Geneva to host the WIPO Symposium on Standard Essential Patents

On 18 and 19 September, WIPO is hosting their SEP symposium with the subtitle "A September Symphony".  Taking this year's World Intellectual Property Day theme of "IP and music" even further, WIPO asks "do you hear the music of SEPs?" before explaining that standardization facilitates the playing of music in various ways: "[t]he opus is a vivacious one, with some modernist dissonances and fugue-like elements, but if played well, it all ends in harmony".  And with the music theme sufficiently played, a glance at the Agenda shows 14 sessions ranging from the economics behind FRAND determinations to dealmaking, and from a judges' panel to SEPs and SMEs. Registration is free and there is a webcast option.  

US Administration eyes plans to increase patent fees

According to reports from the WSJ , the US Commerce Department is discussing proposals to charge patentees 1-5% of their overall patent value to maintain US patents.  Currently, patentees pay three flat maintenance fees based on the size of the company.  For a large company, that is around $15,000.  This would help to generate additional revenue from the USPTO which, unlike many federal agencies, is self-funded.  This year, the USPTO expects to bring in $4.3 billion in patent fees.  The proposal - which is scant on details - would be a way to try to plug an ever increasing national deficit.  But even without details, one can quickly identify an administrative hurdle - assigning value to one patent - and a policy hurdle - chilling US patent filings by big companies. 

Mr Justice Richards allows copyright class action to proceed 

Today, in Trustees of the AFM and SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund v. the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Mr Justice Richards allowed four performers - Mark Harper, Milo Deering, Kudisan Kai and Antonio Sol - to act as representative claimants in a copyright complaint against the UK government.  The judge rejected the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology's arguments that the four representatives did not share the same interest of the class as 33,000 musicians, or that the definition of the class was unclear.  The claimants do, however, have to address the Secretary of State's complaint that the claimants had not proposed a method by which to even calculate an individual performer's losses as a result of the UK's alleged failure to properly implement Article 8(2) of the Rental Directive (92/100).  Article 8(2) provides that:

Member States shall provide a right in order to ensure that a single equitable remuneration is paid by the user, if a phonogram published for commercial purposes, or a reproduction of such phonogram, is used for broadcasting by wireless means or for any communication to the public, and to ensure that this remuneration is shared between the relevant performers and phonogram producers. Member States may, in the absence of agreement between the performers and phonogram producers, lay down the conditions as to the sharing of this remuneration between them.

The claim, filed back in April by the four individuals - and AFM and SAG-AFTRA - complains that the UK government failed to transpose Article 8(2) correctly, only adopting a limited right of remuneration. For more reporting, see Law360.  The case continues.  For more IPKat Article 8(2) commentary, see here.  

Kincade's Morning Pledge complaint against the DHS 

In the cold months of January, Merpel (who adores a good art documentary) caught a trailer for the documentary "Art for Everybody" about the late Thomas Kinkade - an American artist who created an empire based on capturing idyllic, pastoral Americana.  Fast forward to July, and Kinkade's name popped up again - but this time in relation to the Department of Homeland Security's use of an image of Kinkade's Morning Pledge painting on their social media post.   The Kinkade Family Foundation said the use of the artwork was unauthorized and asked that DHS remove the post, reportedly commenting that such use was "antithetical to our mission".  This is not the first time DHS has been subject to such complaints - John Gast's 1872 work American Progress and Morgan Weistling's New Life in a New Land were also used and subject to criticism.  For more info, see the Washington Post and the Independent. 

Source: https://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/07/wednesday-whimsies_30.html