The agreement is based on the fact that IEC does not accept or allow the use of non-disclosure agreements in the standardisation work in which it is involved, alone or with other organisations, including informal discussions, input contributions and working documents. With this accord, EPO patent examiners will be able to full-text search IEC documents using the same process and tools as they use to search EPO’s own patent collections.

“Thanks to this co-operation the examination of the patentability of inventions in a variety of technical fields is expected to yield even better results. This represents a significant contribution to securing quality and legal certainty of patents processed by the EPO,” said Raimund Lutz, the EPO’s Vice-President for Legal and International Affairs.

The IEC is the world’s leading organisation for the preparation and publication of voluntary, consensus-based international standards for the millions of devices and systems that use or produce electricity and contain electronics, collectively known as “electrotechnology”. The organisation brings together 163 countries and has close to 7 000 standards in its library.

The IEC together with the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) are among the main organisations that develop globally relevant, consensus-based, international standards, as recognised by the WTO (World Trade Organization). The EPO has already signed similar agreements with the ITU, as well as with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Standards Association (IEEE-SA).

24 EU countries, including the UK, have signed an agreement for the creation of a new unitary patent court system that should deal with cases relating to the validity and infringement of the unitary patent that will be effective from 1 January 2014. Only Spain and Italy challenged these plans by claiming that the legislative process used to establish the unitary patent framework does not allow for the creation of such a system and stating that this would be an infringement of EU law. CJEU has now ruled to reject their complaints.

Many experts are sure that this was not the last attempt by EU member states to derail the new European patent system.

“As an entrepreneur, I strive to create ideas that have life in and of themselves, but that can be merged with other good ideas (i.e. the ideas of our tremendous clients such as Procter & Gamble, which is a 100-year old company in its own right.) As these ideas merge, both parties become stronger companies,” Ball said.
Read the whole story on FORBES Magazine HERE.

Two thousand twelve was Yokohama’s first 12-month fiscal period since the company shifted to calendar-year accounting in 2011, from April-to-March accounting, so formal year-on-year comparisons are impossible. The following descriptions of percent change are in reference to arbitrary, 12-month sums of the figures for January to March 2011 (the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended March 2011) and April to December 2011 (the irregular, nine-month fiscal term that resulted from the shift in fiscal accounting periods).

Net income at Yokohama in 2012 increased 187.3% over the previous year, to 32.6 billion yen, on an 85.7% increase in operating income, to 49.7 billion yen, and a 0.3% increase in net sales, to 559.7 billion yen. Yokohama bettered its projections of 30.0 billion yen for net income and 49.0 billion yen for operating income, though the total for net sales was lower than the company’s projection of 576.0 billion yen. Management intends to increase the annual dividend 2 yen above the amount announced in November 2012, to 20 yen – an interim dividend of 8 yen and a year-end dividend of 12 yen.

In Yokohama’s tire operations, operating income increased 91.9%, to 43.4 billion yen, despite a 0.6% decline in sales, to 444.6 billion yen. Sales to automakers in Japan increased strongly, as noted above; sales were solid in Japan’s replacement market, led by vigor in snow tires; and success in securing market acceptance for price increases partly offset a decline in demand in overseas markets.

Operating income in Yokohama’s industrial products business increased 104.6%, to 5.1 billion yen, on a 6.1% increase in sales, to 91.9 billion yen. That business consists mainly of high-pressure hoses, sealants and adhesives, conveyor belts, anti-seismic products, marine hoses, and marine fenders. Leading the growth in sales and earnings were gains in automotive hoses, in marine hoses, and in automotive sealants.

In other products, Yokohama’s operating income declined 25.9%, to 1.3 billion yen, on a 3.9% decline in sales, to 23.3 billion yen. The company’s business in this category centers on aircraft fixtures and components and on golf equipment. Sales declined in the aircraft sector and also in the golf sector, where demand is trending downward.

Yokohama’s fiscal projections for 2013 call for another year of record sales and earnings. The company projects that net income will reach 36.0 billion yen on operating income of 59.0 billion yen and net sales of 630.0 billion yen.

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The AIA guidelines authorise derivation proceedings before the USPTO, which will ensure that a person will not be able to obtain a patent for an invention that he or she did not actually invent, according to a USPTO press release. The AIA also creates a one-year grace period, which will ensure that the patentability of an invention is not defeated by the inventor’s own disclosures, disclosures of information obtained from the inventor, or third party disclosures of the same information as the inventor’s previous public disclosures, it said.

Under the new first-inventor-to-file system, the inventor who files a patent application first will own the rights to the invention. Before that, the USPTO used a “first-to-invent” system, which is at odds with most of the rest of the international community. Prior to the passage of the AIA, the USPTO was the only national patent office using a “first-to-invent” system.

“The growth of filings from European businesses is a clear indication that industry here has opted to innovate its way out of the economic crisis”, EPO President Benoît Battistelli said, as he presented the EPO’s 2012 annual results in Brussels.

“The patent filings of today are shaping the innovations of tomorrow. These results confirm that Europe is not only a prime location for R&D activities but also valued as a stronghold of innovation by both technology generating and exporting companies.”

Last year, the EPO received a total of 257 744 patent filings from all over the world. This represents a 5.2% increase over 2011 (244 934) and sets a new record. The EPO also published 65 687 granted patents, 5.8% more than in 2011 (62 115).

Europe consolidates its position as strong technology region

36.5% of all filings came from the 38 EPO member states (2011: 37.5%). The top five countries in 2012 were the US (24.6%), Japan (20.1%), Germany (13.3%), China (7.3%), and Korea (5.6%). The most active European countries after Germany were France (4.7%), Switzerland (3.2%), the UK (2.6%) and the Netherlands (2.5%).

With 2.3% growth, the number of filings from Europe has recovered well from the slight decline in 2011 (-0.9%).The steepest growth rates, however, again came from Chinese (+11.1%), Korean (+9.3%) and Japanese (+9.1%) companies. Accordingly, Asian countries accounted for more than half of total growth.

The EPO also published a new record of granted patents: 65 687. The lion’s share of 49.7% (2011: 52.5%) again went to European companies, whose total of 32 628 was more than the grants to US (14 605) and Chinese, Korean and Japanese firms (15 509) taken together.

Europe dominant in automotive sector and environmental technologies

European companies were leading applicants in eight of the ten most active technology fields. They were particularly dominant in transport (especially the automotive and aeronautic sectors), where over 60% of all applications came from EPO states. With shares of 50% and more, applicants from Europe also led the way in measurement technology, engines, pumps, turbines (particularly in clean energy technologies) and organic fine chemistry.

Medical technology was again the field with the most applications. This sector was dominated by US applicants (42%), followed by Europe with 38%.

In computers and IT, US and Asian firms held sway. Filings in digital communication were up by more than 20%, by far the highest growth rate of all technologies. Chinese and also Korean firms were the driving force behind that development: digital communication accounted for 42% of all patent applications originating from China.

Samsung largest applicant, four Europeans among top ten

The dynamic evolution of the electronics sector is also reflected in the list of the largest applicants at the EPO. Among the top ten firms were four European companies, four companies from Asia and two from the US. For the first time, however, the ranking was topped by an Asian company, Samsung, followed by Siemens and BASF. Robert Bosch (ranked 6th) and Ericsson (9th) are the two other European companies in the top ten. A Chinese company – ZTE – broke into the top ten for the first time, advancing from 43rd to 10th position.

“Unitary patent – a milestone in improving European competitiveness”

The strong position of European companies in the field of patents is also significant with a view to the introduction of the unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court: “The agreement reached by the EU member states is a good decision for Europe, as it will reduce the cost of patenting by simplifying the European patent system. Enforcement, too, will become consistent throughout the EU. These are milestones for improving Europe’s competitiveness, as European businesses will be put on a par with their competitors in Asia and the US”, the EPO President said. “We at the EPO are proud that the EU has entrusted us with delivering the unitary patent, recognising the role of the EPO as a key enabler of innovation in Europe”, he added.

Click here to view an infographic on the EPO’s 2012 annual results

(Source: European Patent Office)