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

The IPKat has finally is able to enjoy the abundance of sunny spells, promising that the long-awaited springtime is nigh! Enjoy the green and blooming 187^th edition of Never Too Late.

Ginger Kat

Copyright

Kat Eleonora Rosati reflects on an Irish legislative proposal to introduce a text and data mining exception, which would be available to persons who have lawful access to a creative work solely for the purposes of a non-commercial research and provide a sufficient acknowledgment: Irish Government proposes introduction of Irish text and data mining exception.

Infighting at Nigeria’s main collecting society – Powers of the sector regulator: Katfriend and AfroIP blogger Chijioke Ifeoma Okorie reports on the issues surrounding collective rights management and collecting societies in Nigeria.

Katfriend Angela Saltarelli (Chiomenti) reviews a case, which focuses on a legal debate over copyright protection of street art: Unlawful street art used in a promotional campaign: H&M withdraws its complaint

Trade Marks

Kat Eleonora Rosati shares insights onthe General Court’s decision in La Mafia Franchises v EUIPO, T-1/17, where it was held that  registration of the  figurative EU trade mark (EUTM) ‘La Mafia se sienta a la mesa’ is contrary to accepted principles of public policy and morality: General Court confirms that ‘La Mafia se sienta a la mesa’ cannot be a trade mark on public policy grounds.

In Nando's v Fernando's: Food for thought, Hayleigh Bosher ponders over the issue of passing-off between two chicken restaurants in the provincial town of Reading, UK.

GuestKat Mirko Brüß takes the IPKat readers to the CJEU, where the Advocate General delivered an Opinion in The Scotch Whisky Association Case C-44/17. At issue was  the use of the term ‘Glen’ : does it infringe the registered geographical indication ‘Scotch Whisky’ and breaches of Art. 16 (a) - (c) of the Regulation No 110/2008 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks? Does ‘Glen’ make you think of Scottish whisky? Advocate General Saugmandsgaard Øe does not think so.

Databases

Katfriend David Serras Pereira (SPAutores) writes on a recent Spanish decision concerning the sui generis (database) right. Both at first instance and in appeal, Infonis (a Spanish company) succeeded against IMS Health, claiming that the latter had infringed its rights in a pharmaceutical marketing database by copying it and creating a competing and suspiciously similar database. For more in-depth analysis of the judgement, see Spanish Supreme Court puts an end to a “sui generis” case concerning database “sui generis” right.

Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Folklore

GuestKat Frantzeska Papadopolou introduces an agenda for the 35th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore: The protection of genetic resources, traditional resources and folklore 35 meetings later…

Book Review

GuestKat Mathilde Pavis offers a review of Gustavo Ghidini’s book on conflicts between various intellectual property rights holders from a constitutional standpoint: Book review: ‘Rethinking Intellectual Property – Balancing Conflicts of Interest in the Constitutional Paradigm’

Weekly Roundups: Friday Fantasies

PREVIOUSLY ON NEVER TOO LATE

Never Too Late 186 [week ending 11 March] The best and the brightest: key UK and EU design decisions from 2017 | German design law on the brink of change following yesterday's CJEU decision in DOCERAM v CeramTec | Greece: new notice and take down administrative mechanism for online copyright cases now in force | A new type of authors' organization: an exclusive interview with the Executive Director of Authors Alliance | Can Mattel be prevented from making its own Frida Kahlo Barbie doll? | The 5 Pointz case: Should works of art be protected from destruction? | 9th Circuit ‘slam-dunks’ claim of copyright infringement by Nike photograph of Michael Jordan and ‘Jumpman’ logo | Gutenberg.org loses to German publisher and is found liable for damages | AIPPI UK Event Report: Registration, notice and infringement - is certainty an illusion? | L'Oréal v RN Ventures: exclusive licence registration and costs recovery | Eighth Granted Petition for Review | In Memoriam Trevor Baylis: the life-saving wind-up radio and the precarious lot of the sole inventor

Never Too Late 185 [week ending 4 March] Exclusive interview with Johanne Bélisle, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office| Patents and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. What indications for the future on the basis of patent activity? | GuestPost: Is there really a problem with NPE litigation in Europe? |  Do patents and literature have something in common? | The 1st specialized IP Tribunal of Northwest China unveiled in Xi'an |  Sweet! (or not?): cookie-shaped cushions without trade mark owner's permission |  Sieckmann kicks in once again: when is a representation of a sign an acceptable representation for the sake of registration? | GUCCI as a well-known mark, with special attention to evidence, surveys, and unfair advantage | Book Review: Copyright User Rights, Contracts and The Erosion of Property

Never Too Late 184 [week ending 25 February] BREAKING: UK IPO launches technical consultation on draft regulations transposing the EU Trade Secrets Directive | Here we go again? Strong brands as a barrier to entry, this time from "The Economist" | UK IPO publishes consultation on implementing Trade Mark Directive 2015 into UK law | Top 10 issues from submissions before UK Supreme Court in Warner-Lambert v Actavis second medical use battle | EPO looking for new legally qualified members of the Boards of Appeal | Repair or reconstruction: Where do you draw the line for exhaustion under patent law? | L'Oreal v RN Ventures - The Registered Design Perspective | More than Just a Game: Music, video games, GDPR & technical protective measures” (Report 2 and Report 3) | German FCJ: doctors can have their profile deleted from rating site - but can they?

Never Too Late 183 [week ending 18 February] Mr Justice Carr's L'Oreal v RN Ventures decision bristles with warnings on Actavis v Lilly claim interpretation, equivalents and prosecution history (Parts I and II) | Can Wenzhou and cigarette lighters tell us something about why there are IP rights? | Surveying the scene - passing off & surveys | Copying the counterfeits | 2017 Canadian trademark cases: progressive and regressive | Linking under US copyright law: green light to its inclusion in the scope of public display right comes from New York | Isgrò and Waters, problem erased | 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 | More than Just a Game (Report 1): eSports | Blockchain my IP | Strategies for Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy (The USA and The EU Perspectives) | AIPPI UK Upcoming Event: Professor Bently to debate how far the "zone of exclusivity" of registered IP rights goes

Image credits: Judecat (Ready for Spring!)