New law strengthens patents on product designs
Patent law has long protected companies from having their products' appearance copied, as we saw during this year's copyright battle between Apple and Samsung over the shapes of their smartphones and tablets. But protections for design patents grew stronger this month, thanks to a new law signed by President Barack Obama.
The Patent Law Treaties Implantation Act of 2012, as it is known, amends federal patent law to implement two 5-year-old treaties: the Patent Law Treaty and the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. The point of the treaties was to make … Read more