Dublin IP and R&D Summit 2.0 (DIPS) is just over one month away! Take 5 minutes to boost your knowledge of the IP world with our IP news round-up. We have selected three headline-worthy patent disputes you may have missed from the last two months.
Want to learn about best practices in shielding your hard and soft IP? Check out the end of this post for details on how to join Cosmonauts at DIPS this March and attend our “A Sea of Thieves” panel featuring speakers from Mastercard, Web DataWorks and Frontier IP, plus a way to save 20% on all tickets to DIPS 2022.
Moderna withdraws Covid-19 vaccine patent application
On December 17th, Moderna withdrew its patent application for a key part of its Covid-19 vaccine to avoid a possible court battle with the US Government’s National Institutes of Health (NIH).
In the patent application, Moderna listed only company scientists as inventors, excluding scientists from the NIH’s Vaccine research center. Moderna described the NIH as “collaborators”, stating in their filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office that “these individuals did not co-invent the mRNAs and mRNA compositions” (Bloomberg).
Moderna has now filed a new patent application, giving the company time to negotiate with the NIH, avoiding a lengthy court battle over the issue.
The topic of vaccine dependency, caused by the patenting of vaccines, will be a prominent IP issue in 2022, Moderna’s vaccine row with the NIH is just one part of a big picture.
You can discover more about the time-line of Moderna’s patent application here.
Google infringed Sonos’ patented innovations, Trade Court Rules
At the start of January the United States International Trade Commission ruled that Google infringed on five audio technology patents held by Sonos. The ruling declared that Google could no longer import products that violate Sonos’s intellectual property into the US.
This ruling brings a two-year investigation into the intellectual-property dispute to a close. The dispute began on January 2 2020, when Sonos sued Google in two federal court systems, accusing the company of infringing on five of its patents.
Sonos accused Google of “blatantly and knowingly copying” their patented technology, undercutting Sonos’s prices by selling Google wireless speakers for a lower price.
While Sonos has only taken Google to court as of date, they previously also accused Amazon of copying their technology with their Echo speakers.
Find out more about what this recent court ruling means for Google’s smart speakers here.
Ericsson sues Apple
In October 2021, Swedish telecom company Ericsson Inc sued Apple inc in a federal court in Texas, seeking a declaratory judgement on whether its proposed rates offered to Apple to license its 5G wireless patents are fair.
The complaint accused Apple of resisting fair licenses, devaluing Ericsson’s patents. Ericsson has also suggested that Apple is continuing to use their intellectual property without authorisation.
On January 21st, Apple fired back at Ericsson, filing a complaint with the US International Trade Commission. As of January 27th, Ericsson has filed lawsuits in the US, Netherlands, Brazil and Germany, and is looking for a ban on imports of Apple products and technology based on Ericsson patents.
This isn’t the first time that Ericsson has taken Apple to court. In 2015 Apple & Ericsson settled a previous licensing dispute, signing a licensing contract over telecom patents. The 2015 contract expired at the start of this year, renewing the previous tension between these two tech giants.
You can read more about Apple and Ericsson’s ongoing legal battle here.
Want to understand how best to protect your intellectual property?
Take your learning from virtual to IRL at Dublin IP and R&D Summit 2.0!
#DIPS will be taking place between the 22nd and 23rd of March 2022 at the iconic Convention Centre Dublin.
Over two days, the conference will cover the most current trends in the world of innovation. On day one, update your IP knowledge with a full day IP Commercialisation Workshop run by Mathys & Squire Consulting, before hearing from a variety of speakers across five panel discussions and four presentations at our Conference and Exhibition Day, chaired by Joe Doyle of Enterprise Ireland. Once you’ve had your fill of networking and IP intel, complete the conference in style with an evening of drinks at our drinks reception.
You can find out more about the different speakers and other #DIPS related news through our blogs and event page.
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Check out our ‘Let’s Talk IP’ series for more information on the latest news and trends in IP.
