Blog Post
Birkenstock loses its footing in CJEU appeal
In a recent decision, the CJEU rejected an appeal from the German casual footwear manufacturer, Birkenstock in respect of its attempt to register a figurative trade mark for a pattern of waved, crossing lines - the pattern used on the soles of Birkenstock footwear.
Blog Post
New Copyright Directive proposals – a help or a hindrance?
On 12 September 2018, the European Parliament voted in favour of a number of amendments that have been made to the draft Copyright Directive. This follows the previous vote on 5 July 2018 when the EP controversially rejected the previous draft. Some are hailing this a victory for the creative industry as it is hoped the Directive will provide for fair remuneration for copyright holders. Others, however, are up in arms that these provisions will restrict the free flow of content on the internet.
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Decreasing levels of online copyright infringement by 12-24 year olds in the UK
Following a study earlier this year, the IPO has now published its eighth report into online copyright infringement in the UK.
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Chugai gets relief from the pain of its licence agreement
In this blog we look at the very recent decision of the Patents Court in favour of Chugai in the long-running patent and licensing dispute with the patentee, UCB. The judgment is interesting in looking at how an English judge applies US law of patent construction, and for helpful guidance on patent drafting.
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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.
Blog Post
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.