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This week in Other Barks & Bites: a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) report finds global patent filings at a record high with China leading the way; Universal Music Group sues Believe Music for copyright infringement; and a New York district judge dismisses a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against OpenAI.
Bites
WIPO Report Sees Record Growth in Patent Filings
On Thursday, November 7, the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) released an annual report that found global patenting activity reached record heights, topping 3.5 million for the first time. For full IPWatchdog coverage click here. China was responsible for 1.64 million global patent filings with the United States coming a distant second at 518,364. Japan, South Korea, and Germany rounded out the top five with India enjoying 15.7% growth in patent filings at the sixth spot. “Demand for IP rights is growing even in the face of an uncertain economic environment… with volume growing, the challenge still remains quality and the ability to translate IP filings into actual products and services,” said WIPO General Director Darren Tang.
District Judge Dismisses Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against OpenAI
On Thursday, November 7, a New York district court dismissed a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI that accused the company of misusing copyrighted material to train ChatGPT. News outlets Raw Story and AlterNet filed the copyright infringement lawsuit in February. The district judge ruled that the news outlets had not shown sufficient harm caused by ChatGPT but is allowing the news outlets to refile the lawsuit if they can show more substantial evidence.
CAFC Confirms Invalidation of Centripetal Networks Patent
On Wednesday, November 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) upheld a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruling that passed on reviving a Centripetal Networks patent. Palo Alto Networks thus successfully challenged the software patent held by its rival. Last week, the CAFC issued two rulings in the case that also supported Palo Alto Networks.
UMG Sues Believe Music for Copyright Infringement
On Monday, November 4, Universal Music Group filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Believe Music and is seeking damages of $500 million. According to the lawsuit, UMG is accusing Believe of cutting deals with major media companies including Spotify, YouTube, and TikTok, distributing unauthorized copies of copyrighted music. According to the lawsuit, “Believe has knowingly and intentionally adopted a business model pursuant to which it distributes the tracks it receives without any effective review to identify infringing copies of copyrighted recordings.”
Barks
ITC Hits Semiconductor Company with Patent Infringement Ruling
On Thursday, November 7, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a final determination Innoscience broke federal law by importing semiconductor technology that infringes on a patent owned by Efficient Power Conversion. Innoscience has subsidiaries in China and the United States and now faces a limited exclusion order that prohibits the company from importing the infringing products.
Skechers Accuses Competing Shoe Company of Copyright and Patent Infringement
On Tuesday, November 5, Skechers sued four companies for infringing on its “S” trademark for its shoes. It claims Colorado-based STQ’s use of a similar logo is potentially confusing and misleading customers. Additionally, the shoe company claimed its rival is infringing on several patents related to its “Slip in” technology.
Canadian and European IP Offices Meet in Canada
On Tuesday, November 5, representatives from the European Patent Office (EPO) and Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) met at the 7th IP Data & Research Conference in Ottawa. As a result of the meetings, the offices said it marked a new chapter in their collaboration.
Google Opposes New Information in Consolidated Copyright Lawsuit Case
On Monday, November 4, Google objected to adding new information to the consolidation of multiple AI copyright lawsuits against the company. Different groups of copyright holders including artists and writers agreed last week to consolidate multiple copyright lawsuits against Google. Google is asking the court to dismiss the consolidated copyright lawsuit and is claiming that the consolidation of the case is adding new claims and cases inappropriately.
This Week on Wall Street
Fed Cuts Interest Rates by a Quarter Point
On Thursday, November 7, the Federal Reserve announced an interest rate cut of a quarter point to 4.5-%-4.75%. The move was expected and stock markets continued to rise and closed on Thursday up about 1.5%. In its statement, the Fed said it is still focused on achieving maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent.
Boeing Workers End Seven-Week Strike with 43% Wage Increase
On Monday, November 4, the IAM union behind the Boeing workers strike announced a deal with the airplane manufacturer to end a seven-week strike, resulting in a 43.65% compounded wage increase. 33,000 workers voted to ratify the new contract, and the union credited acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su with helping to restart stalled negotiations. Analysts estimated that Boeing was losing $100 million a week in lost revenue during the strike.
Quarterly Earnings – The following firms identified among the IPO’s Top 300 Patent Recipients for 2023 are announcing quarterly earnings next week (2023 rank in parentheses):
- Monday: None
- Tuesday: Alcon (295)
- Wednesday: Cisco Systems (39)
- Thursday: Applied Materials (36), Disney (272)
- Friday: Alibaba (207)
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