Advertising for medicinal products: Not prohibited: faithful reproduction of packaging and leaflet information. Prohibited: selected or rewritten information since such manipulation of information can be explained only by an advertising purpose

Advertising for medicinal products for doctors and pharmacists also extends to quotations taken from medical journals or other scientific works. Prohibited: claims which conflict with the summary of product characteristics; but supplemental information may be permitted.

Abuse of  a dominant position: unlawfully obtaining exclusive right by submission of misleading information - fines € 52,5 million : the Commission applied Article 82 EC correctly in taking the view that the submission to the patent offices of objectively misleading representations by an undertaking in a dominant...

Community trade mark: as a rule European wide prohibition, unless use does not affect the functions of the trade mark. Prohibition extends, as a rule, to the entire area of the EU. Limitation of territorial scope required in case the use of the sign at issue does not affect or is not liable to affect the functions of...

Opposition on ground of a sign used in the course of trade of more than mere local significance. General Court erred in holding (i) that the significance of the sign concerned, which cannot be merely local, must be evaluated exclusively by reference to the extent of the territory in which the sign is protected, without...

Numerals particularly suitable to describe a characteristic e.g. content. Given that such signs are generally equated with numbers, one of the things that they can do, in trade, is to designate a quantity. Need to keep free: Actual use as usual means of designation not required. Rules governing the exercise of powers...

Unified patent litigation system incompatible with European Law. Exclusive jurisdiction in field of Community patents would alter the essential character of powers which are indispensable to preservation of the very nature of EU law. Member States confer jurisdiction on actions between individuals to a court created by...

Legislation reviving copyright protection – no safe harbour for previous public domain designs irrespective of date of manufacture or marketing of products. Copyright protection not affected by expiration of national design right.

Protection journalistic sources: chilling effect:  The present case concerns an order for the compulsory surrender of journalistic material which contained information capable of identifying journalistic sources. This suffices for the Court to find that this order constitutes, in itself, an interference with the...

Excluded essentially biological process: process containing sexually crossing. Excluded also if process of sexually crossing contains technical step enabling or assisting sexual crossing. Non-excluded; process containing step which by it-self introduces or modifies a trait in the genome of the plant produced.  Nature...

Gillette defence of applying the prior art: secure if he knows that that which he is doing differs from that which has been done of old only in non-patentable variations, such as the substitution of mechanical equivalents or changes of material, shape, or size. The defence that 'the alleged in-fringement was not novel...

The date of the entry into force of the registration of the Protected Geographical Indication in accordance with the simplified procedure constitutes the reference date for the purposes of Article 14(1) of Regulation No 2081/92.

Graphic user interface not a form of expression of a computer program: a graphic user interface is not a form of ex-pression of that program within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Directive 91/250 and thus is not protected by copyright as a computer program under that directive. Such an interface can be protected by...

Comparative advertising: sufficient degree of interchangeability. Misleading comparison: (i) if it is found, that the decision to buy on the part of a significant number of consumers to whom the advertisement is addressed may be made in the mistaken belief that the selection of goods made by the advertiser is...

SPC possible in case of a provisional market authorization for plant protection product: In the light of all those considerations, the answer to the question referred is that Article 3(1)(b) of Regulation No 1610/96 must be interpreted as not precluding a supplementary protection certificate from being issued for a...

Offer linked to purchase of newspaper not as such an unfiar commercial practice: to be verified whether it is contrary to requirements of professional diligence. In the light of the whole of the above, the answer to the first question must be that the Directive must be interpreted as precluding a national provision...

Enabling public availability: An invention is available to the public in an enabling manner when the information in the patent application discloses so much technical information to the person skilled in the art that he is able to successfully execute the invention. It is not necessary that as a minimum an embodiment...

Link necessary between the levy to finance fair compensation and the deemed use of digital reproduction equipment. Fair compensation - damages: Based on harm caused to authors by the introduction of the private copying exception

Distinctive character: Whether a sign is capable of distinguishing as a trademark has to be assessed in the context of an examination, based on facts. It is not open to OHIM, without relevant justification, to rely on conjecture or mere doubts. OHIM is required to examine, of its own motion, the relevant facts – no...