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Two can play at this game: Joint ownership of copyright
The Court of Appeal has provided a helpful summary in Kogan v Martin on the law of joint ownership of copyright, recognising that author contributions do not need to be equal nor in the form of only written words, and can arise by intangible input whilst collaborating on plot or character development. The case also discusses the different methods of analysing ownership of works that develop over a number of drafts, and how this can influence the outcome of a case.
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Puzzle (re)solved: General Court rules on Rubik's Cube (again)
In the long running saga over registration of the shape of the Rubik's Cube as an EU trade mark, the General Court has confirmed the cancellation of the registration following the CJEU's ruling in 2016.
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Shanks for the compensation: Supreme Court holds Unilever should pay £2m to an employee inventor
The Supreme Court has recently handed down a judgment (Shanks (Appellant) v Unilever Plc and others (Respondents) [2019] UKSC 45) clarifying when (and how much) compensation is owed to employee inventors under s40(1) Patents Act 1977.
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Brexit update: trade marks and designs ** POSTPONEMENT **
THIS HAS NOW BEEN POSTPONED. We have been informed by the UKIPO that all online services for trade marks and designs will be unavailable immediately after Brexit (from 11pm on 31 October 2019 until 4 November 2019). This planned shutdown is to enable the UKIPO to create the UK comparable trade marks and re-registered designs following the UK's departure from the EU.
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Glaxo pauses for breath – purple inhaler does not infringe
Mr Justice Arnold has recently handed down a lengthy judgment (Glaxo Wellcome UK Limited and Anor v Sandoz Limited and Ors [2019] EWHC 2545 in which he dismisses Glaxo's claims of passing off in relation to its purple inhaler.
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Making Host-ory: CJEU rules that when a host is ordered to remove infringing content this includes identical and equivalent material
The CJEU has ruled in Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek v Facebook (C-18/18) that when a host is ordered to remove illegal content, it must take down both identical and equivalent material.
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Brexit: UK government publishes no-deal readiness report – IP provisions
Last week the UK government published a No-deal Readiness Report, setting out the changes that could take place in the event of a no-deal Brexit and what steps it is taking to be prepared for Brexit on 31 October 2019. In this blog we recap briefly at what the government is doing in relation to intellectual property, as outlined in the report.
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Angular lines of the Zhejiang scooter distinguish the design from the classic Vespa LX scooter
The EU General Court has recently dismissed an appeal by Piaggio, the manufacturers of the iconic Vespa scooter, who applied for a declaration of invalidity of a registered Community design belonging to a Chinese manufacturer.
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Tweet talk: IP protection and social media
Is a tweet the intellectual property of its owner? Can rights in a hashtag be protected, infringed or freely commercialised by third parties? Given that the aim of social media is to facilitate open public communication, it can seem strange, or even counterintuitive, to seek to protect a hashtag, a handle, or a tweet. However, if you are sharing creative content, or marketing your brand through social media, it is important to be aware of how this content is – or isn't – protected.
Blog Post
*Significant procedural changes for privacy and data protection claims come into force today*
Significant changes to Part 53 of the Civil Procedure Rules ("CPR") come into force today, 1 October 2019, establishing a new regime for media, communications, privacy and data protection claims. Part 53 of the CPR, which has traditionally covered defamation claims only covers not only data protection claims and the tort of misuse of private information, but also confidential information claims.