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