|
Server : Apache/2.4.62 System : FreeBSD fbsdweb2.web.rcn.net 14.1-RELEASE FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE releng/14.1-n267679-10e31f0946d8 GENERIC amd64 User : www ( 80) PHP Version : 8.3.8 Disable Function : NONE Directory : /domains/fryer/ |
Upload File : |
<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.61 [en] (Win95; I) [Netscape]"> <title>www_fryer_com</title> </head> <body> <center><font color="#FF0000"><font size=+2>FRYER INSTITUTE ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW*</font></font></center> <p><font color="#FF0000"><font size=+1>WELCOME TO A HOME PAGE SET UP TO PROVIDE CURRENT INFORMATION ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DEVELOPMENTS - INITIALLY ON THE SUBJECT OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PROTECTION LAW AND PRACTICE ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL.</font></font> <p><font size=+2>WEB SITE FEATURES:</font> <p><font size=+1>(New) SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF NEW DESIGN TREATY. A Diplomatic Conference on the New Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs (New Act) was concluded on July 6, 1999. Many countries, including the U. S, signed the New Act. It provided for a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) administered central filing system for design patent applications in member countries and regional entities. A <a href="harnwac1.htm">detailed report and analysis</a>on the history and features of the New Act are provided on this web site.</font> <p><font size=+1><a href="wsnl3jan.htm">Fryer Newsletter No. 3</a>, January 5, 1999. </font>This Newsletter features several important, recent developments around the world in design protection. Reports and resource materials are provided on the new European Union Design Directive, the new U.S. Vessel Hull Design Protection Act. The latest edition of Chapter 1500 on Design Patents, U. S. Patent and Trademark Office Manual of Patent examining Procedures, is included. This Chapter incorporates the recent rule changes discussed in the last newsletter. The Diplomatic conference on the Revised Design Treaty has been set for 1999. The Country and Regional Design Protection Information List has a new item on Australian Design Registrations and related statutes and regulation. Other special features are on:<b> </b>the WIPO Intellectual Property Library, U. S. PTO Web Site Adds Page with Answers to Frequently Asked Questions on Design Patent Applications, and New CD-ROM WIPO Designs Bulletin Publication. <p><b>Vessel Hull Design Protection Act </b>was enacted on October 28, 1998. It provides protection against copying the shape of boat hulls and decks when they are introduced into the market, before any registration application is filed. This type of protection was the subject of earlier legislation for a broad group of products. There is an opportunity now to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of legislation. The law is scheduled to sunset in two years, with requirement that an evaluation report be completed by then. An i<a href="vhdparp.htm">ntroductory report and resources </a>related to this legislation are provided on this web site for studying the new law. <p><b>European Union Design Directive.</b> European Union (EU) has published the long awaited Design Directive that will harmonize significantly the design laws of its members. The spare parts issue that delayed approval was not resolved, but a plan to work out the details was set up. An i<a href="eudedrp1.htm">ntroductory report on the Design Directive </a>, including the Directive text are on this web site. In the near future the EU Community Design System should be approved, and in operation at the EU office in Alicante, Spain. <p><b>Industrial Design Treaty Diplomatic Conference Update.</b> A very important event will occur on June 16 - July 6, 1999. It will be the Diplomatic Conference on the revised Hague Agreement Concerning International Deposit of Industrial Designs (Revised Hague Agreement). The proposed text, based on the current Hague Agreement that creates a centralized global filing system and uniform procedures, has been developed to accommodate countries, like the U.S. and Japan, that have design examination systems. The Conference will be held at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. <p>Resolutions in general support of the current version of the proposed text have been approved by the AIPLA Board and the ABA, Section on Intellectual Property Law. Background report on development of the revised treaty is available on this web site, along with citations to relevant articles.<a href="WS2HA1.htm"><font color="#0000FF">TREATY REVISION BACKGROUND</font>.</a> <p><b>U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Manual of Examining Procedure (MPEP), published July 1998 (7th Edition),</b> Chapter 1500 on Design Patents is now available on the <a href="http://www.uspto.gov">PTO web site</a> under the Patent heading. These guidelines are very helpful in preparing and prosecuting design patent applications. The most <a href="wsptor97.html">recent Patent and Trademark Office rule changes </a>(discussed elsewhere on this web site) are incorporated in this version. A brief introduction to these guidelines can be found in the <a href="wsstrug1.htm">commentary of U.S. Design Patent Special Statutes</a> on this site. <p><b>Item Added on Australian Design -Registration in <a href="Wscgitc1.htm">Country and Regional Industrial Design Protection Feature. </a></b>This feature provides information on selected articles and other resources on design protection, organized by country and region. The latest addition is a very useful summary on the <a href="http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/tpd/designs/designs.htm">Australian design registration</a> and the full text of the <a href="http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about/acts.htm">Designs Act and Designs Regulations </a>with some updated information. The documents are on the Australian Patent Office web site [link to my page on Australia]. <p><b>Answers to Frequently Asked Questions on U. S. Design Patents.</b> The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U. S. PTO) has available on its web site a list of <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/design/desfaq.html">Frequently Asked Questions </a>(FAQ) [link to the FAQ page; also be sure I have added this item to the Special Interest web site page] about design patents. In addition, the U. S. PTO FAQ page provides access to forms related to design patents that can be printed out. <p><b>WIPO IP Library. </b>The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has an excellent IP library and staff that can help in locating WIPO publications and other resources. The design section of this library is very thoroughly indexed and the library has an extensive on design protection.. The <a href="http://www.wipo.int">WIPO web site</a> has a link to its Library page. The WIPO Library web site page provides access to some of these materials, and has a special feature that is worth examining regularly, listing the contents of recent IP publications. <p><b>Recent Major Design Patent Decision</b>. I<b><i><tt>n re Daniels</tt></i></b> case was decided on May 20, 1998 by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (No. 97-1225, Serial No. 29/020,787), in favor of <i>Daniels</i>. It is victory for U.S. design patent system flexibility and enables the system to interface more effectively on an international level. The<a href="DANFCO~1.HTM">Court 's decision</a>is on this web site with the figures. The <a href="wsambf1.html">amicus brief</a> filed by William T. Fryer, III, in support of <i>Daniels </i>is on the site too. <p>In summary, the Court held that a parent design patent application disclosure showing a product configuration and an overall surface design, along with a distinct and separable insignia can be relied on for a filing date in a continuation application for the product configuration and overall surface design only. A more detailed analysis of the decision will be given, in a subsequent newsletter found on this site. <p>U.S. Design Patent <a href="wsstrug1.htm">Special Statutes and Commentary</a> are available on this site. The statutes discussed are 35 U.S.C. sections 171-173 (1998). They are the foundation for the U.S. design patent system, coupled with the general patent statute that applies where there are no special statutory provisions applicable to design patents. <p>Report on design patent topics from <a href="ptoopho1.htm">PTO Open House</a>, held July 29, 1998. The format and presentations allowed participants to learn PTO plans and performance evaluations. The Design Group staff presented several important topics and ample time was available for discussion. Design patent law practitioners should plan to attend the next Open House. <p>Paper: <a href="rpidilp1.htm">U.S. Protection of Well Known and Famous Marks</a>, submitted for presentation at September 24-25, 1998 Conference of the Indonesia Intellectual Property Society at Bandung, Indonesia. The paper introduces recent developments in the U.S. on protection of well known and famous marks. The Federal Antidilution Act, 15 U.S.C. section 1125(c) is discussed, with particular attention to its application to Internet domain name situations. <p><font color="#0000FF"><a href="ws3nl2.html">FRYER NEWSLETTER - No. 2,</a> </font>NOVEMBER 10, 1997. This newsletter features include an analysis of the major new PTO rule changes that effect design patent application procedures. Other topics include an update on the PTO reengineering project affects on design patent applications, a brief report on the 7th meeting of experts on the Industrial Design Treaty, held November 3-7, 1997, and the status of the AIPLA industrial design publication of selected articles from the 1996 conference. <p>This newsletter introduces several new documents now on the web site. The testimony by Professor Fryer on the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act hearing, held October 23, 1997 is provided. Another document is the amicus curiae Brief filed by Professor Fryer in the In re Daniels appeal to the Federal Circuit on the right to claim subject matter from an earlier filed design patent application in a copending application. The final document is a paper given by Professor Fryer at the Paris meeting of ATRIP, July 7-9, 1997,on use of the Internet for intellectual property research and communications. <p>FRYER <font color="#0000FF"><a href="WS2NL1.htm">NEWSLETTER</a></font>- NO. 1, MARCH 24, 1997. The first newsletter was published when this web site was started. The newsletter introduction explained that the purpose of the web site and the newsletter series was to provide current information on industrial design protection. Other topics presented included an alert to the proposed changes in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) rule changes, with several changes having a major effect on design patent application practice. Another topic was a review of the revision work on the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial designs (Industrial Design Treaty), through the 6th meeting of experts in 1996. The newsletter introduced the IBM web site and explained how to obtain copies of U.S. design patents from it. A report was given on the 1996 Industrial Design Conference and the upcoming publication of selected papers. The newsletter described the PTO reengineering project that has used the Design Group to try out an integrated processing of design patent applicatons, from mail opening to preparation for issue. <p><a href="wsptor97.html">MAJOR PTO DESIGN PATENT RULE CHANGES.</a> The PTO rule changes, effective December 1, 1997, effect several important design patent procedures. The changes include a relaxation of the drawing shading requirements, simplification of the requirements to obtain a filing date, and allowing for the first time in design patents for color drawings and photos. This report describes the changes and analyzes their impact, as well as suggests the need for other rule changes. <p><a href="wsatar1.html">FRYER PAPER:</a><b>Internet IP Research and Publication: A search for Quality and Global Communications</b>, presented at the annual meeting of ATRIP (International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property), July 7-9, 1997, Paris, France. This paper reviews the experience of the author in creating and using this web site. Several web sites that are particularly helpful for IP research are identified. <p><b>FRYER TESTIMONY on the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act, H.R. 2696 (105th Cong., 1st Sess.),</b> before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, October 23, 1997. This bill resembles the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 and the general industrial design legislation, as represented by H.R. 1790 (102d Cong., 1st Sess.). It is an effort to focus design protection on an industrial where copying may create unfair competitive advantages. The testimony provides a historical perspective on the bill, and a preliminary evaluation. An<a href="vhdparp.htm"> introductory report and resources</a> on this legislation, along with Professor Fryer's testmony, are provided on this web site. <p><b>How to Locate and Copy </b><font color="#0000FF"><a href="WS2DPCP1.htm">U.S. DESIGN PATENTS</a> <b>on the Internet</b></font><b>. </b>This feature introduces the IBM web site that has U.S. design patents (text and drawings). It offers suggestions on how to use the IBM resource most effectively, and a link to it. <p><font color="#0000FF"><a href="ws2si1.htm">SPECIAL INTEREST</a> </font>WEB SITES ON INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PROTECTION. This page includes a brief description of and links to web sites that specifically address design protection topics. Sites listed includes the U.S. PTO web site where a very valuable practice document is found: Guide to Design Patents. Another website is the AIPLA Industrial Designs Committee current report. A link is provided to The Hungarian Patent Office web site where the Hungarian design patent law and procedures are summarized. <p><font color="#0000FF"><a href="cvptr2.htm">(New) FRYER CURRICULUM VITAE.</a></font> A detailed curriculum vitae for Professor Fryer is provided with his work experience, professional activities and cites to selected published articles. <p><font color="#0000FF"><a href="ws2tc1.htm">CONDITIONS </a></font>- USE OF THIS WEB SITE AND PROTECTION <p> <hr WIDTH="100%"> <p>This web site is managed by William T. Fryer, III, Professor, University of Baltimore School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. It is a personal project and not associated, sponsored or directly supported by the University, or any other organization. <p>If you have comments or suggestions on matters concerning this web site, send a message to: [email protected] --. <p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <p>© Copyright 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, W. T. Fryer, III, all rights reserved <p>* "FRYER" is a trademark for printed publications and for electronic information services. <p>This page was last updated on October 21, 1999. </body> </html>