Case C-310/17: Levola v Smilde. Opinion A-G Wathelet.

The court of appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden (Dutch court) has referred two questions to the Court of Justice for preliminary ruling about the possibility to copyright the taste of a food product. A-G Wathelet considers that in view of the current state of the...

Trade Mark Law - The General Court was right to consider that EUIPO’s bodies could not satisfy their obligation to state reasons: Puma had raised the argument that the reputation of the earlier marks had been recognised ‘in numerous Office decisions’, the fact remains that the Board of Appeal failed to cite from among...

Trade Mark Law - Trade mark proprietor cannot oppose parallel import of a medical device in authentic inside- and outside packaging which, by its content, function, size, presentation and placement, does not give rise to a risk to the guarantee of origin of the medical device bearing the mark. Conditions from...

Design Law - Article 36(1)(c) of the Community Designs Regulation requires the representation of a design for which registration is sought to clearly identify that design

Trade Mark Law - General Court has rightly found that the Board of Appeal is entitled to take account of additional evidence of use which is submitted after the time period set by the Board: addition to the evidence adduced within the time period set by EUIPO under Rule 40(6) of the Implementing Regulation which is...

CNN: "The two companies agreed to a settlement in the case, according to court documents filed Wednesday, but did not disclose the terms.

The settlement closes a dispute that started in 2011 when Apple accused Samsung (SSNLF) of "slavishly" copying the iPhone's design and software features. A jury awarded Apple...

Publication - The European Court of Human Rights held that Russia violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case brought before the Court by Russian journalist Boris Vladimirovisch Stomakhin.

Stomakhin was the editor, publisher and distributor of a monthly newsletter between 2000 en...

Patent Law - SPCs - Holder of an SPC issued in another Member State than the new Member States is authorised by the Specific Mechanisms to oppose the parallel importation of a medicinal product where the legal systems of those States did not yet provide for such a possibility at the time when the application for a...

Press release: “The committee approved its position in a tight vote by 14 votes to 9, with 2 abstentions, and adopted by the same majority a decision to enter into negotiations with the Council, the other arm of the legislator.

Creators and news publishers must adapt to the new world of  the internet as it...

(Courtesy of Jesse Hofhuis, Hofhuis Alkema Groen and Thierry van Innis, Van Innis & Delarue) Trade mark law  - Article 3 (1) (e) (iii) of Directive 2008/95 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks must be interpreted as...

Trade Mark Law. Case C-26/17 P. Birkenstock v EUIPO. Appeal. Opinion AG Szpunar. Opinion on the partial refusal of the pictured figurative mark of Birkenstock. The opinion is limited to the first part of the appeal, discussing mostly the criteria for the application of the strict requirements that are used in the...

Copyright. IP enforcement. Case C-149/17: Bastei Lübbe v Strotzer. Opinion A-G Szpunar. Preliminary questions Landgericht München I – Germany. 

Bastei Lübbe is a producer of phonograms and holder of the copyrights and neighbouring rights to the audio version of a book. This phonogram has been shared with an...

Privacy - The administrator of a fan page hosted on Facebook is responsible for the personal data of the visitors to its fan page: the fact that an administrator uses the platform provided by Facebook cannot exempt it from compliance with its obligations concerning the protection of personal data. Where an undertaking...

Protected designation of origin - For the purpose of establishing that there is ‘indirect commercial use’ of a registered geographical indication, the disputed element must be used in a form that is either identical to that indication or phonetically and/or visually similar to it:  not sufficient that that element is...

Trade Mark Law - The CJEU refers five 'Master' trade mark cases (L’ Oréal) back to the General Court: the General Court distorted the facts and arguments made by L’ Oréal and infringed Article 8(1)(b) of the EU Trade Mark Regulation. The Judgement of the General Court, stating that that the most distinctive element of...

On the 25th of May the Council has given its vision about a proposal aimed at adapting EU copyright rules to the digital environment. "The main objective of the directive is to modernise the European copyright framework and adapt it to the requirements of the digital age. By contributing to the harmonisation of...

Trade Mark Law - General Court was fully entitled to conclude that word mark KENZO ESTATE of which registration was applied for was similar to the earlier word mark KENZO: mark applied for consists of earlier mark + element that lacks distinctiveness. Use of appellant’s forename in mark applied for does not constitute...

The Korea Times States: “Korean game developer PUBG, a subsidiary of Bluehole, has filed a copyright violation lawsuit against U.S.-based Epic Games, asking a court to determine whether the latter's "Fortnite" was copied from the former's "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds."

A PUBG official said Friday that the firm...

The Delegated Regulation (2018/625) and the Implementing Regulation (2018/626) have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 24 April 2018. Delegated Regulation (2017/1430) and Implementing Regulation (2017/1413) have been repealed. The new Regulations entered into force on on 14 May 2018 and...

Union-IP organises the UNION-IP Designs Round-Table in London on 08 June 2018.