Region: France

Nokia/Alcatel tie-up cleared in China following patent promises and a timely joint venture

Chinese regulators have finally given the green light to Nokia’s proposed takeover of Alcatel-Lucent, paving the way for the €15.6 billion deal to go ahead. The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) gave its clearance after extracting promises from the…

22 October 2015

Technicolor lures Patel from Rovi to be the company's first-ever chief IP officer

European licensing powerhouse Technicolor has made a major new appointment. Arvin Patel - who was previously the senior VP of IP and licensing at Rovi, and before that worldwide head of IP strategy at IBM - has joined the French company as its chief…

07 September 2015

French connection and military R&D link in Beijing aggregation fund’s patent acquisitions

Since launching its first IP aggregation fund in April 2014, Beijing-based IP consultancy firm Zhigu has focused on obtaining Chinese patent assets from the domestic research sector. But assignments data suggests that the outfit has recently stepped…

27 July 2015

Two big developments last week mean that Europe's unitary patent system may be up and running next year

There were two big pieces of news concerning the European unitary patent and the unified patent court (UPC) last week – one potential, the other actual. On Wednesday the IP Kat blog had a major scoop when it revealed that the UK IP Office had…

28 June 2015

A new approach to the reform debate; China's IP future; the European tide; and much more at IPBC Global Day 3

IPBC Global in San Francisco is now finished, but only after another compelling day of sessions, networking and discussion. Here, IAM’s editorial team – Joff Wild, Richard Lloyd, Jack Ellis and Sara Jayne Clover – pick out a few of the highlights:…

17 June 2015

The UK's EU referendum may delay the UPC, but will not derail it whatever the result

As this blog has previously discussed, the creation of the unitary EU patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) could see Europe assume a much more significant role as a global patent litigation hub, while also driving up the value of high-quality…

14 May 2015

Europe a step closer to becoming the centre of global patent market after court rejects Spanish UPC challenge

Spain has failed in its challenges to the legality of the EU patent and the Unified Patent Court. In a judgment issued today, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found that both are consistent with EU law and, as a result, can proceed…

05 May 2015

Major issues must be tackled if the Nokia/Alcatel deal is to be a patent success

The merger of the year so far, in IP terms at least, is undoubtedly Nokia’s proposed acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, which was announced last week. Envision IP recently cast its eye over the two patent portfolios and came up with some interesting…

21 April 2015

CIPO role could be up for grabs in Nokia/Alcatel hook-up

Nokia has not been far from the business pages in recent days with news first breaking that it was considering a sale of its maps business and then, this week, that it is in merger talks with Alcatel-Lucent. As both companies have undergone…

14 April 2015

Technicolor’s IP head poached by NPE; finance chief chosen as successor

Boris Teksler – current senior executive vice president and president of the Technology Business Group at Technicolor – has been appointed chief executive officer at Nevada-based NPE Unwired Planet. He will take up his new position on 1st June.…

14 April 2015