ip News

Circular 4

During the last three months we have been confronted with two price increases (publication + charges) and two additional requirements for the legalization of Power of Attorney. Accordingly, we have been forced to amend our charges for certain items and absorb the increase in others. Amended charges can be provided if interested.

For the legalization of POA, the new additional requirements are:

1. A copy of ID or Passport of the official who signed the POA with his signature thereon.

2. A copy of Certificate of Incorporation or Extract from the Commercial Register of the applicant who issued the POA.

The above will no doubt add a further delay in the legalization process of the POA and accordingly they have to be provided with the legalized POA soonest possible to ensure speedy completion of the approval and legalization process.

Circular 3

According to recent government instructions, official approval of new powers of attorney is now taking a lengthy period of time. Prior to these instructions, the process of sworn translation, official approval and final legalization used to take 1 to 1.5 months. Now the doc has also to be approved by State Security (another 10 – 15 days) before final legalization by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and retention by Notary Public. Therefore, powers of attorney have to be ready at time of receipt of instructions or within a reasonable time.

Time allowed for filing a certified copy of the-would-be-held power of attorney by Notary Public (subject to a monthly penalty for late filing) is:

3 months for patents and opposition to provisional refusals of IRs.

6 months from filing date for new and renewal applications of trademarks or designs.

We are not to be held liable or subjected to litigation for any delayed approval whatsoever.

So far, we have not charged many of our clients for obtaining approval of Ministry of Interior for legalization of the power of attorney. However, we are now obliged to set a charge for the two approvals of new powers of attorney.

Circular 2

Based on Ministerial Decision No. 2057 dated 9 December 2013, our Trademark Office has made, with immediate effect, some changes concerning renewal of trademark registrations, esp. trademarks registered in more than one class. For each single class, a separate application should be filed with a certified copy of the general power of attorney, if held by Notary Public.

The fees have increased and therefore our charges will be amended accordingly.

Our amended lists of charges, applicable from January 2014, and documents required for IP business have been issued.

World IP Day 2013 will focus on Creativity - The Next Generation

World Intellectual Property Day - April 26, 2013

Creativity - The Next Generation

What is the shape of things to come?

From the weather to the markets to the next big thing in technology or the arts, we all want to know how the world will look tomorrow.

Predicting the future is an uncertain endeavor at best, but that doesn’t keep us from trying. And with ever greater access to information, instant communication, new forms of collaboration and crowd-sourcing, our predictions are becoming more frequent, more outrageous, and more accurate.

We know, for example, that cars will soon drive themselves. That our sight and speech – eventually our brains – will interact more directly with, and effectively control, our computers. Which will in turn become much smaller and be worn on – or inside – our bodies. This will all have a profound effect on how we live – how we think, how we work, how we learn, heal, enjoy.

What used to be science fiction is now fact. But what’s next? What is the future beyond the future? What disruptive technology is now just an idea bouncing around a young engineer’s mind? Who will create the next online sensation that again changes how we talk to each other? What new music will emerge from a garage somewhere to rock the world’s dance floors or unnerve the academy? Who are tomorrow’s great artists and innovators? How are they working; how do they create? And how will they get their creations to market in a world where the game changes, almost daily?

The future? Ask the next generation.

http://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/ipday/2013/

WIPO Advances Toward Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Persons

Meeting in extraordinary session, the WIPO General Assembly took a landmark decision today to convene a diplomatic conference in 2013 to complete negotiations on a pact to improve access to copyrighted works for the many visually impaired and people with print disabilities around the world. The General Assembly also expressed gratitude to Morocco for its offer to host the diplomatic conference.

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry welcomed the constructive spirit of engagement among member states and the decision to convene a diplomatic conference in 2013 to agree on the provisions of an international treaty. “Member states took an important decision today in our collective efforts to facilitate access to copyrighted works by the visually impaired and persons with print disabilities” Mr. Gurry said. He added “The future treaty will improve access to published works for millions around the world.” The Director General thanked Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Omar Hilale, for his country’s generous offer to host the diplomatic conference.

While some countries have domestic legislation that grants limitations and exceptions for use of copyrighted works by visually impaired and people with print disabilities, there is a legal vacuum at the international level. Since 2004, WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) has been considering whether certain limitations and exceptions should be harmonized internationally. WIPO’s General Assembly today decided that discussions relating to a future treaty to benefit visually impaired and people with print disabilities are sufficiently advanced and mature to convene a diplomatic conference. The convening of a diplomatic conference signals entry into the final phase of treaty negotiations.

Some 300 million blind or visually impaired people around the world stand to benefit from a more flexible copyright regime adapted to current technological realities. Individuals with reading impairment often need to convert information into Braille, large print, audio, electronic and other formats using assistive technologies. Only a very small percentage of published books around the world are available in formats accessible to the visually impaired.

The General Assembly also decided to convene a special session of the SCCR in February 2013 to advance work on the text of the draft treaty prior to the diplomatic conference, which will be held in June 2013. At the end of the February SCCR, member states will decide “whether additional work is required with the objective of holding a successful Conference in June 2013.”

The current draft text of the treaty reflects significant agreement among member states, though some differences remain. Among the issues on which member states need to reach agreement are questions relating to commercial availability - in other words, what happens in places where a title is commercially available in an accessible format; and how cross-border transfer of accessible works will take place between countries. Also, member states must agree on how to treat the traditional formulation of the provision for national law limitations and exceptions in the draft treaty text (the so-called three-step test).

At the conclusion of the General Assembly, member states convened the Preparatory Committee of the Diplomatic Conference to conclude a Treaty to facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities to consider the venue and modalities for the diplomatic conference.

Circular

We are pleased to inform you that a New Patent Law No. 18 was issued on 30 March 2012. The law will be operative 60 days from date of issue. The most important points are summarized below:

1. Substantive examination will be conducted by the Patent Office who can seek scientific experts or patent offices, if necessary.

2. The term of protection of patent will be 20 years, but only 10 for utility models, integrated circuits and layouts.

3. All patents, filed before operation of the old law No. 47/1946 and not issued before operation of the new law, will be considered as filed in accordance with the new law No. 18/2012.

4. Executive instructions will be issued within 45 days from date of issue of Law No. 18.

5. Lapsed patents due to non-payment of annuities can be restored if applied for within 6 months. It is not certain if this applies to all applicants or only to individuals as the law mentions both under different articles.

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