News from the Japan Patent Office

TM view adds data on Bulgarian domestic trademark applications and registrations
TMview added domestic trademark data (application and registration information) for Bulgaria to its searchable database. With the addition of Bulgaria’s domestic trademark data (approximately 79,000 cases), TMview’s stored data includes more than 4.7 million items. What is TMview? TMview is a free online trademark search service offered from April 13, 2010. It offers data for the following countries and organizations: OHIM, WIPO, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Italy, Benelux, Portugal, Denmark, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Bulgaria.

China to have world’s greatest number of patent applications in 2011
In the large international information provider Thomson-Reuter’s recently published analysis and research report on intellectual property rights, it was reported that China would surpass Japan and the United States for the number of patent applications filed in 2011, becoming top in the world. At this point, Japan is the world’s foremost in this category. China rose to third place in 2007.

Opponent party of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. appeals against patent suit regarding Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s “Abilify”
On December 16, 2010, Otsuka Holdings announced that Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and others had appealed the decision of a patent suit which Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd . had filed and won in a first hearing on November 15, 2010, concerning the antipsychotic “Abilify”

Nokia sues Apple regarding British, French, and Dutch patents
On December 16, 2010, the world’s largest cellular phone maker, Nokia, again filed suits in Great Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands against Apple for violation of patents in relation to smartphone patents. Nokia claims that Apple products such as the iPhone infringe upon its patents related to touchscreens, noise suppression, and other features.