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A day at the races ends in tears
A dispute over horse racing data ended in tears last month for the defendants who were hit with a wide range of claims. Although the claims for copyright and database infringement failed, the defendants fell at the last hurdle when the breach of confidence claim turned against them.
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Claim to design of Wolves' logo kicked out of the High Court
A fan's claim to have designed, as a school boy in the early 1960s, the logo adopted by Wolverhampton Wanderers FC in 1979, has been dismissed by the High Court. In this blog we take a quick look at the reasons why.
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Validity of patent hosed down for being obvious
In the recent High Court case, Emson v Hozelock, Nugee J held that a patent for an expandable hose lacked inventiveness and was invalid. The judge's analysis of what amounts to a public disclosure and the inventor's use of prototypes in his garden is of particular interest.
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It’s a red card for filing football star’s name
Even if you are someone who does not completely understand the offside rule, it is more than likely that you are aware Brazilian footballer Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, more commonly known as "Neymar", has been a pretty big deal in the world of football. In this blog we look at his recent success off the pitch at the EUIPO...
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It's official! New Copyright Directive 2019/790....
The new Copyright Directive 2019/790 was published in the Official Journal on Friday 17 May 2019 and the implementation period will kick in 20 days from that date of publication i.e. 6 June 2019. That means that Member States will need to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 7 June 2021.
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Novel formulations are not new 'products' under the SPC Regulation, says the CJEU
The CJEU has recently ruled in the Abraxis Bioscience case that SPCs may not be granted for new formulations of old active ingredients.
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Advocate General considers tricky jurisdictional questions over trade mark infringement
In the case of AMS Neve v Heritage Audio, the Advocate General has handed down a much awaited opinion on various questions referred for a preliminary ruling by the Court of Appeal on the issue of jurisdiction to hear claims relating to EU trade marks.
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*Breaking news - EU Council adopts new Copyright Directive*
Following the vote in the EU Parliament on 26 March 2019, today the EU Council has adopted the latest text of the new Copyright Directive which aims to make the legal framework on copyright fit-for-purpose in the digital age. Following the signature and publication of the Directive in the Official Journal of the EU, member states will have 24 months to transpose the new rules into their national law.
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Colour trade marks: applicant left blue with no silver lining
In the recent case of Oy Hartwall Ab (C-578/17) the CJEU has underlined the issues applicants continually run into when seeking to register trade marks in colours per se.
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Tears of joy or tears of sorrow? European Parliament approves biggest overhaul in copyright law for 20 years
On Tuesday 26 March 2019, news broke that the new Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market had been voted through the EU Parliament. The Directive, which has been the subject of the most intensive lobbying ever experienced in relation to new legislation, passed through the EU Parliament with 348 votes in favour, 274 votes against and 24 abstentions.