SIIA Says Obama Administration’s IP Enforcement Strategy Will Advance Efforts on Software Compliance, Domain Name Expansion and Other Key Issues
SIIA commented on the IP Enforcement Strategy announced by Victoria Espinel, the Administration’s Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator. Keith Kupferschmid, senior vice president of intellectual property and enforcement for SIIA, commented:
“The new Administration plan addresses a wide range of IP enforcement issues, offering numerous specific actions by federal agencies aimed at helping to protect and advance creativity and innovation. We look forward to seeing the Administration move quickly on the actions they have proposed.
We are particularly focused on the plan’s continued call for software compliance throughout the federal government. While we commend the plan’s continued emphasis on software compliance, we are disappointed that it does not likewise address content compliance. We have pushed the Administration to act on both software and content compliance, and will continue to seek Executive action that includes content.”
Enforcement News
Public-Transit Group Files Suit Against Patent Trolls (The Wall Street Journal)
The American Public Transportation Association filed suit in federal court against a pair of foreign-chartered firms that have threatened or filed patent infringement claims against public-transit systems, alleging that the so-called patent trolls are squeezing cash out of the nation’s largest transit agencies by suing over schedule alerts.
Pirate Bay Founder Sentenced in Sweden (The New York Times)
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, co-founder of The Pirate Bay, was sentenced to two years in jail on Thursday for hacking into computers at a company that manages data for Swedish authorities and making illegal online money transfers.
Intellectual Ventures Sues Motorola Mobility, Again (CNET)
Intellectual Ventures, the controversial company that has made headlines for accumulating a massive trove of software and design patents, sued Motorola Mobility again, accusing the company of violating several of its patents covering file transferring and image projection technology.
Appeals Court Upholds College Student’s $675,000 Piracy Penalty (The Hollywood Reporter)
In the long-running case of Joel Tenenbaum, who was ordered in 2009 by a jury to pay $675,000 for illegally downloading and sharing 30 songs online, the First Circuit Court of Appeals decided on Tuesday that the penalty should stand.
Pre-Roll Ads Can Be Patented, Appeals Court Rules in Hulu Case (GigaOM)
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the country’s top patent court, has ruled that playing an ad before someone watches a piece of content on the Internet is not an abstract idea, but is the subject of a valid patent.
Western Union and the IACC Team Up to Help Prevent Online Counterfeit Sales (PYMNTS.com)
Western Union and the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition announced an alliance to help identify and prevent the sale of counterfeit goods through the IACC Payment Processor Portal Program, which will provide a system for intellectual property rights-holders to report the sale of illegal counterfeit goods.
Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.