Around the IP blogs

Wake up call

Copyright 

In a series of dedicated posts, the Kluwer Copyright Blog looked into the Dutch bill for the transposition of the DSM Copyright Directive 2019/790 into this Member State’s own law (here, here and here). The issues covered in the posts include the press publishers’ right, liability of online content sharing service providers, filtering measures, freedom of expression, and user rights.

SpicyIP featured a guest post on the need for digital copyright exhaustion in India, including for computer programs. The issue of digital exhaustion is not explicitly addressed by the Indian Copyright Act. The post draws a parallel between a possible regulation of the issue in India and the leading cases in the EU and in the US.

Trade marks

The Kluwer Trademark Blog considered the recent decision of the General Court concerning the protection of shape marks and trade marks with reputation in the Oreo case (T-677/18). In this case, the producers of Oreo sandwich cookies had originally filed an opposition against an EUTM application from Spanish producers concerning look-a-like sandwich cookies, dubbed “Oreo twins”.

In the wake of covid-19 pandemic, many brands adapted their logos to reflect the idea of social distancing. The Fashion Law Blog addressed the challenges such “fluid trade marks” may pose from the perspective of IP and consumers’ perception.

Other 

In the JIPLP blog, Andrea Rossi advances his analysis concerning protection of LGBT Pride symbols under the EU and US legal frameworks, as well as possible international solutions. The author specifically suggests that the rainbow flag should be recognised officially on the international level, in order to safeguard its inherent distinctiveness and avoid misuse.

Our cousin blog, Afro-IP, shared an interview with Marius Schneider and Vanessa Fergusson on the occasion of their book, “Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Africa”, which was published by Oxford University Press last May.