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

Busy week in the IP world; here is the summary of last week’s IPKat updates!

GIF by Riana Harvey

Trade marks

Katfriend Ian Gill (AA Thornton) analysed the Four Appeals and a Recusal in Xactware Solutions Inc. vs. Buildxact Software Ltd. One of the issues derived from the UK IPO opposition decision BL O/0298/23. Furthermore, the Recusal Issue concerned the UK IPO's reassignment of Mr. Bryant, the original Hearing Officer, which prompted a second appeal. The Appellant (Xactware Solutions) argued that Mr. Bryant should not hear the case again for several reasons. Overall, the case emphasizes the difficulty in convincing the UK IPO to appoint a new Hearing Officer, even where an error is found in a previous decision, as well as the importance of the timing when it comes to raising particular concerns.

Kevin Bercimuelle-Chamot looked into the opposition filed by Ghibli S.R.L. against Kabushiki Kaisha Studio Ghibli’s application to register the EU figurative mark 18 193 928 designating various goods and services in classes 9, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 28, 34 and 41. The Opposition Division divided its analysis into several steps, relying on Article 8(1)(b) EUTMR.

Designs

Anna Maria Stein reported on a recent EUIPO Board of Appeal (BoA) decision. The case focuses on acceptable evidence, specifically screenshots and URLs. In 2022, the company Ecosauna Project OÜ applied for the declaration of invalidity for the EU Registered Design No. 5809746-0001, claiming it lacked novelty and individual character. The company supported its claims by using screenshots of social media posts, including hyperlinks. After the Invalidity Division declared the contested design invalid, the decision was appealed on several grounds. Overall, mere hyperlinks or URLs cannot be considered sufficient evidence of disclosure of an earlier design; additional evidence must be provided if needed.

Copyright and AI

Anastasiia Kyrylenko discussed the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Belgium on the joint cases 7922, 7924, 7925, 7926, 7927. In 2022, Belgium adopted a law that transposed the DSM Directive into the Belgian Code of Economic Law. In so doing, the Belgian legislator arguably went beyond what was required by the Directive and introduced new statutory remuneration rights for authors and performers. However, these new rights have recently been challenged in front of the Belgian Constitutional Court through five lawsuits now joined in one case all requesting the annulment of several Code of Economic Law articles. The case has now been referred, with 13 preliminary questions, to the CJEU, which will have to advise regarding the press publishers’ right and nonwaivable remuneration rights for authors and performers for use of works and performances by OCSSPs. Katfriend Mirko Brüß (Rechtsanwalt Mirko Brüß) explored the very recent case concerning unlicensed text and data mining (TDM). This Hamburg decision is important as it is the “first-of-its-kind” decision in Europe, tackling Articles 3 and 4 of the DSM Directive. German photographer Kneschke accused LAION (a German non-profit organization) of making a copy of one of his images while creating the LAION-5B dataset, thereby infringing his reproduction right under Section 16 UrhG (the German Copyright Code). The District Court of Hamburg assessed whether LAION could rely on one of the following three exceptions: Section 44a UrhG (Temporary acts of reproduction), Section 44b UrhG (TDM), and Section 60d UrhG (TDM for scientific research purposes).

IP Job Opportunities, Events, and Reports

Eleonora Rosati notified the patent-focussed IPKat readers about the upcoming 3-day Pharma & Biotech Patent Litigation Summit to be held in Amsterdam. Considering this is Europe's premier event for patent litigation professionals, over 450 industry experts are expected to gather for a deep dive into the most pressing challenges and innovations in contentious IP law. The inaugural Diversity & Inclusion in IP workshop will also be held during the conference's UPC Litigation Forum, featuring targeted workshop discussions. For further details and a 15% discount code, do not forget to check the post here.

Verónica Rodríguez Arguijo reviewed the 17th edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII), recently published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in partnership with the Portulans Institute. With the theme “Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship,” this year's report included vast data and rankings, including the growth between 2020 and 2022. For more detailed progress of this report, feel free to check our post.

In the last Saturday Sundries post, Anna Maria Stein informed the readers about several events and opportunities. These include;

1. The WIPO 2025–2026 Training, Mentoring, and Matchmaking Program on Intellectual Property for Women Entrepreneurs from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Pacific Island countries, accepting applications until 30 September 2024,

2. Herchel Smith Lecture 2024, discussing how courts address FRAND royalty rate disputes,

3. The CLTR 2024 Conference, organized by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property in Basel, focuses on the future of Swiss cultural and artistic creation in the context of AI and digital platforms,

4. Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Law Conference on 19 November 2024 hosted by Harvard Law School.

5. A Licensing Course by LES Benelux on 18-19 November 2024 in Rotterdam.

For further details and more IP job opportunities, remember to check out the post here.