Microsoft names new IP head; Intel launches fresh patent sale; PE firm secures majority Unified Patents stake; China jails “troll”; Oblon top prosecution firm; and much more

Everything we covered on IAM over the last seven days – and all you need to know from the global IP market to set yourself up for the start of another busy week

MONDAY 16th December

Xiaomi has asked a Beijing court to set a FRAND rate for Sisvel SEPs, so setting up another contest for jurisdiction between European and Chinese tribunals. Read more here

A group of nine rights owners have officially notified MPEG LA that they will be leaving its HEVC pool early next year. Read more here

TUESDAY 17th December

US-based NPE Advanced Codec Technologies has secured a settlement and licence with smartphone maker Xiaomi, its first deal in a wide-ranging China assertion campaign. Read more here

We are working with life sciences companies better than ever, says COO of Oxford University Innovation in an exclusive interview. Read more here

After deal for cellular chip business with Apple, Intel places rest of patents that were on the market in the summer back on the auction block. Read more here

WEDNESDAY 18th December

Jennifer Yokoyama, who previously led Microsoft’s IP litigation team, has been appointed the company’s new head of IP. Read more here

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers wrote to President Trump on Monday urging his administration to oppose China’s candidate for director general of WIPO. Read more here

THURSDAY 19th December

Oblon McClelland Maier & Neustadt prosecutes patents for more of the companies that own the biggest US portfolios than any other law firm, according to data analysis done by IAM. Read more here

IT giant Tata Consultancy Services urges policymakers around the world to clarify and harmonise IP policies in new report. Read more here

The CAFC’s recent Pharma Tech decision provides insights into how to reduce the chances of amendment-based and argument-based estoppel during prosecution. Read more here

FRIDAY 20th December

Shanghai prosecutors have described a four-year jail sentence handed down to a man accused of being a patent troll as an “excessively light punishment”. Read more here

Juno Therapeutics and Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center have been awarded $752 million in damages against Kite Pharma in a case involving the latter’s infringement of CAR-T patents. Read more here

Private equity outfit WestView Capital Partners has bought a majority stake in Unified Patents, handing the defensive operator a significant investment boost. Read more here

SATURDAY 21st December

A recent SEP remedies policy statement from the USPTO, DoJ anti-trust department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology is good news for licensors. Read more here

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