April 2013

General Patent Corporation Settles Patent Lawsuit with Fanuc

Fanuc Takes a License under Trounson Automation’s CNC Patent

Suffern, N.Y. – April 23, 2013 − General Patent Corporation (GPC), a leading patent licensing and enforcement firm, announced today that it settled a patent infringement lawsuit filed by its subsidiary, Trounson Automation LLC, against Fanuc Corporation and its U.S. affiliate, Fanuc FA America Corporation (Fanuc). As part of the settlement, Fanuc took a license under the Trounson Automation patent on single processor computer numeric control (CNC).

Viacom Loses $1 Billion Copyright Lawsuit Against YouTube

Submitted by patentadmin on Tue, 04/23/2013 - 13:57

April 23, 2013 - Viacom lost its copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube when a federal judge ruled that YouTube was protected by the "safe harbor provisions" of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Under that law, YouTube would have to have knowledge of acts of copyright infringement committed by its users in order to be held liable for that infringement.

New "Patent Troll Insurance" Costly, May Invite Lawsuits

Submitted by patentadmin on Tue, 04/23/2013 - 13:46

You can buy insurance for many different types of business liabilities, so why not insurance to protect your company from lawsuits brought by so-called "patent trolls" or non-practicing entities (NPEs)? That kind of coverage is now available for members of a group that represents digital agencies and production companies. At first glance the insurance may look like a fine idea, but some attorneys say the coverage has its drawbacks.

U.S. House of Representatives Panel Debates Impact of Non-Practicing Entities on ITC

Submitted by patentadmin on Wed, 04/17/2013 - 12:15

April 17, 2013 - The House of Representatives held a hearing on April 16 in which IP experts testified about how much of an impact non-practicing entities (less charitably known as patent trolls) have on the procedures of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

European Union's Highest Court Approves Unitary Patent System

Submitted by patentadmin on Tue, 04/16/2013 - 22:02

April 16, 2013 - The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) cleared the way to proceed with the creation of a unitary patent system when the court dismissed challenges by Italy and Spain.

The two countries had objected to the creation of the EU unitary patent on the grounds that the legislative process used to create the new patent system was misused and an infringement of EU law.