IPTango

Friday, 11 June 2010

Innovation and intellectual property

Patricia Covarrubia June 11, 2010 No comments:

Today’s highlight comes from a book from the collection Inova which aims to promote knowledge about development and sustainability. The book ‘Intellectual Property and Innovation in Industry’, published by the Federation of Industries of Paraná (FIEP) in Brazil, intents to raise public awareness about the national importance of this topic.

According to the Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industriale (INPI) of Brazil, the book contains an Article written by Jorge Avila (INPI president) which presents a project of cooperation between nine South American countries in the area of IP (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Uruguay). The proposal, said the note, “is to promote the exchange of technical information in patent examinations, for example, which facilitates the work of the examiners in all countries.”

While I have not read the book, the idea/project sounds good to me. I wonder why the author did not include Bolivia and Venezuela?

If you happen to get hold of the book, would you like to write a review – we will be happy to post it in this blog.

Is Football in Brazil a Sport or a Religion? None of them: It is a Serious and Profitable Business

José Carlos Vaz e Dias June 10, 2010 No comments:

Now, it is the time of football or to follow it under an IP perspective! Most of the headlines in Brazil have been addressing the preparation of the national team in South Africa and the “experts” started indicating their favourites for the upcoming World Cup of Football in South Africa. Who is going to win this time? Will the Uruguayans play well again, as occurred in the past? What about Argentina with Messi and Maradona? Will the English team prove that the inventers of football are also the best ones? Can the Samba Boys still dance Brazilian music like in 1970? Will Holland or Germany become a surprise? Or, the winner this time will be an African country, right?

Local people have started living football, so have I. Last night, I finished decorating the football court and the space surrounding the building where I live at Lagoa, Rio de Janeiro: official flags, signs and posters with the best football players and Zakumi (the official symbol of the South African World Cup) are already in place. Everything in green and yellow. Since I arrived from the INTA Meeting, the most important task was to organize the decoration of the football court, otherwise the kids would get mad at me. My daughter will be very happy when she arrives from school and sees that we have finished the requested decoration. At home too, my wife is happy with my cooperative behaviour: cups, plates, t-shirts, vuvuzelas (horns) on yellow and green have been bought for the gathering of my families and friends in front of the TV set.

This unique atmosphere seen each four years supports the common saying that “the most popular sport in Brazil is not football, but it is volleyball, since football is not a sport but rather a religion for the Brazilians”.

Businessmen know very well the seriousness of football for the locals and take the chance to increase their profits on every product sold in the market, as the association with the World Cup and the national team is inevitable and desirable.

Further to that, companies are already fighting for a space in the next World Cup of Football in 2014. According to the national newspaper “O GLOBO”, the fighting regarding who will promote the Brazilian national team for the next four years have begun in the marketing arena: Will Coca-Cola win the bid or will the local soft drink company Guaraná Antarctica maintain its position.

Coca-Cola needs to score to get the opportunity to explore the most important advertising instrument in Brazil: the Samba Boys. Guarana Antarctica will need to play hard, with a strong defense and fast attack. That is another World Cup, isn’t it? Yes, it is indeed.

We are all expecting that this marketing competition will be under fair rules, as FIFA and the Brazilian Federation of Football are with their eyes open, so are the local judges that are very much matured to address IP infringement and unfair competition linked to sports.

Another example of the importance of football to business has been the recent controversy involving the official football ball – Jabulani – where the main companies on sport apparel are fighting for a space in the media. Players supported by Nike and others are condemning Jabulani. Kaka and Messi have praised the ball, as they are sponsored by Adidas. Does the informal use of players to attack in the media the product of a competitor represent an unfair competition practice? Where are Adidas attorneys?

These are also the games worth watching until the next World Cup of Football. Next time will be in Brazil!

Plant varieties and seeds in Argentina

Jeremy June 10, 2010 1 comment:

One of the topics touched on in "Intellectual Property - Argentina: IP rights and new technologies", the most recent contribution to International Law Office by Carlos O Mitelman and Daniel R Zuccherino (Obligado & Cia), is that of plant breeders' rights. Regarding plant and seed varieties the authors outline the position in Argentina:

"Plant breeders' rights are recently acknowledged rights whose importance has developed concurrently with the biotechnological revolution and plant improvement techniques. They are rights related to innovations obtained in plant varieties (eg, new varieties with increased resistance to pests or weather, or with enhanced nutritional capacity).

Plant breeders' rights have similarities with patent law and also share the aim of encouraging new investment in research and development activities. However, despite these similarities, within the Argentine legal framework plant varieties are not patentable. Article 6(g) of the Patent Law (24,481) establishes that "all kinds of live material and pre-existing substances in nature" are not considered invention, thus excluding the possibility of patenting them. Furthermore, in many cases the obtaining of new plant varieties does not, strictly speaking, mean the creation of an invention, but rather the result of relatively gradual and mechanical stages or steps".

After explaining that plant varieties protection can be excluded from patent protection under TRIPS they add

" ... plant varieties can be protected under the Seeds Law (20,247) and the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Agreement 1978 (Argentina has been a member of UPOV since 1994).

... The Seeds Law and Regulatory Decree 2183/91, which adapts the Seeds Law to the requirements of the UPOV Agreement and was approved in Argentina by Law 24,376, establish the protection of rights over plant varieties".

The full text of this article is available here.

Chile promotes biodiversity with its native plants

Patricia Covarrubia June 10, 2010 No comments:

This week, the magazine ‘Del Campo’ – El mercurio, bring us the news that the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) (the Agricultural Research Institute) of Chile patented two varieties of the native Chilean plant named murtilla (Myrtus ugni) in the United States.

Trying to be more accurate I started to seek more information about this and I found that in fact, there are two patent applications in the US Patent and Trademark Office (2008) but they have not yet being granted. Patents are seek for the varieties named: South Pearl - INIA (Patent Application No 20080313781) and Red Pearl – INIA (Patent Application No 20080313782).

Background
The murtilla produces red berries (known by some as cranberries) which are becoming increasingly attractive due to its nutritional and health properties. In 1996, the INIA initiated a research project to domesticate murtilla and to develop berries that were suitable for commercial production. The journalist affirms that by patenting they are at the first step of “protecting the national heritage”. However, the patent as such will not protect the native plant but only these new varieties (genetically enhanced).

For example, in Australia there are projects for successfully growing and supplying the fruit. The Tas Myrtus Berries Pty Ltd (TMB) is commercialising M. ugni berries (Tazziberry®).

According to the info, the Instituto is also looking at the protection of these new varieties in New Zeland, Australia, Argentina and Brazil.

República Dominicana: carrera de propiedad intelectual

Aurelio Lopez-Tarruella Martinez June 09, 2010 No comments:

Carlos Atiles nos trae esta noticia de Republica Dominicana publicada en El Nacional: en un reciente encuentro organizado por la ONAPI, el señor Onyeama (director general de Cooperación para el Sector Desarrollo de la OMPI) ha propuesto la implementación en el país de la carrera de Propiedad Intelectual con el objetivo de crear conciencia en la ciudadanía sobre la importancia de esta herramienta para el desarrollo económico.

En el mismo encuentro, el señor Juan José Báez (director general de ONAPI) explicó la importancia que tiene la propiedad intelectual para el desarrollo de la nación en el nuevo marco tecnológico. Tambien están involucrados en el proyecto la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), la Católica Tecnológica del Cibao (Ucateci), Apec Intec.

Brazil foresees a new Code of Civil Procedure

Patricia Covarrubia June 09, 2010 No comments:

The Code of Criminal Procedure, the Penal Code, the Intellectual Property Act, and many others grant exclusive rights to the owners of IP rights as well as provide for the punishment for the violation/infringement of IP. However, the Code of Civil Procedure is the one that ensures expedited trial – practitioners love that.

Yesterday(8th of June), the committee of lawyers who were responsible for drawing up the draft of the new Code of Civil Procedure provided the president of the Brazilian Congress, Senator Jose Sarney, the result of their work.

According to the president of the said commission, Minister in the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) Luiz Fux, the work “...analysed over a thousand suggestions that have come to the committee. Since the beginning of the work, the committee recognized as main objective the guarantee of reasonable duration of trials, without however sacrificing the principle of legal defence. The desire for a more speedy justice was taken during all the discussions ...”

If the bill succeeds we will see a significant reduction of the delay of the proceedings in the Brazilian courts - so they said.

México: Denominación de Origen Chile Habanero de la Península de Yucatán.

Gilberto Macias (@gmaciasb) June 08, 2010 No comments:

Un tema que desde el IP Tango hemos estado siguiendo (aquí, aquí, aquí) es la controversia por el Chile Habanero, la cual ha llegado a su fin.

Se ha publicado en el Diario Oficial de la Federación la Declaración de insubsistencia de las condiciones que motivaron la Declaratoria General de Protección de la Denominación de Origen Chile Habanero de Yucatán, toda vez que fue concedida en el año de 2008 exclusivamente a favor del Estado de Yucatán, México por parte del Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI), siendo impugnada por los Estados vecinos de Campeche y Quintana Roo.

Ahora bien y dado que los 3 Estados son los beneficiarios del Chile Habanero de Yucatán, el 4 de Junio de 2010 se publicó en el DOF la nueva Declaratoria General de Protección de la Denominación de Origen Chile Habanero de la Península de Yucatán, otorgándosele a los Estados comentados y beneficiando así, a los productores de las tres entidades.

Más información aquí, aquí y aquí.

Gracias a nuestros amigos de Alhen y a Juan Angel Garza Vite (UANL) por mantenernos informados.

FTA between the EU and Colombia-Peru, still a hot topic

Patricia Covarrubia June 08, 2010 No comments:

Thanks to Xavier Seuba for making the blog aware of a short note which appeared in IPR Helpdesk titled: The IP chapter of the new Treaty between the European Union, Colombia and Peru from the public health perspective.

Xavier is the author of this note and he starts by giving a background on the association agreement that both blocks: the EU and the Andean Community were seeking. He explains that “the original EU proposal to the Andean States contained provisions that were TRIPS plus, other ones that were TRIPS extra and others that were even EU extra.” I think that we can call them ‘XXL’ – I just remember this letters that appear to be the trade mark from my trip to the US (everything was really huge: cars, beds, portion of foods, number of people attending the conference and my bill!!). Anyway, he affirms that the final text of the agreement reflects the priority of the EU - IP enforcement. There is, he observes, an “exclusion from the final text of the possibility to control patented goods in transit, the elimination of the criminalisation of patent infringements and, among other things, the reference to TRIPS article 44.2 when dealing with injunctions.”

He also covers the issue of ‘data exclusivity’ noting that the European formula (8+2+1), was reduced to 5 years – keeping the same term as others agreements already signed between the U.S. and Colombia and Peru.

According to Xavier, “the EU, Peru and Colombia made a great effort to draft the general provisions of the IP chapter so the numerous interests at stake were duly reflected”. You can read the note here.

Mexico: digital downloads and copyright

Patricia Covarrubia June 07, 2010 4 comments:

Last week, the Coalition for Legal Access to Culture (a body that represents artistic and cultural industries such as the Society of Authors and Composers, the Association of Phonogram Producer and the General Society of Writers and many others) presented, along with Ipsos (one of the world’s largest research companies) a report regarding Digital Downloads.The main line was to try to stabilize the copyright on the Internet.

According to the Coalition, the cultural sector in Mexico accounts for 6% of GDP, and its international level is located at number six of the 20 countries that most exported cultural property - the only Latin American country on the list. Roberto Cantoral, chief executive of the Coalition said that "although the works are intangible products, reform is urgently needed to protect our creativity as we can not compete against the illegal and gratuitous.” He explains that there is an increasing interest in its legislation. He mentioned that the problem is likely to worse when the bandwidth grows in the country – at the moment is 2G while European countries have 10G.

During the press conference, it was reported that during 2009 only in Mexico were downloaded illegally a total of 5100 million songs, a figure 15 times the number of records sold that year; 470 million videos, 24 million movies, 16 million TV shows; 26 million books; and over 1878 million protected images.
Among the Internet sites with the highest number of illegal download are: Ares (71%), YouTube (58%) and limewire (14%) among others. The final results is a loss of 13 billion pesos for the industry.

The Coalition proposes to strengthen cultural heritage and advice to fight piracy in favour of online copyright. To achieve this, Roberto Cantoral explains: “ there is the need to force manufacturers of digital music players such as MP3 to pay a ‘right’”. He adds there should be an adjustment to Internet Service Providers – creating strategies that protect copyright. Roberto Cantoral said that in the end, "we seek the intellectual product to be protected equally as any other commercial product that is purchased in a convenience store". I do agree.

Federico de la Garza, director of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), said that in Mexico there is a legal gap with respect to which authority is responsible for preventing this illegal activity. Roberto Cantoral, president of the Coalition, said the amendment to the Industrial Property Act to prosecute ex officio to piracy, is not enough. "We will conduct an awareness campaign directed at the civil society, industry and government to address this issue," he said.

The initiatives have already been sent to the House of Representatives and the coalition hopes that next year the laws come into force.

For more info click here, here and here.

Brazil 2014 World Cup Logo revealed

Patricia Covarrubia June 03, 2010 2 comments:

Brazilian newspapers and websites published a few days ago what will be the Logo of the World Cup 2014. According to those paper and sites, the logo was chosen after examining six other logos. The judges were seven people: Ricardo Teixeira (President of CBF), Jerome Valcke (Secretary of FIFA), Oscar Niemeyer (Brazilian architect), Paulo Coelho (Brazilian writer), Gisele Bundchen (Brazilian model), Hans Donner (Brazilian, head visual designer of TV Globo) and Ivete Sangalo (Brazilian pop singer).

The logo contains three hands that are carefully shaped into the cup trophy and the number 2014 can be seen from the blending. At the OHIM two figurative marks have been filed for registration (29/03/2010): one with the word “Brazil” written under the cup(Trade mark No 008989402), and another one which excludes the word (Trade mark No 008989601). The logo was registered without claiming colours. However I note that all info and pictures from the news do claim that the logo is ‘yellow and green’ as to correspond with the national flag of Brazil.

Websites are running polls and it appears that the surveys reveal that most of the readers did not like the logo – there is always going to be a dislike, I do remember the same matter when the London 2012 logo was unveiled. There is also the dispute regarding the ‘z’ instead of the familiar ‘s’ in Brazil (or Brasil for that effect).

The logo will be officially presented at the World Cup 2010 on July 8th, a few days before the final.