addresses a major problem: too many invalid patents slip through the cracks at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. While not an easy or simple process, IPR is far less expensive and time-consuming than the alternative—fighting invalid patents in federal district court."

#USA #Patents #IP #PatentTrolls

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/11/prevail-act-would-wreck-us-patent-review-system

"On January 1, 2025, California’s Assembly Bill 2426 (AB 2426) will go into effect. Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2024, AB 2426 requires digital retailers to be transparent about what consumers are actually purchasing when they pay for movies, music, games, and other digital goods. If you think you own what you pay for in the digital world, you might want to read the fine print. (Or re-read it if you’re that kind of person.) For years, digital storefronts have exploited vague language and fine-print licensing terms to convince consumers they are “buying” digital games or media, when really they are just buying a license to that content – one that often can be revoked at any time.

The new law mandates that sellers in California clearly disclose when a purchase is, in fact, a limited, revocable license. Further, it bans terms like “buy” or “purchase” unless these words are accompanied by disclosures indicating that the purchase might not confer true ownership. In this way, AB 2426 enforces truth in advertising for digital products, ensuring that companies can no longer mislead consumers into thinking they “own” a digital product only to have it disappear from their libraries later."

https://publicknowledge.org/ownership-used-to-mean-something/

#USA #California #DRM #Rentism #Copyright #IP

"PERA would not only revive these dangerous technology patents, but also expand patenting of human genes—a type of patent the Supreme Court essentially blocked in 2013.

The Senate Judiciary is also scheduled to vote on the PREVAIL Act (S. 2220) that seeks to severely limit the public’s ability to challenge bad patents at the patent office. These challenges are among the most effective tools for eliminating patents that never should have been granted in the first place.

Passing these bills would sell out the public interest to a narrow group of patent holders. EFF stands together with a broad coalition of patients rights groups, consumer rights organizations, think tanks, startups, and business organizations to oppose these harmful bills.

This week, we need to show Congress that everyday users and creators won’t support laws that foster more patent abuse. Help us send a clear message to your representatives in Congress today."

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/11/tell-congress-stop-these-last-minute-bills-help-patent-trolls

#USA #Patents #IP

A summary of our dialogue on intellectual property, sustainable innovation, and the SDGs at the Victoria University of Wellington with Professors Jessica Lai Susy Frankel and Christian Schott https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/law/centres/nzciel/events/reports/2024/seminar-on-intellectual-property-sustainable-innovation-and-the-sdgs #SDGS #IP #2030Agenda #nzlaw #nzpol Our collection co-edited by Bita Amani and Caroline B Ncube has been published by Edward Elgar Publishing https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollbook/book/9781803925233/9781803925233.xml #sustainability

I'm very glad to see farmers win the right to repair their tractors. It's a win for consumers against bogus #IP objections from manufacturers.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64206913

#RightToRepair, #RightToTinker

The Elgar Companion to Intellectual Property and the Sustainable Development Goals, edited by Bita Amani Caroline B Ncube and Matthew Rimmer.

Out now https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollbook/book/9781803925233/9781803925233.xml

Read the Foreword by Christine Milne AO
the Introduction by Bita Amani Caroline B Ncube and Matthew Rimmer
and Chapter 1 by Julia Janewa Osei-Tutu
https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollbook/book/9781803925233/9781803925233.xml Edward Elgar Publishing. #SDGs #sustainability #IP #innovation #copyright #trademark #patent #tradesecrets #designs #IndigenousIP #PBR #accesstogeneticresources

The Sleepy Copyright Office in the Middle of a High-Stakes Clash Over AI

The attention stems from a first-of-its-kind review of copyright law in the age of artificial intelligence. The #technology — which feeds off creative content — has upended traditional norms around #copyright, which gives owners of books, movies and music the exclusive ability to distribute and copy their works.

#LibraryOfCongress #artificialintelligence #AI #intellectualproperty #IP #legal #tech

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/technology/ai-copyright-office-law.html

Wake me up when record labels and media companies learn how to build marketing platforms, besides extracting feudal rents from others who do the job they should be doing.

#Music #UMG #SocialMedia #TikTok #Copyright #IP: "Universal Music is set to pull its millions of songs from TikTok after a breakdown in talks over payments.

The move would mean the social media platform would no longer have access to songs by artists including Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Drake.

Universal accused TikTok of "bullying" and said it wanted to pay a "fraction" of the rate other social media sites do for access to its vast catalogue.

TikTok said Universal was presenting a "false narrative and rhetoric".

Music companies earn royalty payments when their songs are played on streaming and social media platforms.

Although TikTok - which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance - has more than one billion users, it accounts for just 1% of Universal's total revenue, the label said."

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68150311

#Introduction #Introductions

Dr Matthew Rimmer is a Professor in Intellectual Property and Innovation Law at the Faculty of Business and Law, at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He has published widely on copyright law and information technology, patent law and biotechnology, access to medicines, plain packaging of tobacco products, intellectual property and climate change, Indigenous Intellectual Property, and intellectual property and trade. He is undertaking research on intellectual property and 3D printing; the regulation of robotics and artificial intelligence; and intellectual property and public health (particularly looking at the coronavirus COVID-19). His work is archived at QUT ePrints, SSRN Abstracts, Bepress Selected Works, and Open Science Framework.

https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/matthew.rimmer
https://works.bepress.com/matthew_rimmer/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmatthewrimmer/
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=358042
https://works.bepress.com/matthew_rimmer/

#auslaw #auspol #IP #copyright #trademark #plainpacks #patent #PBR #access2meds #tradesecrets #SDGs #climate #IndigenousIP #trade #TPP #3dprinting #robotics #innovation

Posts will also feature #books #music #film #TV #photography - some sport #AFL #football #socceroos #LFC #YNWA #basketball. There will also be the odd post about #dogs #labradors and #swimming

After 20 yrs, #BillWillingham releases #Fables into the #PublicDomain. *HE* is still under contract with #DCComics for future work / #royalties / project approval, but the public is not, not bound by #trademarks or #copyright, & free to do as they like with it in #FanFic & other forms of #art.

He's had disputes with DC Comics forever w/o much relief & this is one of his ways to fight back.

https://billwillingham.substack.com/p/willingham-sends-fables-into-the

#trademark #PressRelease #IP #IntellectualProperty #TellTaleGame #CopyrightLaw