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No-deal patents and SPCs: latest government guidance - the picture is not as clear as it might at first seem
Amongst the Brexit turmoil in the UK Parliament this week, preparations are continuing on the ground for the continual protection of intellectual property, whatever the eventual outcome. Here we take a brief look at the latest guidance from the government for the protection of patents and SPCs in the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
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Garmin defends design infringement claim
In this recent case before the Court of Appeal, PulseOn, an optical heart rate technology company, sued Garmin, a competitor, for infringement of its registered Community design (RCD) rights. The High Court had held at first instance that PulseOn's RCDs were valid but not infringed and the Court of Appeal followed suit and rejected all four grounds of appeal and held that there was no basis for the Court of Appeal to interfere with the High Court's assessment of overall impression.
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No-deal trade marks: latest government guidance
On 1 March 2019, the government published a comprehensive document providing further welcome clarity on the position of EU trade marks in the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit. In this blog we take a brief look at this latest guidance.
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EU certification marks – lessons learnt so far
It has been one and a half years since EU certification marks were launched by the EU Intellectual Property Office following the EU trade mark reforms. This blog looks at how popular they have been and what the EUIPO has learnt so far.
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MEPs agree on provisional text of Copyright Directive
Today, 26 February 2019, Members of the European Parliament (the Legal Affairs Committee) have approved the draft text of the new Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market. The draft legislation was approved by 16 votes in favour and 9 votes against and no abstentions. The final vote in Parliament is scheduled to take place during the 25-28 March II plenary session.
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Brexit trade mark update
In an uncertain world, we can at least take some comfort from the fact that we are starting to get clarity on the position regarding continued protection of EUTMs in the UK post-Brexit. Read on to find out the latest on this.
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Progress finally made on the proposed new Copyright Directive
On Wednesday 13 February 2019, after apparently 13 hours of difficult negotiations, the European Parliament (EP), the Council of the EU and the European Commission spread some copyright love just in time for Valentine's Day and finally managed to reach political agreement on the text of the new Copyright Directive.
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Louboutin: the final step in the red sole saga?
This is the latest ruling from the Court of The Hague in relation to the invalidity action against Louboutin's 2010 Benelux registration for "the colour red (Pantone 18 1663TP) applied to the sole of a shoe as shown (the contour of the shoe is not part of the trade mark but is intended to show the positioning of the mark)".
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How many moles does it take to infringe a patent?
We have reported previously on the impact of numerical limitations in patent claims and on the law of equivalents following the Supreme's Court's Actavis decision. The recent judgment of HH Judge Hacon in Regen Lab v Estar Medical brings the two concepts together.
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Love is not in the air for MARRY ME trade mark
The EU General Court has this month upheld the EUIPO's refusal of word and figurative versions of the trade mark MARRY ME.