Rule 262(1)(b) RoP requires a concrete, verifiable and legally relevant reason, i.e. more than just any (fictitious) reason. In other words: a legitimate reason is required for making available written pleadings and evidence to a member of the public. Otherwise, this provision and the distinction made would seem to be...

Valid service Statement of claim on 4th defendant via 1st defendant, who is one of its directors. In the opinion of the Local Division, knowledge may be presumed pursuant to Rule 275(2) RoP if either a legal relationship exists after which knowledge may be imputed or concrete circumstances exist which establish...

Withdrawal of action prior to final decision because of settlement (Rule 265 RoP). Claimant shall be reimbursed by 60 % of EUR 31.000, which is EUR 18.600.

In its decision of 10 October 2023 in G1/22 and G2/22 the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO ruled that it is is competent to assess whether a party is entitled to claim priority under Article 87(1) EPC. The Enlarged Board underscored that a distinction is to be made between (a) the title to a European patent...

Valid date of service of statement of claim with Annexes (Rule 271 RoP). A Statement of claim, even if it refers to or announces the later submission of Annexes, can be validly served on a defendant, provided that the Statement of claim without the Annexes enables the defendant to assert its rights in legal proceedings...

The case law of the Unified Patent Court – operational since 1 June 2023 – and the applicable regulations are available in English at IP-PortTal (ippt.eu) under a separate page and menu UPC.

UPC case law will be published in the specific IPPT-format. They are published by date of the decision under “Unified Patent...

Provisional measure (article 62 UPCA, Rule 211 RoP). Sufficient degree of certainty that the patent is valid. Prevailing likelihood (“überwiegende Wahrscheinlichkeit”) – more likely than not – is required and sufficient. Interest of the right holder in not having his rights infringed outweighs the interest of the...

Infringing use of a trade mark 9(2)(a) Regulation 2017/1001. The operator of an online sales website incorporating, as well as that operator’s own sales offerings, an online marketplace may be regarded as itself using an EU trade mark where third-party sellers offer for sale, on that marketplace, without the consent of...

International jurisdiction. Active conduct with a sufficient connecting factor with the Member State of which the public is targeted when an undertaking pays the operator of a search engine website with a national top-level domain of a Member State other than that in which it is established, in order to display, for...

For right of information of article 8 of the Enforcement Directive, the applicant must show he is actually the holder of the IP right in question. Applicant must provide any reasonably available evidence enabling the court to satisfy itself with a sufficient degree of certainty that the applicant is the rightholder. It...

The Kingdom of Denmark has failed to fulfil its obligations under article 13(3) of Regulation No 1151/2012 on food and agricultural products: it did not prevent Danish dairy producers from using the protected designation of origin (PDO) 'feta' to designate cheese that does not comply with the specification of that PDO...

An amendment to a patent application that narrowed a patent claim to comply with the Patent Act does not in all cases create an absolute bar to equivalents for the particular claim limitation that was narrowed by the amendment. 

The patent laws reward innovation with a temporary monopoly and like any property right, its...

[G 2/21]. Plausibility technical effect. Plausibility does not amount to a distinctive legal concept or a specific patent law requirement under the EPC. Evidence of technical effect may not be disregarded solely on the ground that such evidence, on which the effect rests, had not been public before the filing date of...

The German government deposited its instrument of ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) with the Council of the European Union. The step marks the successful completion of the necessary ratification procedures by the participating EU member states for the Unitary Patent Package to become...

It is not allowed to dismiss interim relief for patent infringement where the validity of the patent in question has not been confirmed by a decision given in opposition or invalidity proceedings. Article 9(1) of Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of...

Trade mark law - Exhaustion. No valid reason for the trade mark proprietor to oppose further marketing of goods intended to be reused and refilled several times when the reseller has replaced the original trade mark with new labelling while leaving the original trade mark visible on those goods, provided that the new...

In 2023, BMM will again organize its BMM Spring Meeting. It will take place on Thursday, March 23, 2023 in Mechelen (BE). More information on speakers and content will follow at a later date.

Trade mark law - Burden of proof for genuine use within the meaning of Article 19 Directive (EU) 2015/2436  Trade Marks Directive 2015 rests on the trade mark proprietor. Burden of proof does not constitute a procedural provision within the competence of the Member States. The same legal protection in all Member States...

The expression ‘reproductions on any medium’, referred to in that provision, covers the saving for private purposes, of copies of works protected by copyright on a server in which storage space is made available to a user by the provider of a cloud computing service.

From the vacancy notice: "The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), ‘the Office’, is seeking candidates to fill the post of Executive Director of the Office. 

The Executive Director manages the Office and acts as its legal representative. He/she is accountable to the Management Board and the Budget...