Around the IP blogs

Socially distancing yourself and feel like you've lost touch with the outside world? Don't worry! Here are some interesting IP news from around the globe to keep you entertained. 

Patents

The EPO’s biennial fee increases come into force on 1 April 2020. This includes a 20% hike of appeal fees. Refunds on appeal fees are provided for in an amendment to Rule 103 EPC. The EPO hopes that this will clear the backlog of pending appeals. Kluwer Patent Blog reports on the fee increase and other amendments. 

In the recent UK case of Geofabrics Ltd. v. Fiberweb Geosynthetic Ltd., Geofabrics Ltd. won a patent infringement judgement against Fiberweb Geosynthetic Ltd. The court held that the invention is novel and found infringement both literally and as equivalence. Patentlyo looks at how UK Judge Mr. David Stone handled issues and compare same with US law.

IPWatchdog reports that it is time to harmonise the Federal Circuit with Supreme Court precedent and the Restatement, unsplit the circuits, restore constitutional validity to our system of parallel track patentability litigation, and eliminate the waste and gamesmanship that current precedent incentivises. This is in regards to Chrimar Systems, Inc. who filed a petition for certiorari, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case on appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

At this moment in time, several pharmaceutical companies worldwide race to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. Some of these companies are running this race with US government funds. This give rise to several important questions, including: who will own the vaccine funded by those dollars? What price will the vaccine fetch on the market? How much will consumers pay? IPWatchdog answers these questions.

Enforcing your patent rights by way of litigation can be very expensive, even if your attorney agrees to act on a contingency basis. IPWatchdog provides tips for an inventor who wishes to enforce patent rights on a budget. 

The Delhi High Court passed an order in Novartis Ag & Anr v. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, issuing a temporary injunction, stopping Sun Pharmaceuticals from launching its generic version of Novartis’ Nilotinib. SpicyIP looks at the fundamentals of granting interim injunctions with respect to pharmaceutical drugs and potential implications of granting same without duly recording the reasons for such interim injunction.

The way for the first FRAND decision by the Federal Court of Justice, is paved! Juve Patent reports that the German Federal Court of Justice upheld standard essential patent EP 08 52 885, owned by Sisvel. This provides for a further ruling from the German Federal Court of Justice in the infringement case, which could bring harmonisation to FRAND cases.

Trademarks

On 1 February 2020, Serbia’s new Trade Mark Law came into force. The new Law furthermore harmonises Serbian Tarde Mark Law with that of the European Union. Marques reports on the changes, including the introduction of opposition proceedings.

Greece also recently adopted a new Tarde Mark Law. The new Law implements the Directive 2015/2436. Kluwer Trademark Blog reports on the new Law, including that administrative courts are no longer competent to hear invalidity and revocation actions. There is now also the possibility to file a counter claim for declaration of invalidity or revocation of a national mark in infringement proceedings. 

“It wasn’t me!”. The liability of contractors in infringement proceedings is discussed in Kluwer Trademark Blog. According to EU law, the liability of a contractor depends on whether he is an infringer or an intermediary. The general understanding of the difference between an infringer and an intermediary is contradicted in a recent Hungarian case. Guidance from the CJEU would be needed on this point.

Copyright

For former First Lady Michelle Obama’s go-to designer, Sophie Theallet, flowers may not resemble pure joy. Theallet accuses H&M of stealing “a unique floral print fabric design and color scheme”, which she created in 2016. The Fashion Law reports on the battle between Theallet and H&M.

Dior has photographs in their bag, which they should not have. Dior used two photographs without authorisation. The photographs are the copyright of Swedishandstylish LLC. Swedishandstylish LLC filed two claims of copyright infringement against Dior. The Fashion Law provides all the details of the claims.  

Designs

Registered Community Design filings increased by 36.2% between 2010 and 2019, according to a new report published by EUIPO. More than 988,000 applications by 84,000 applicants were filed during this period. Marques summarises the EUIPO's report. 

Other

The US introduces a new bill to reduce importation of products that were manufactured in Chinese detention camps. This comes after Lacoste sold products that were allegedly manufactured in Chinese mass detention camps. The bill aims at taking a stricter stance on importation of products that come from this region. The Fashion Law reports on this new legislation. 

Agreements are a crucial part of IP commercialisation. IP Draughts reminds us to take a second look at the agreement templates that we are using. A poorly drafted template can give rise to interpretation disputes.