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School Taught a Lesson on Communicating Copyright Works
In the recent case of Land Nordrhein-Westfalen v Renckhoff (C-161/17), the CJEU handed down one of its last judgments before breaking for summer, on copyright infringement. The Court held that posting a photograph on a website amounted to a communication to the public. This was the case even where the photograph had been previously published on another website with the consent of the copyright owner.
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Dutch company cheesed off with Advocate General opinion that there is no copyright in the taste of cheese
On 25 July 2018, Advocate General Wathelet gave his opinion (not yet published in English) on the preliminary question as to whether the taste of a product could be considered a 'work' for purposes of EU law and therefore attract copyright protection. According to the Advocate General, EU copyright law should not be extended to the taste of food.
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Further guidance from the CJEU on SPCs for combination products
In Teva v Gilead (C-121/17), the CJEU has given its answer to the question of when a drug composed of several active ingredients will be considered to be ‘protected by a basic patent in force’ under Article 3(a) of Regulation (EC) No 469/2009 (the SPC Regulation).
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Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner…
In the case of Frank Industries v Nike, Arnold J held that Frank Industries' trade mark registrations for LNDR in relation to "clothing" including "sportswear" in Class 25, were found to be valid, and Nike had infringed those registrations by using the sign LDNR for identical services. As the passing off claim stood or fell with the infringement claim, that too succeeded.
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EUIPO considers that an EU digital deposit system is feasible
The EUIPO has published an analysis of the legal and technical feasibility and benefits of an EU Digital Deposit System. Overall the analysis found that a system is feasible from both a legal and technical perspective, but there is currently no explicit legal basis for the EUIPO to establish an EU Digital Deposit System. Therefore there would need to be an amendment to existing legislation or new legislation to implement this.
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Will EU law change to address challenges relating to 3D printing?
On 26 June 2018, the Committee of Legal Affairs of the European Parliament (JURI) published a report on three-dimensional printing specifically focusing on the challenges concerning IP rights and civil liability and called on the European Commission to consider such issues particularly when assessing Directive 2004/48/E (the "Enforcement Directive") and Directive 85/374/EEC (the "Product Liability Directive"). This has now been adopted by the European Parliament on 3 July 2018.
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Kit Kat loses its break – CJEU judgment
Kit Kat's long running saga to register the four-finger bar as a trade mark has taken another hit. The CJEU has confirmed that the four-finger Kit Kat had not acquired distinctive character across the EU and therefore must be returned to the EUIPO for further consideration.
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UK Intellectual Property Office updates its Brexit guide for businesses
Earlier this week the UK Intellectual Property Office updated its ‘IP and Brexit: The Facts' guide, which provides information on the future of IP rights after Brexit.
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UEFA score another victory against illegal streamers
Following on from the Football Association Premier League obtaining a live blocking injunction for the 2018/19 Premier League season last week, it was the turn today of the Union Des Associations Européenes De Football to obtain their own live blocking injunction for 2018/19.
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UK Government reassures businesses that EU trade marks and designs in the UK will continue to be protected post-Brexit 'automatically and for free'
Last week on 19 July 2018, during a House of Commons debate, Lisa Cameron, Shadow SNP spokesperson asked Robin Walker MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Exiting the EU, what steps were being