Never Too Late: if you missed The IPKat last week

Patent

GuestKat Léon Dijkman published his farewell post, concerning amendments to German Patent Law. Said amendments limit the patentee’s entitlement to an injunction in infringement proceedings. Léon believes that this amendment is important not only for Germany, but for the likelihood that other European jurisdictions may now follow. In the meantime, we wish Léon the best of luck and hope to continue to read his pieces for  The IPKat, even if he no longer will be a GuestKat.

Copyright

Former GuestKat Peter Ling brought to the attention of IPKat readers two questions referred for a preliminary ruling concerning the InfoSoc Directive. Both referrals were to the CJEU, made by the Austrian Supreme Court. The first case relates to the internet protocol television (“IPTV”) service and whether operation of an online video recorded shall be considered “communication to the public” within the meaning of the InfoSoc Directive. In the second case, the basic issue at hand is whether the term "communication to the public" in Art 3 (1) of the InfoSoc Directive is to be interpreted as encompassing the operator of a streaming platform under the specific circumstances.

SpecialKat Chiioke Okorie continued her discussion of copyright reform in the South Africa, which she addressed in an earlier post here. Chijioke has now commented on the written submissions, received from stakeholders on the constitutionality of the Copyright Amending Bill. The two main areas of concern, raised by South Africa’s President, are the provisions that might conflict with the WIPO Internet Treaties and the Marrakesh VIP Treaty, as well as certain provisions on copyright exceptions.

A while back, Kat readers may recall that the Oscar Academy logo (featuring the Oscar statue silhouette) was denied copyright registration. Now, a request by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association faced the same result, when its request to register its 2018 version of Golden Globe statuette was rejected by the US Copyright Office Review Board. GuestKat Riana Harvey reported on the rationale behind this decision, wherein the US Copyright Office Review Board found that the 2018 statuette was to similar to its earlier versions.

Trade Marks

SpecialKat Tian Lu discussed a Chinese case on whether a figurative mark ‘MOCCA’ is generic for coffee-related product. This sign joined the ranks of generic and genericized trade marks that have lost their distinctiveness in various jurisdictions.

Other 

GuestKat Frantzeska Papadopolou reviewed a recent CJEU ruling concerning marketing authorisation for medicinal products. The CJEU interpreted the provisions of the Medicines Directive 2001/83/EC concerning the competence of Member States when issuing marketing authorisations.