Catch-up with everything IP! Edition 179 of Never
Too Late is here to recap last week’s highlights on IPKat (week
ending 21 January)
Trade marks
 |
Trade mark for a fabric pattern? |
Continuing with trade marks, GuestKat Mathilde Pavis reports on the ‘Atout France’
decision: French government claims back « France.com » (as trade mark and domain name). The French government (represented by
the public ‘Atout France’ and the French Ministry of Culture)
disputed the registration by a private US company, France.com Inc, of
a series of trade marks using the word “France.com”. The French
court of appeal cancelled the French marks and assigned the name
domain « France.com » to the State of France. France.com Inc has
appealed the decision to the French Supreme Court.
As reported by
GuestKat Nedim Malovic here, the appeal branch of the
specialist Swedish IP court has stayed infringement and validity proceedings on EU trade mark (EUTM) "Manhattan" and referred to the CJEU the question of the intended
meaning of "shape, or another characteristic, which gives
substantial value to the goods" of Article 7(1)(e)(iii) of the
EU Trade Mark Regulation as amended by Regulation 2015/2424. In particular, the Swedish Court asks whether Article 7(1)(e)(iii) should
now be interpreted as meaning that its scope covers signs consisting
of the two-dimensional representation of a two-dimensional product,
including a fabric.
Copyright
Patents
The UCL debate
on the UK Supreme Court decision Actavis v Eli Lilly ("Equivalents:
K = Na. Is the genie out of the bottle?", reported on
IPKat here and here), was the hottest ticket in town
last year (at least for those interested in patent law). Attendees will recall the comment by Judge Kathleen O'Malley of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit, that had the Actavis case come before a US
court, the case would have been fairly clear cut, as the argument on
equivalents would not have survived US prosecution file history
estoppel. GuestKat Eibhlin Vard considers what Actavis v Eli
Lilly may mean for file wrapper estoppel in the UK, and to
what extent patentee, and even inventor evidence, may become relevant
in determining matters of equivalence: "Prosecution history - as relevant as any inventor evidence?". Are the famous
words of Lord Hoffman in Kirin-Amgen that "life is too
short" to consider the file, soon to ring hollow?
 |
Is life now long enough for UK file wrapper estoppel? |
IP fun!
Be sure not to miss
the UK IPO's new cartoons for teaching IP to kids! reported here by
IPKat. Do your children know the difference between copyright and
trade marks? Big Joe, Nancy and Meerkats are here to help,
with the aid of the "sneaky snuggle puss" Kitty Perry. Even
patents get a look-in: is the hum bone an amazing new
invention that is going to make the team a squillion pounds?
PREVIOUSLY ON NEVER TOO LATE
Never too Late 178 [week ending 14 January] A Merck-y appeal is remitted to the High Court | Into fashion law? Here's a call for papers for JIPLP special fashion law issue | When two minds became one (at least for a while): the collaborative genius of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky | French Supreme Court in Finasteride second-medical use litigation acknowledges patentability of dosage regime claims | Alibaba released the 2017 Annual Report on Intellectual Property Protection | Córdoba - The CJEU to re-visit the Right of Communication to the Public | Swedish Supreme Court confirms that domain names constitute property that can be seized by the state | Multilateralism v Bilateralism: What’s in it for international IP regulation?
Never Too Late 177 [week
ending 7 January] Unwired
Planet American style in TCLv Ericsson | Supreme Court of
India in Prius trade mark battle declare that evidence of reputation
spillover must be explosive and Has
the Indian Supreme Court Moved the Bad Faith Analysis to the Back
Seat? | AIPPI Event Report: Unjustified threats - are you
threatening me? | The
ethics of Artificial Intelligence - the next step? | The
IPKat team: arrivals, farewells, and news | "Stars"
on the football field; less so in the Trademark Office? | German
‘hate-speech’ law tries to regulate Facebook and others - will it
work? | Brands
and ecommerce platforms: a tainted relationship? | Brussels
court in FN Herstal v Heckler & Koch wrestles with combination
invention v mere aggregation of features | Brexit: requests
to Govt from IP professional bodies | Street heart: urban
murals as common goods | Have your say on the UK
implementation of the EUPortability Regulation: public consultation
now open!
Never
Too Late 176 [week
ending 31 December] Can
the Buddhist notion of Bodhi be appropriated as a trademark? | Book
Review: Intellectual Property in Australia | This Kat will be a
JudgeKat and bids farewell | Congratulations to Sean Dennehey! |
AIPPI Event Report: Are you sitting comfortably....? Patent Roundup
2017
Never
Too Late 175 [week
ending 24 December] Linking
for profit, technical means and burden of proof - German BGH applies
CJEU case law to Google’s Image Search | Release by IP Australia of
draft of legislation for partial implementation of Federal
Government's response to Productivity Commission final report |
Rainier days ahead for Starbucks as it loses trade mark opposition in
Singapore | Females and felines in intellectual property law | CJEU
rules that ice cream sold as ‘Champagner Sorbet’ can be branded
as ‘Champagne’ | A Kat's 2017 Copyright Awards
Never
Too Late 174 [week
ending 17 December] The
first modern blockbuster IP merchandising campaign? Disney, Davy
Crockett and the coonskin cap I UPC - update from UK on statutory
instruments I The ILO rules reinstatement of Board of Appeal member,
but EPO resists I INTA calling: The 2018 Ladas Memorial Award
competition for paper on a trademark subject I R 0003/15: surprising
interpretation of feature violates right to be heard I Germany:
Bundespatentgericht annuls Nespresso capsule shape mark I Wind in the
sails for atypical trade marks in the EU - graphical representation
following the recent EUTM reforms I Coty, distribution agreements and
luxury brands I Around the IP Blogs! I Monday Miscellany
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