Apple claims in huge patent case that Samsung copied iPhone technology introduced by Jobs (Associated Press)
On Tuesday afternoon, the Apple designer, Christopher Stringer, wrapped up the first day of testimony in a closely watched patent trial proudly discussing his accomplishments in support of his employer’s lawsuit alleging Samsung Electronics Co. ripped off Apple’s technology to market its own products.

Online software piracy – Head in the clouds (TheEconomist)
As more people use “cloud computing” services like webmail and do word-processing via a browser, software makers fret that today’s software piracy will migrate to the cloud too.

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Announces Sentencing in eCrime Software Piracy Case (State of California Dept. of Justice)
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced that Michael Anthony Gomez, Jr., 55, of Capitola, was sentenced in Santa Cruz Superior Court to 16 months in jail after pleading guilty to one count of selling pirated software.

Hooper report plans UK copyright registry (Intellectual Property Magazine)
The UK could see a not-for-profit, industry-led ‘copyright hub’ that includes a copyright registry, in recommendations made by Richard Hooper in his report tackling digital copyright and infringement.

Megaupload Lawyers Ask for Judge to Restore Business (IDG News)
Lawyers for Megaupload have asked Judge O’Grady to dismiss the criminal case because the DOJ seized the Hong Kong company’s website and assets without serving it with the charges.

Microsoft to Motorola: The way to ‘patent peace’ (CNET)
Microsoft’s lawyers pen a public note to Motorola suggesting a route to peace in the ongoing patent saga.

Craigslist Sues PadMapper, 3Taps Over Listings (PCMag)
In a complaint filed last week, Craigslist alleged that apartment-hunting sites PadMapper and 3Taps are unlawfully repurposing Craigslist postings, and therefore undermining “the integrity of local Craigslist communities.”

Internet Defense League Launches as Policy Watchdogs (CBS News)
The Internet Defense League, a new activist group including such members as Rep. Darrell Issa and organizations like WordPress, Mozilla, and Electronic Frontier Foundation, officially launched last week to act as online policy watchdogs against potential bills that may threaten Internet freedom.

In China, Why Piracy is Here to Stay (Forbes)
Why intellectual property protection will always be an uphill struggle in China and for companies doing business there.

Three Strikes Law Halves Internet Piracy in New Zealand With No Prosecutions, Yet (Digital Trends)
A controversial three strikes law to curb Internet piracy is being viewed as a success in New Zealand, but the industry appears to want a reduction in costs before it will prosecute offenders.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.

U.S. ICE Seizes 70 More Websites For Alleged Copyright Infringement (PCWorld)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has seized 70 websites accused of selling products that infringe copyright. The seized sites “closely mimicked legitimate websites selling authentic merchandise and duped consumers into unknowingly buying counterfeit goods,” ICE said in a press release.

File-Hosting Firms Responsible for Pirated Content, German Court Rules (ZDNet)
Germany’s federal court of law has ruled that online file-hosting services are at least partly responsible for the contents of the files on their servers.

Canada Supreme Court Ends Royalties for Music Downloads (Reuters)
As part of five copyright rulings last week, Canada’s Supreme Court scrapped some fees for music downloads, ruled that previews of songs in online digital stores are not an infringement and do not merit royalty payments, and also ruled in favor of teachers who photocopy excerpts from textbooks for classroom instruction.

FBI Expands Availability of Anti-Piracy Warning Seal (PC Magazine)
The FBI is expanding its anti-piracy seal program to allow the general public to access and use the seal on copyrighted works.

France: Google May Have to Censor for Piracy After All (GigaOM)
France’s Supreme Court has set aside a critical piracy ruling that they say actually violated a key clause of the country’s rules on intellectual property. The move may force Google to censor some of its search results.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.

Enforcement News

Nigeria: Firm Fights Software Piracy in Nigeria (Daily Trust)
Software developers lose millions of naira annually to software thefts. In Nigeria, software pirating is a huge industry, the bulk of which occur at Alaba International Market, Lagos.

Colombo Crimes Division raids banking firm for software piracy (dailymirror.lk)
The Sri Lanka Police re-affirmed its focused determination to the task of protecting intellectual property (IP) rights, when it carried out yet another copyright enforcement raid.

IP Policy News

European Parliament overwhelmingly rejects ACTA anti-piracy pact (The Washington Post)
The European Parliament overwhelmingly defeated an international anti-piracy trade agreement Wednesday after concern that it would limit Internet freedom sparked street protests in cities across Europe.

NZ court finds Megaupload search warrants illegal (Reuters)
Search warrants used when 70 New Zealand police raided the mansion of the suspected kingpin of an Internet piracy ring were illegal, a New Zealand court ruled on Thursday, dealing a blow to the FBI’s highest profile global copyright theft case.

Judge who shelved Apple trial says patent system out of sync (Reuters)
The U.S. judge who tossed out one of the biggest court cases in Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) smartphone technology battle is questioning whether patents should cover software or most other industries at all.

EU Court OKs Resale of Software Licenses (Associated Press)
The ruling comes in a case brought by California-based software maker Oracle against UsedSoft, a German company that resells software licenses, and it could have broad implications for the digital industry.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.

White House Seeks New IP Strategy, House Holds Hearing on Patents

On the two-year anniversary of the Administration’s Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement, Federal IP Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel on Monday announced that the administration is developing a new strategy for IP enforcement, and seeking input. In the announcement Espinel indicated that recommendations may include, but need not be limited to: legislation, regulation, guidance, executive order, Presidential memoranda, or other executive action, including, but not limited to, changes to agency policies, practices or methods. She also said that the administration is looking for information on and recommendations for combating emerging or future threats to American innovation and economic competitiveness posed by violations of intellectual property rights.

Also on the IP front, the House Judiciary Sbcmte. on Competition and the Internet will hold a hearing today on Protecting Patents, Trade Secrets and Market Access. Teresa Stanek Rea, the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and PTO Deputy Director is the key witness.

Enforcement News

Pinterest Gives Copyright Credit to Etsy, Kickstarter, SoundCloud (Mashable)
Amidst the legal debate surrounding copyrighted content on Pinterest, the popular site made efforts to automatically add citations to content from specific sources including Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, Etsy, and others.

MegaUpload Pushes Court to Dismiss Criminal Copyright Case (PCWorld)
MegaUpload filed a court brief asking a judge to decide next week whether to dismiss criminal copyright infringement charges, contending that they were never served a criminal summons.

Miami Heat Owner Sues Google, Blogger Over ‘Unflattering’ Photo (paidContent)
A minority owner of the Miami Heat filed a copyright suit against a blogger for posting a photo of him, and is also suing Google for refusing to take the photo down.

Las Vegas Man Given Prison Sentence in San Jose Court for Software Piracy (San Jose Mercury News)
A Las Vegas man convicted of one count of criminal copyright infringement has been sentenced to two years in prison, and ordered to pay $247,144 in restitution for illegally copying Adobe software and selling it on the Internet.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.