Samsung tops US patent charts; Ericsson and Lenovo IP heads depart; China relaxes controversial tech transfer rules; Japan mulls English-language patent litigation; plus much more
Last week on IAM we did a five-day countdown of the results of this year’s IAM/ktMINE US Patent 100 listing, which identifies the world’s largest US patent portfolios. There was news, too, of big-name departures from the Ericsson and Lenovo corporate IP teams, while China gave the Trump administration a big win by relaxing its heavily criticised tech transfer rules. Of course, there was plenty more on top. Here are all the stories we covered over a very busy five days …
MONDAY 18th March
The annual IAM/ktMINE US Patent 100 lists the entities that own the largest portfolios of USPTO-granted rights. We begin the countdown to the top slot by revealing those in positions 100 to 81. Read more here
The Japanese government is considering moves that would see the country join Korea in hosting English-language patent litigation. Read more here
Ericsson, Nokia, Philips and Qualcomm call on the USPTO to support DoJ anti-trust head Delrahim over injunctive relief policy change. Read more here
TUESDAY 19th March
Ericsson’s chief IP officer Gustav Brismark has left the company, IAM can exclusively reveal. He has been replaced on an interim basis by Christina Petersson, head of IPR and technology. Read more here
China has done away with some of the country’s most onerous tech transfer rules. Now it’s up to IP owners to negotiate smart deals with their newfound leeway. Read more here
In the second part of the IAM/ktMINE US Patent 100 list of who owns the biggest collections of USPTO grants and applications we name the entities that occupy places 80 to 61. Read more here
WEDNESDAY 20th March
US-China rows over trade secrets have highlighted Big Tech’s frustration with aspects of the Chinese IP regime. It is unclear whether any suggested solutions will assuage concerns. Read more here
Our week-long reveal of the IAM/ktMINE US Patent 100 moves into the top half today as we name the companies that sit in positions 60 down to 41. Read more here
THURSDAY 21st March
Recent PTAB filings by Intel reveal it’s being sued in China by a government-run R&D lab for infringing patents related to FinFET transistors. Read more here
Lenovo IP head Ira Blumberg becomes the latest big name to leave a major corporate role as he leaves the Chinese company after seven years. Read more here
The IAM/ktMINE US Patent 100 moves ever closer to the top - with today's reveal of the entities sitting in places 40 down to 21. Read more here
FRIDAY 22nd March
The IAM/ktMINE US Patent 100 countdown reaches the top 20 entities and reveals that top-placed Samsung holds over 25,000 more active USPTO-granted assets than IBM in second. Read more here
Mediatek has made its first third-party patent acquisition in five years, picking up a portfolio related to speech recognition and audio processing from Philips. Read more here
Former RPX chief John Amster is remaining tight-lipped about his new venture, Rowan, but details are starting to emerge of an IP legal services play. Read more here