Around the IP Blogs!

A lot has happened across the IP blogs in the past week. IP Kat is here to guide you through this maze and help you catch up on the highlights. Please join a séance of IP knowledge and fur-joyment!

Trade Marks

Marques has reviewed a CJEU decision in the "Champagner Sorbet" case. The Court clarified the ‘conditions’ of using the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for "Champagne" on a product that was not Champagne, but still contained a certain percentage (here: 12%) of the Champagne product.  The CJEU clarified that a PDO may be used on products that only contain the PDO. However, for this to be permissible, the taste of the PDO has to be an essential attribute of the product.  

Kluwer Trademark Blog focused on an Austrian trademark battlefield. The Supreme Court (OGH) issued a decision in a case relating to a likelihood of confusion between “Original Salzburg(er) Mozartkugel” confectionery and a get-up product “Salzburger Mozartkugel”. Only the original Mozartkugel originated from Salzburg, therefore the packaging of a competing sweet led to a likelihood of confusion and constituted unlawful imitation marketing. The Court issued a locally limited injunction, i.e. effective in the Salzburg area only.

Patents

Kluwer Patents Blog  reports on an announcement from Latvia, which has completed the ratification formalities of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement by depositing its instrument of ratification with the secretariat of the EU Council. It is the 15th state to do so! Latvia will form a Nordic-Baltic regional division of the UPC together with Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden.

EPLAW discusses an EPO, Technical BoA decision in case T 282/17 – Coated tablets/JOHNSON & JOHNSON. The decision applies the principle of partial priority to the assessment of what is the first application from which priority can be claimed. In this case, the priority application would be the first application in respect of only that part of the invention which is not the same as in the earlier application.

Industrial Designs

The IP Alchemist discusses the publication of a final legislative instrument that is required for the UK to join the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement, which is an international system for the registration of designs. Given the uncertainty about the scope of Community Designs in the event of Brexit, the ability to designate a UK national right, in addition to an EU right, will be welcomed by  users of the system.

IP Licensing

IP Draughts announce their intention to propose that the United Nations  develop an international convention on IP licensing, which would help to resolve differences in approaches taken by various legal systems in relation to the interpretation of licence agreements, negotiation and preparation of agreements, and the use of template agreements of varying drafting quality.