Never too late! If you missed the IPKat last week

Never too late ...?

In the unlikely sadly all-too-common event that you were so busy last week that the IPKat's output somehow passed you by, you will be relieved that Alberto Bellan's diligent pursuit of the immediate past will help you catch up. Astound your colleagues with your grasp of current IP issues, bewilder your friends and family with your fingertip familiarity with the topics everyone's talking about.  Well, maybe not, but here are last week's Katposts, succinctly summarised by one of Italy's finest sons:

* EPO, SIPO, PEEPO! We take a look at a fascinating event
Peter Arrowsmith (partner in London-based patent attorneys Cleveland) is the IPKat’s special reporter from the event that the EPO and the Chinese SIPO jointly held in Brussels. As he recounts in this post, the event was a high-level discussion in which the heads of the respective offices addressed recent developments, persistent discrepancies between the two systems, and areas of cooperation.

* Taking escorts' photos from a competitor's website without permission? Not a smart idea, rules Birss J
Eleonora reports on Omnibill v Egpsxxx and Carter [2014] EWHC 3762 (IPEC), a spicy case concerning copyright, escort services and pornographic photographs which Birss J had just issued in the IPEC. Among other sexy issues, the ruling considers whether a South African escort website can be deemed to be targeted at the UK public, thus making the infringement an act that takes place in the UK.

* “IP in Transition: Desperately Seeking the Big Picture"
As readers may know, IPKat blogmeister Jeremy has been very busy in the past weeks with this year's Francis Gurry Lecture, "IP in Transition: Desperately Seeking the Big Picture". This post is the final report on what happened in this four-day Australian event. How does the Big Picture of modern IP look like in Jeremy’s view? It’s something quite close to Tracey Emin’s My Bed, our blogmeister explains.

* The finances of the European Patent Office - Merpel takes a look
Merpel sinks her paws in the 2013 financial statements of the European Patent Office. How does the EPO have a balance sheet showing a small profit, larger comprehensive income, assets of nearly €8 bn and liabilities of €12.4 bn?  The answer boils down to its pensions liability, the most famous kitten of the IP blogosphere explains.

* "The claim from Spain is heading down the drain ..." as Bot smacks challenge to unitary patent
In 2013 Spain initiated proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), challenging the validity of Regulation 1257/2012 -- which implements enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection. The Spain’s action gave birth to Cases C-146/13 and C-147/13 Kingdom of Spain v European Parliament and Council of the European Union. Advocate General Bot’s Opinion in those cases has now been published, and this Jeremy’s post contains everything you need to know about it. 

* Seeing stars and non-dominant rabbits: a couple of trade mark decisions and a rant
Jeremy provides a round-up on two recent trade mark decisions coming from the General Court, these being Case T-342/12, Max Fuchs v OHIM, Les Complices and Joined Cases T-122/13, T-123/13 and T-77/13 Laboratoires Polive v OHIM, Arbora & Ausonia SL. The first concerned two trade marks covering a five-pointed star encompassed by a circular device. The second regarded an earlier trade mark “DODOT” opposing the sign “DODIE”, both with and without the image of a nice rabbit. In the first case the opposed CTM application was filed in December 2006. In the second case the opposed application was filed just four and a half years ago. Why don’t we try a fast-track for trade mark cases based on likelihood of confusion, Merpel suggests? 
* Lantana's lament: no technical contribution, no patent Jeremy gives the floor to Paul England (Taylor Wessing LLP), who recounts the tale of Lantana Ltd v The Comptroller General of Patents, Design and Trade Marks [2014] EWCA Civ 1463, a Court of Appeal for England and Wales decision which further explored the oldie-but-goldie issue of software patentability, this time considering a data transfer method.

BREAKING 'GOLDEN BALLS' NEWS: the CJEU sends the case back to OHIM
The CJEU delivered its decision in the GOLDEN BALLS saga [on which see earlier IPKat  posts here, here, here, here, here, and here], a 7-year-old trade mark battle between Katfriends Inez and Gus Bodur, owners of the GOLDEN BALLS trade mark, and the French company which holds the trade mark rights on the football award’s name “Ballon D’Or”. The ruling is all about the different similarity test to be applied when it comes to “normal” or reputed trade marks. Whilst the decision is quite depressing, I find this post truly brilliant.

Back in England
Inspired by airports, airplanes and air in general, Jeremy pops up after his Australian trip with this unexpected round-up, recounting of many different things -- movies and music available on in-flight entertainment channels sometimes miss the names of actors and composers; Eleonora does not miss the chance to publish in the prestigious Common Market Law Review; Prof Estelle Derclays joins the group of people exploring the relation between IP and happiness; and many more!

The Consumer Protection Function of Trade Marks: Just so?
Here’s the IPKat weekly appointment with delicious food for thought kindly provided by Neil -- with Jeremy playing a not less than saucy cameo. This time, Neil reflects on trade mark principles and, in particular, on the recurring assertion that consumer protection is a bedrock of trade mark protection. Is this indeed the case and, if so, how does consumer protection fit within the trade mark protection structure, he wonders ...

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 PREVIOUSLY, ON NEVER TOO LATE
Never too late 20 [week ending Sunday 16 November] -- More on Jeremy’s Francis Gurry Lecture "IP in Transition: desperately seeking the Big Picture"  | OHIM and trade marks on 3D and 2D animals’ devices  |  Size of patent drawings matter  |  IPKat e-mails causing problems (but we still love you)  |  Helmut Kohl’s injunction against the “The Kohl Protocols”  |  Ambiguous patent translations  |  IPEC on damages for TM infringement in IPEC’s National Guild of Removers and Storers Ltd v Statham t/a Marrubi's Removals & Storage.

Never too late 19 [week ending Sunday 9 November] -- Copyright over Kim Kardashian’s bottom  |  EPO under EU Parliament’s investigation?  |  Rights on photographs of fake social profiles  |  IPEC hears big claims  |  Spanish copyright reform  |  Court of Appeal for England and Wales’ decision in Interflora v M&S | IPEC on confusing business names in Anglian Windows Ltd v Anglian Roofline Ltd  |  Ford Denied Well-Known Trademark Protection in Russia  |  Crayola suit to prevent genericide and dilution in the US  |  Copyright: monopoly or exclusive right?  |  The 17th draft of UPC Rules of Procedure.

Never too late 18 [week ending Sunday 2 November] -- The Limerick Competition results | More on CJEU in BestWater | The GC in Laguiole | France to review its IP Code | Reports on the “no patents round-up for non-techie people” event | Renting an orphan work in the UK | Aldi and look-alikes | The UK Supreme Court in Servier v Apotex | Are patent trolls really a problem? | Last developments over linking in EU.

Never too late 17 [week ending Sunday 26 October] -- A forthcoming conference on TM agreements | UK Cartier rulings analysed | Obviousness and common general knowledge in the UK | CJEU and registrability of 3D TMs | New EPO Unity Procedural Rules | Patentability of perpetual motion | BGH decision on colour TM | Arnold J's biggest blocking injunction | French Court on Copyright and Free Movement of Goods | Amazon.com and its ancestors | Merpel on EPO strike ballot | CJEU on video framing and copyright | Can pizza flavour be a TM? | Who can use "Duke" as TM in the US?