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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.
Blog Post
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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Further SPC reference may finally clarify the status of third party MAs
On 1 March 2019, in his judgment in Eli Lilly v Genentech Mr Justice Arnold (who seems to have dealt with most SPC cases at first instance in recent years) referred a long-awaited question to the CJEU on whether a patentee can rely on a third party marketing authorisation in its application for an SPC.
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Brexit: updated draft withdrawal agreement
The 585-page 'Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community' was published on 14 November 2018. The terms agreed in principle in March relating to intellectual property remain largely the same but there is some further clarity.
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Just blame it on the parents? No longer a valid excuse for copyright infringement, rules CJEU
In a recent reference from Germany, the CJEU has found that national laws cannot exclude liability for copyright infringement in cases where the defendant can name someone else, such as a family member, who might have had access to the internet connection used to send infringing material.
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Article 3(a) of the SPC Regulation – clarity at last?
Since we blogged on the CJEU's judgment in Teva v Gilead in July, Arnold J in the English High Court has decided that Gilead's SPC for the combination of Tenofovir Disoproxil (TD) and Emtricitabine does not comply with Article 3(a) and must be revoked.
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No fairy tale ending for souvenir sellers at the inspiration for Disneyland castle
Sellers of unauthorised branded souvenirs, a ubiquitous part of tourist sites worldwide, may find their activities restricted following a recent CJEU decision concerning Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, as we discuss briefly in this blog.
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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.
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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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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).