News from Japanese patent office

Samsung Electronics files lawsuits against Apple for alleged iPad patent infringement

On April 22, 2011, Samsung Electronics announced that it filed patent infringement lawsuits against U.S. company Apple in Korea, Japan, and Germany, asserting that iPad and iPhone, etc. constituted infringement of ten of the company’s patents related to data communication. Apple had filed a lawsuit against Samsung earlier, on April 15, 2011 in the U.S.A., on grounds that Galaxy and Galaxy Tab, etc. infringed its patent and trademark rights concerning the iPhone and iPad.

In China, world’s largest number of trademark applications for 2010 filed ; number of patent applications surpassed Japan’s to rank second globally

On April 21, 2011, the State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C. (SIPO) announced that there were 10,702,000 applications for trademark registration for 2010 in China, constituting the world’s largest number. In addition, in 2010, patent applications in China increased by 24 percent from the previous year, reaching 391,177. Since the patent applications filed in Japan in 2010 numbered approximately 350,000, the number of applications in China has passed Japan’s, rising to second place globally.

U.S. Department of Justice limits purchase of Novell patents by Microsoft et. al.

On April 20, 2011, the United Stated Department of Justice announced that with regard to the purchase of U.S. company Novell’s patents by U.S. CPTN Holdings, CPTN and its owners (Microsoft et. al.) had changed their business terms in response to concerns of open source groups.

Apple files lawsuit against Samsung, asserts that Galaxy infringes patent and trademark rights

On April 15, 2011, U.S. company Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung on grounds that Galaxy,Galaxy Tab, etc. infringe iPhone- and iPad-related patent and trademark rights. Apple requested an injunction on the alleged infringements and compensation for damages.