IP P®OSPE©TIVE

As CD sales have dropped, record labels are realizing that they must be on the same team as those companies that distribute digital music to millions of internet users. Thats why Warner Music Group and Universal Music have forgiven debts to some start-ups, and this month they have renogiated the terms of licensing deals to allow users to download the labels' songs. I haven't seen the agreements nor heard of the details, but apparently the groups are experimenting with unusual licensing arrangements ... Read More

Word comes from Joff Wild over at the IAM blog that the upcoming issue of IAM will be highlighted by an article focusing on Intellectaul Ventures and the machine it has become.  Interestingly, Joff explains that the article will prove IV's worth as much more than a patent troll, including IP financing operations.  With $5 billion in investors' money, Intellectual Ventures can do much more than just acquiring, licensing, and enforcing patents.  This will undoubtedly help shape thefuture of the IP market.  More on the ... Read More

Just this week, Google announced that it was changing its already-disputed advertisement policy to allow limited use of trademarks in the text of some search ads, even if the trademark owner objects.  This pours salt on the wound, according to many trademark owners that have opposed Google's policy of allowing businesses to purchase trademarks to trigger pop-up ads above Google searches that include that trademark.  This essentially allows competitors to show pop-up ads of their own brand whenever a competing brand name ... Read More

Yesterday, the EU handed down the largest fine in history for conducting anti-competitive business practices.  The fine was handed to Intel in the amount of $1.45 Billion as a result of Intel's sales of its microprocessing chips, which are used in (or tied to) most PC's sold in the world.  The EU fine comes on the heels of announcements by the Obama Administration that it will crack down on monopolistic practices, but after mergers such as Pfizer/Wyeth and Ticketmaster/Live Nation (purportedly) may ... Read More

It was reported by IAM this morning that Alison Brimelow will stand down as the President of the European Patent Office at the end of her term in June 2010.  She took over the office in 2007 after Alain Pompidou controlled the position from 2004 to 2007.  The EPO will have the task of electing a completely new President between now and then.  The new President will have his or her hands full with a growing backlog and financial deficiencies caused by the economic storm.  ... Read More

A NYT article broke the news that lawyers for the Justice Department have begun discussions with groups that oppose the book deal that Google struck with publishers and authors to place their books on Google's massive online library.  The license agreements, says its opposition, would lend Google the exclusive right to exploit this literature online.  According to the article, conversations have begun between the Justice Department and groups such as the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild, but the Department has not ... Read More

Oracle jumped on the transaction that IBM could not complete.  The reason for IBM's failure to finish the deal sheds light on the anti-trust implications that would have resulted.  IBM's large market share in servers overlapped with Oracle's offerings to a point that would have created a monster that HP and Cisco couldn't overcome.  Obama's shadow over anti-competitive actions could finally be causing some winds to change . . . More details on the Oracle/Sun deal, for 7.38 billion, HERE. Read More

Days after the pirates of Somalia were defeated in the Red Sea, pirates of the internet were defeated in a Swedish court. Four owners of The Pirate Bay, the notorious internet file downloading site for music and movies that enjoys over 20 million in users, were sentenced to a year in prison and over $3 Million in damages to be paid back to the entertainment industry. Chalk it up as another victory for copyright owners, who have now built themselves quite a ... Read More

Last Thursday, in TransCore, LP v. Electronic Transaction Consultants Corp., the Federal Circuit held that three patents included under a covenant not to sue, and one that was not, were all covered by rights mirrored by a non-exclusive license of the patents, and therefore were subject to patent exhaustion.  A quick summary: TransCore had previously entered into a settlement agreement with a company called Mark IV.  That settlement agreement included a covenant not to sue based on infringement of three specifically named patents ... Read More

This week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy had hoped to see the passage of an anti-piracy law he was attempting to push for some time now.  The law, which purported to completely cut off the internet connection of consistent copyright pirates, would have been the most far-reaching anti-piracy law to date.  France has had to deal with a stigma of having large copyright piracy and illegal music downloading problems, and Sarkozy had hoped this would show his strong position against such activities.  According to a ... Read More