Invitation to HGF's INTA Drinks Reception
Please join us at our INTA drinks reception on Monday 21st May to celebrate HGF's significant growth over the last 12 months.
Our reception will be held at the award winning Loulay Kitchen & Bar which is less than a 5 minute walk to the Convention Centre.
Monday 21st May
5pm - 7pm
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Trademark lawsuit against firm behind 'Alibabacoin' filed by Alibaba
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Monday sued a Dubai-based firm it said has caused confusion by using its trademarked name to raise more than $3.5 million in cryptocurrency known as “Alibabacoins.”
moreJoint statement European IP organisations regarding the negotiations concerning Brexit
"We do of course understand that there are many pressing issues connected to the negotiations. We wish, however, to emphasize the importance of IP for the economy in Europe, both in the EU27 and in the United Kingdom (UK). This view is well supported by previous studies made by the European Observatory on …
moreDolby sues Adobe for dodging license fees
The Register: "Audio specialist Dolby Labs is suing Adobe for copyright violation as the two companies sit at odds over licensing payments.
A complaint [PDF] filed with the Northern California District Court accuses Adobe of violating its copyright on nine different media encoders and software routines. The …
more'China will strengthen punishment of intellectual property rights violations'
China will strengthen punishment of intellectual property rights violations and provide equal protection to both Chinese and foreign companies, the head of the intellectual property rights office said on Tuesday.
moreCJEU: the existence of alternative designs isn’t decisive in order to ascertain whether the relevant features of appearance of a product are solely dictated by its technical function.
Design Law - In order to ascertain whether the features of appearance of a product are solely dictated by its function, it must be established that the function is the only factor which dictated those characteristics: the existence of alternative designs isn’t decisive. In order to ascertain whether the product is …
moreOpinion AG CJEU on geographical indications for Whisky
Geographical Indications. Case C-44/17 The Scotch Whisky Association. Preliminary questions. Landgericht Hamburg (Germany). Opinion A-G Saugmandsgaard Øe
From the press release: "Advocate General Saugmandsgaard Øe issues his opinion on the interpretation of EU law provisions relating to geographical …
morePreliminary questions about obligation of host-service to prevent further violations after violating personality rights
Privacy. Case C-18/18. Request for a preliminary ruling. Oberster Gerichtshof (Austria).
Unofficial translation: "Preliminary questions:
1. Does Article 15 (1) of Directive 2000/31 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in …
morePreliminary questions about registration of a fabric pattern as trademark
Trade mark law. Case C-21/18 Textilis. Request for a preliminary ruling. Patent- och marknadsöverdomstolen (Sweden).
Unofficial translation: "Preliminary questions:
1. Must Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2424 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2015 amending Regulation (EC) No …
moreCouncil authorises ratification Marrakesh Treaty on access to published works for blind and visually impaired persons
Press release Council of the EU: "The Council today adopted a decision approving the conclusion of the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled.
The Marrakesh Treaty establishes a set of international rules which ensure …
moreDeloitte launches Patent Reports
Deloitte press release: "As from today, DeloitteSmartReports.com is also offering patent benchmark reports. The reports are created by using artificial intelligence to analyze over 70 million patents filed by 268.000 businesses worldwide. Next-generation analytics allows us to benchmark your business against its …
morePreliminary questions: bad faith when applying to register a trade mark without any intention to use it?
Case C-371-18 Sky v Skykick. Request for preliminary ruling. England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division).
Trade Mark Law. Sky is the registered proprietor of a number of EU trade marks “SKY”, among which two figurative marks. Sky contends that Skykick have infringed these EU trade marks. SkyKick denies …
moreOpinion AG CJEU: Clarification of the application of Specific Mechanism
Patent Law - SPC - Case C-681/16: Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals v Orifarm, Opinion AG E. Tanchev
The plaintiff was the registered holder of an SPC protecting the protein Etanercept. Etanercept is an active substance of the drug Enbrel® that the plaintiff produces and markets in Germany. The German Patent and …
moreLouboutin cannot benefit from the introduction of the 'position' mark into EU law
(Courtesy of Margot van Gerwen, Maarten Rijks and Eelco Bergsma, TaylorWessing and Jesse Hofhuis, Hofhuis Alkema Groen)
Trade mark law - Additional opinion following the reopened oral hearing in case Louboutin v van Haren. A reopening was called for after questions were raised by the Ninth Chamber about EU …
moreUnitedCorp seeks injunctive relief from Instagram for patent infringement
World Intellectual Property Review: 'Miami-based UnitedCorp has taken on photo-sharing platform Instagram in a patent infringement lawsuit filed at the Federal Court of Canada. According to an announcement released on Friday, February 2, UnitedCorp owns Canadian patent number 2,887,596, called “User content sharing …
moreTrade secrets trial between Waymo and Uber regarding self-driving cars starts today
Financial Times: ”The high-profile lawsuit between Uber and autonomous driving rival Waymo will go to trial this week following a nearly year-long battle of theft allegations involving encrypted texts, untraceable phones and secret meetings.[…]
Waymo has accused Uber of stealing eight trade secrets that …
moreThe evidence submitted for the first time before the EUIPO Board of Appeal did not come too late in all circumstances
Trade Mark Law - Litigation - The General Court correctly held that, in the context of the invalidity proceedings based on the absolute ground for refusal, the EUIPO Board of Appeal should not, in all circumstances, rule that the that evidence submitted for the first time before the Board of Appeal must be regarded …
moreECHR: fining a clothing company for its advertising campaign with Jesus and Maria breached its freedom of expression
Advertising Law. ECHR, 30 January 2018, appl. No. 69317/14, SEKMADIENIS LTD. v. LITHUANIA. Sekmadienis Ltd. ran an advertisement campaign for clothing with models and captions referring to Jesus and Maria. The company was given a fine for offending against public morals. Seksmadienis Ltd. lodged an application …
moreEUIPO: likelihood of confusion between word marks “RUBY” and “RUBY FIRES” for heating apparatus
Trade Mark Law - Board of Appeal EUIPO, 21 december 2017, Ruby Decor v Essege. The appeal is dismissed. The Board of Appeal finds that the earlier mark has been put to genuine use. The use has been proved with a large quantity of invoices of which a significant number relate to the Benelux and with advertising …
moreRequest for a preliminary ruling on when an individual trade mark is used in such a way as to infringe the exclusive right of a trade mark
Trade Mark Law - Case C-690/17. Request for a preliminary ruling. Oberlandesgericht Dusseldorf (Germany).
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