Patent News Round-up

EPO receives a record 273 000 patent filings in 2014, up by around 3%

The European Patent Office (EPO) received more than 273 110 patent filings in 2014, an increase of around 3% over 2013, and a new all-time high.

“These figures are only a first estimate, but they confirm Europe’s continued strength as a hub of innovation,” said EPO President Benoît Battistelli. “Demand for patents at the EPO is up for the fifth year in a row, reaching a new peak,” he said.

IBM Leads Patent List As Google, Apple Move Up Ladder

IBM received the most U.S. patents awarded in 2014 for the 22nd straight year, with notable showings also coming from Google and Apple.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) received 7,534 patents, up 10% from the prior year and becoming the first company to surpass 7,000 patents in a single year, reports IFI Claims Patent Services.

Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) broke into the top 10 for the first time with 2,566 patents to reach the No. 8 slot, up from No. 11 in 2013. Google increased its patents by 39%.

World Patent Marketing Prepares For Launch of Xiaomi Smartphone

World Patent Marketing, the world’s fastest growing patent, idea protection, and inventor services company, put out a special alert to all of its inventors and manufacturers to closely watch the product release of the Xiaomi Smartphone on Thursday. Called the Apple of China by some industry observers, Xiaomi Inc. is based in Beijing. The company began teasing the event on Monday via Twitter and Facebook and says it will announce the product a smartphone from Beijing with a live launch on Facebook.

This is the way Ninjas and Assassins launch a product, said Scott Cooper, Creative Director and one of the Principals of World Patent Marketing. You keep the entire world waiting. You tease the marketplace. I encourage all of our inventors and manufacturers to watch this event very closely. Launching a new product into the marketplace is a work of art and these guys understand the game.

Patent Granted to Intertainment Media Subsidiary

Toronto, Ontario & New York, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2015 / Intertainment Media Inc. (INT) (otcpink:ITMTF) (I4T.F) (“Intertainment Media” or “Company”) is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent for “System and Method for Sharing Information Between Two or More Devices.”

United States Patent No. US 8,917,631 B2 was granted on December 23, 2014, and it is described as follows:

A system and method for sharing digital information between two or more devices in close proximity using a sound signal. The sending device obtains a globally unique share identifier from an information sharing system. The sending device then uploads the digital information to be shared to the information sharing system and transmits the sharing identifier to a receiving device via sound signals.

Trademark: Blizzard may have to find a new name for Overwatch

A trademark for the title was filed prior to Blizzard’s Overwatch reveal at last year’s BlizzCon.

Users on NeoGAF have spotted that Blizzard Entertainment’s trademark for Overwatch has been suspended while US Patent and Trademark Office deals with a previously registered trademark for the same name.

The potentially word-storming, team-based first-person shooter Overwatch was initially unveiled during BlizzCon in November. The game has emerged from the remnants of the now abandoned WoW successor, Project Titan, from which it is rumored that Overwatch originally existed as a mini-game within the project that grew to become a game in its own right as the developer struggled to get the rest of Titan running to Blizzard’s exacting standards.

China Patents: China Surpasses Korea in 13 Areas of Scientific Research

China is ahead of the game compared to Korea in 13 out of 85 main areas of scientific research and technology, according to a report published by Hyundai Research Institute on January 11. According to the report, competition between Korea, China, Japan and Germany in areas of scientific technology is more intense than ever, with China ranking first in R&D investment.

The report examines the competitiveness of scientific research and technology in four countries with regards to investment and outcome during the period from 2008 to 2012. 

China Patents: 3S Bio Signs Exclusive Patent License Agreement for DIG-KT, a Bi-Specific mAb targeting VEGFR2 and Tie-2 with PharmAbcine

3SBio Inc. (“3SBio”), a leading China-based biotechnology company focused on researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing bio-pharmaceutical products, today announced it has entered into an exclusive licensing deal with PharmAbcine Inc. (“PharmAbcine”) for the development, manufacturing and marketing of DIG-KT, a bi-specific monoclonal antibody (“mAb”) targeting both VEGFR2/KDR and Tie-2 pathways for cancer in the territory of Greater China (including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) and Korea. The deal included undisclosed upfront, milestone and royalty payments.