Our latest IP news and opinion round-up

U.S launches WTO complaint against China’s IP policies

President Trump launched a complaint as part of a package of trade measures announced on Thursday over China’s alleged theft of U.S intellectual property.

Walmart files patent applications for drone shopping assistants and smart shopping carts

Walmart has filed a host of patents including drones that would assist customers and a sensing device to make shopping trolleys smart.

Plagiarism verdict against Pharell Williams, Robin Thicke, gets upheld

A federal appeals court in California affirmed the 2015 verdict that the track ‘Blurred Lines’ had plagiarized Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give It Up’.

Tinder takes a swipe at Bumble for alleged patent infringement

The dating app’s parent company Match Group is suing Bumble for alleged patent infringement. It alleges that the ‘feminist Tinder’ copies Tinder’s “unique card-based swipe design”.

UK agrees protection of IP rights post-Brexit transition

The announcement comes as part of the release of the EU and UK’s draft agreement on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.