DARK AGES TO CONTINUE? LATEST ETMR

US to remain in the patent Dark Ages?

The IPKat has read, with sadness but without surprise, a note posted yesterday on fellow blogger Patently-O's website that the US Patent Reform Act 2005 is most unlikely be enacted this year. Patently-O (Dennis Crouch) writes:

"There is still a possibility of a back-door push to include some provisions in an omnibus appropriations bill, but at this point it is unclear what those provisions would be and whether they would be successful".

Above right: US anti patent reform lobbyists press their case for preserving the status quo.

Given the difficulties faced in seeking to overcome the entrenched interests of those who oppose reform, as outlined so skilfilly by AIPLA president William Rooklidge in his Stephen Stewart Memorial Lecture last month (see IPKat, here), it may be a long time before the US emerges from its Dark Ages and joins the community of modern patenting states.


First ETMR of 2006 now out

The January 2006 issue of Sweet & Maxwell's European Trade Mark Reports has now been published, more than three weeks early (well done, Sweets!). This issue contains 129 pages of headnotes and judgments in 11 cases, including seven Court of First Instance decisions on Community trade marks, not to mention the Irish CRUNCHY FRIES case and an entertaining little battle between KFC and an optimistic applicant who sought to register KENNEDY FRIED CHICKEN on top of KFC's earlier KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN.

The IPKat reminds you, if you know of any really interesting or important European trade mark cases that should be reported in full, just drop him a line here.