Never Too Late: if you missed the IPKat last week!

If you didn't have time last week read the IPKat, not to worry: the 183rd edition of Never Too Late is out!!

Patents

In a two-part report, the AmeriKat exfoliates the decision in L'Oreal v RN Ventures [2018] EWHC 173, in which Mr Justice Carr bristles with warnings on Actavis v Lilly claim interpretation, equivalents and prosecution history (Part I and Part II)

Can Wenzhou and cigarette lighters tell us something about why there are IP rights? Kat friend Dr Aloys Hüttermann uses the example of the system created by the Wenzhou cigarette lighters association to explain the essence of patent - and IP - protection.

Following the trend: IPKat and IPCat

Trade marks

Surveying the scene - passing off & surveys ... & the colour purple. GuestKat Rosie talks about the ins and outs and the ups and downs of the survey conducted about the distinctiveness of the Seretide combination asthma inhalers.

Guccy and Deisel - you wouldn’t think so but they are all legit as Copying the counterfeits is apparently a thing. GuestKat Rosie behind the typewriter.

2017 Canadian trademark cases: progressive and regressive through the pen of Kat friend , and inductee into the IP Hall of Fame, Dan Bereskin.

Copyright

Kat Eleonora reports on two recent US decisions on the interplay between linking and copyright protection in Linking under US copyright law: green light to its inclusion in the scope of public display right comes from New York.

From erasing text to erasing problems, the hit-dispute of the Italian Summer 2017 came to an end. In Isgrò and Waters, problem erased, InternKat Cecilia makes a quick recap of the issue.

MarioKat ready for the gaming convention

Data Protection

Guest Kat Nedim tells us that the need to access personal data outweighs personal integrity in Sweden as Stockholm Administrative Court orders ISP to provide customers’ details to Swedish police. 

(No) privacy by default? German court finds Facebook in breach of data protection law as, when creating a profile, certain settings are activated by default and are in breach of German Data Protection Law. GuestKat Mirko reports.

Miscellaneous

Kat friends Daniel Lim, Alex Woolgar and Shohta Ueno attended the conference More than Just a Game and kindly reported on it for us. In the first instalment of the report More than Just a Game (Report 1): eSports they talk about the eSports industry and its IP implications.

In Blockchain my IP GuestKat Frantzeska explains what blockchain means and what blockchains can do for IP, especially for patents and copyright-protected work.

TechieKat Verónica has compiled a transatlantic compilation on Strategies for Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy, with The USA Perspective and The EU Perspective.

Events

The AmeriKat reminded us of the AIPPI UK Upcoming Event: Professor Bently to debate how far the "zone of exclusivity" of registered IP rights goes. The event will be held on 27 February: don’t miss out on it!

Weekly Roundups: Around the IP Blogs!, Monday Miscellany, Thursday Thingies.

PREVIOUSLY ON NEVER TOO LATE

Never Too Late 182 [week ending 11 February]  BREAKING: in his new Opinion in Louboutin AG Szpunar (confirms and) advises CJEU to rule that a trade mark combining colour and shape may be refused or declared invalid |  The new AG Opinion in Louboutin: is it really bad news for the famous red sole? | Yet another horse – The Polo/Lauren Company L.P. v Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club Ltd. | When passing off is enough to successfully oppose a trade mark |  BREAKING: Sky's the limit for CJEU references in Sky v SkyKick trade mark battle |  Influencers and undisclosed sponsored activities: where do we stand? |  Brand Finance 500 … What’s the value of music IP? |  The Céline affair: what moral rights can and can’t do…even in France |  Can Nativity scene characters attract copyright protection under Italian law? | Blackcurrant, public interest and the first ever compulsory licensing application at the Community Plant Variety Office? |  Costs of intermediary injunctions: Sir Richard Arnold's review of a recent publication | Alternative ways for financing and incentivizing research: a Nobel laureate and his colleagues state their case |  Event Report: IP inclusive - Inappropriate Behaviour

Never Too Late 181 [week ending 4 February] Book review: ‘Copyright and Information Privacy: Conflicting Rights in Balance’ | A legislative initiative that merits attention: Mandatory mediation in Greece in trademark, patent and industrial designs infringement disputes | Austria refers Facebook ‘Hate-Speech’ case to the CJEU | Protection of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions: the case of 'Maasai IP' | A spectrum of specificity - Article 3(a) of SPC Regulation | Can ‘public morals’ prevent the use of religious symbols and motifs in advertising? No, says the European Court of Human Rights | BMG v Cox - when does an ISP lose its safe harbour protection? | Embrace my beloved frog, as a guardian.

Never Too Late 180 [week ending 28 January] EPO revokes CRISPR patent – a clear cut case of invalid priority?|Blocking injunctions and their costs: some details of the forthcoming Supreme Court round of Cartier | When does copyright protection arise in works of applied art and industrial models and designs? A new CJEU reference | Trial sequence in SEP litigation - time for a rejig? | Bad faith confirmed for ALEXANDER trade mark application? | Is a circular logo for coffee confusingly similar to the Starbucks’ one? Yes, says the General Court | Fine-tuning the SPC Regulation; a never-ending story?

Never Too Late 179 [week ending 21 January] Scents and trade marks - The EU reform of olfactory marks and advances in odour recognition techniques| French government claims back « France.com » (as trade mark and domain name) | Swedish Patents and Market Court of Appeal requests CJEU to clarify notion of ‘shape, or another characteristic, which gives substantial value to the goods’| New presidency of the Council of the European Union ... new position on the EU copyright reform? | Image rights and the unauthorized use of one's own portrait on cigarette packs| Presentation of information: Is the EPO stretching the line for patentable subject-matter, again? | Prosecution history - as relevant as any inventor evidence?".