Kat (re-)unification Should the EU unify the copyright laws of its Member States and introduce, over thirty years after the start of the harmonization process, a unitary copyright title? The short answer is: yes. And that will be unavoidable too. The real question is therefore another: how to go about doing that? In order to answer this, it is necessary to start from the beginning and retrace the steps of a harmonization process that has led to a framework, which is an understatement to call ‘complex’. 1988 – 2024: A (very) piecemeal history of a piecemeal harmonization process Th ..read more

Determining the informed user and the way the informed user perceives the design of a specific product are important steps in the assessment whether two designs produce the same overall impression. In a recent judgment, the General Court emphasized that the actual use of the product in which the design is incorporated is an important factor in determining which features of the design are of particular relevance for the informed user (case T-654/22). Background On 17 November 2012, the predecessor of M&T 1997, a.s. (‘M&T’), applied for registration of the Community design no. 00213800 ..read more

If things are finally looking up after a very busy week (and hopefully, a May Day long weekend), here's the summary of what you missed. Trade Marks Things are looking up! Image from Pixabay. Alessandro Cerri discussed the recent decision (T-157/23) which found that a trade mark's reputation is acquired progressively, and lost gradually, such that evidence from some time before or after the date of assessment can still be of relevance. The owners of famous or iconic marks who may have experienced, due to market conditions outside of their control, a downturn in sales might still h ..read more

UPCKat keeping warm on a stack of UPC awarded costs As part of our UPCKat reporting on the latest UPC developments, the IPKat continues its series of reports that analyze the development of preliminary injunction case law from the UPC. With our guest UPCKat team in the form of guest UPCKats Agathe Michel-de Cazotte, Hiske Roos and Laura Mikkelsen and members from the team at Carpmaels we continue the journey, this time visiting the Munich Local Division back in December 2013 on the issue of costs. Over to the team to report on Edwards Lifesciences v Meril GmbH and Meril Life Science ..read more

The IPKat brings you the latest IP events, news, and opportunities! Events    Uncovering the AI-Copyright Trap (9 May 2024) Dr Carys Craig, law professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada, will present her new paper entitled 'Uncovering the AI-Copyright Trap' between 12:00 to 13:00 (BST) on 9 May 2024, at UCL’s Hong Kong Room, 2nd floor, Bentham House. This event will be held in-person only. Register here to attend. Contemporary IP issues in a virtual setting (23 May 2024) On 23 May 2024, Stockholm University’s LLM in European Intellectual Property Law ..read more

There is no clear line between trade marks that are merely in poor taste (which is not a ground for refusal) and trade marks that are contrary to public policy or accepted principles of morality (prohibited from registration by virtue of Art. 7(1)(f) EUTMR). The EU Intellectual Property Network recently published the CP14 Common Practice concerning this distinction. It has been developed by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (‘EUIPO’) in collaboration with the trade mark offices of the EU Member States and user associations. These guidelines provide the common understanding of the ..read more

This Kat closes the reporting on the EUIPO’s 5th IP Case Law Conference, hosted in Alicante by the EUIPO Boards of Appeal (BoA). The last session of the conference dwelled upon soft law instruments at the disposal of intellectual property (IP) offices and courts to achieve high-quality decisions. EUIPO Boards of Appeal’s perspective Gordon Humphreys, interim president of the EUIPO BoA, opened the session with a presentation titled “Contributing to Trade Mark and Design Harmonization in the European Union: Trailblazing at the Boards of Appeal”. The BoA shape trade mark and design law not o ..read more

This Kat is delighted to continue the reporting on the 5th edition of the Intellectual Property Case Law Conference (IPCLC) organised by the Boards of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The sixth session was devoted to “Crafting the Future: New perspectives for Geographical Indications.” The panel was led by Dr Anke Moerland (Maastricht University). The EU law on geographical indications has experienced several significant changes over the last year. As the title indicates, the particular focus of this session was the EUIPO's new competence in relation ..read more

Check our reports from Day 1: #1 here, #2 here and #3 here #4 here Day 2 of IP Case Law Conference, “Decoding Decisions: Insights from Selected Case-Law”, organized by the Boards of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) started with 2 Keynote addresses: Exploring new paradigms of intra-judicial connectivity in IP where Ms Eun-Joo Min (Director, WIPO Judicial Institute) reflected upon cross-border IP disputes and the significance of judicial exchange in “a mosaic of territorial and limited rights” especially in a framework that embody national cases that have eco ..read more

This TechieKat is thrilled to attend the 5th Intellectual Property Case Law (IPCLC) Conference which is taking place today and tomorrow in Alicante, Spain. As reported here and here, this year’s edition coincides with the 30th anniversary of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Part of the IPKat team and some Katfriends are also in Alicante reporting on the event. See the reports #1 here, #2 here and #3 here. Here is TechieKat’s report on session #4 “IP Code-Breaking in the Era of AI Advancements”, which discusses the challenges digital transformation brings wi ..read more