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Intellectual Property UK
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May 14, 2024
ATM Network Accuses Stripe Of Infringing 'Link' TMs
The main ATM network in the U.K. has accused Stripe of infringing its trademarks and hijacking its reputation by providing a payments system under the "Link" name, telling a court that consumers associate this branding with the cash machine system in Britain.
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May 13, 2024
US Med Tech Co. Can't Get 'EvenFlow' IP
A U.S. medical technology company could not convince the Board of Appeal at the European Union Intellectual Property Office to overturn a decision denying its trademark application for "EvenFlow," after the appellate board held that the application lacked distinctive character.
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May 13, 2024
Clothing Co. Blames Businessman In Knockoff Garment Fight
A London-based garment supplier has responded to accusations that it sold knockoff "Yours" and "Yours Curve" plus-size clothing, telling a London court that a businessman it dealt with was responsible for supplying allegedly infringing items.
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May 13, 2024
EU Geographic IP Checklist For Agri Products Goes Live
New EU rules for geographical indications covering agricultural products, wines and spirits came into force on Monday, strengthening the bloc's IP governance over products that come from specific regions, with the best-known being Champagne.
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May 13, 2024
EasyGroup Sues Vehicle Rental Co. Over 'EasyHire' TM
EasyGroup has hit English car and van rental business Easihire with a trademark infringement claim, arguing that customers are likely to confuse Easihire with its own easyHire brand.
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May 13, 2024
Kanye West's Label Settles Royalty Fight Over 'Power' Sample
Kanye West's record label settled a royalty spat with King Crimson on Monday after the progressive rock band sued in London, claiming that it had been underpaid for a sample used by the U.S. rapper in his 2010 hit "Power."
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May 10, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
The past week in London has seen Playtech file an intellectual property claim against online casino company OnAir Entertainment amid allegations of corporate spying, a broadcast equipment company sue its former owner amid allegations he conspired to inflate a customer’s finances, and aerospace company Vertical Aerospace hit a manufacturer with a claim following a test flight crash. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 10, 2024
Kao Beats P&G's Objections To Hair Conditioning Patent
Procter & Gamble failed to foil a Japanese cosmetics brand's bid to patent a hair conditioning treatment, after European officials ruled that amendments made to the invention did not try to sneak in new material.
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May 10, 2024
Ford Gets Shanghai Co.'s 'Mustang' TM Scrapped
Ford Motor Co. has persuaded an appellate board at Europe's intellectual property office to toss a Chinese company's "Mustang" trademark for technology for charging electric vehicles, after the board found that there was significant overlap in the two companies' target consumers.
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May 10, 2024
Monster Energy Beats K-Pop Girl Band's European TM Bid
Monster Energy has partially defeated a Korean entertainment company's bid to register a European trademark for "Babymonsters," after an intellectual property appellate panel ruled that the public might assume its products were connected to the energy drink.
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May 10, 2024
Ireland UPC Delay Risks Undermining Its Influence At Court
Ireland's decision to delay a constitutional referendum to officially join Europe's unitary patent system amid concerns about lack of public engagement could leave Dublin without a hand in shaping the burgeoning court if it doesn't reschedule the vote soon, patent lawyers warn.
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May 10, 2024
Sanofi, Novavax Sign $1.2B Deal For One-Shot COVID, Flu Jab
Sanofi and U.S. vaccine developer Novavax Inc. said on Friday that the French pharmaceutical company has bought a co-exclusive licensing agreement worth up to $1.2 billion, part of a collaboration to create a combined global COVID-19 and influenza shot.
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May 09, 2024
Airbus Gets Boeing Antenna Patent Revoked On Appeal
Airbus has persuaded a European appeals panel to revoke Boeing's patent over an antenna that integrates into the structure of an airplane, proving that the design was not inventive over earlier patents covering conductive structural materials.
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May 09, 2024
Plant Milk Co. Loses Bid For 'Not Milk' TM
A Chilean plant-based food manufacturer has failed to register the trademark "Not Milk," after a European court ruled that it couldn't be protected because it merely described a key quality of its beverages.
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May 09, 2024
Lego Topples Rival's Figurine Design At EUIPO
Lego convinced Europe's intellectual property office Wednesday to scrap the registered design for a figurine for "lacking individual character" because it reproduced the design of an older Chinese design patent.
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May 09, 2024
Security Biz Can't Get Rival's 'VAPIX' TM Revoked At EU Court
A surveillance company's use of its "VAPIX" trademark on a free-to-access computer tool to secure market share was "genuine use" of the logo, a European Union court has ruled, blocking its rival's bid to revoke the protections for a lack of use in the course of trade.
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May 09, 2024
Video Game Developer Loses Bid To Register Branding
A European Union court has rejected a bid by an Italian marketing and training game developer to register its "Gamindo" branding, ruling that the mark was too similar to another company's "Gamigo" brand.
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May 08, 2024
3D Printer Co. Can't Fix Patent Jam On Appeal
An Italian maker of 3D printers failed to prove previous examiners had made "fundamental" procedural errors when they revoked one of its patents.
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May 08, 2024
UKIPO Builds AI Patent Ruling Into New Guidance
The U.K. Intellectual Property Office has published new guidance on patent applications adopting recent case law developments on artificial intelligence-related inventions into the agency's patent evaluation process, including a decision that artificial neural networks shouldn't be treated as unpatentable software.
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May 08, 2024
Puma Can't Trip Up Rival Shoe Designs IP
Puma failed Wednesday to convince a European court that two rivals' sneaker designs had soles that were too similar to its own to gain design protections after the court concluded that it had to consider the shoes as a whole.
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May 08, 2024
Daimler Loses Bid For 'Certified' Trademark At EU Court
Auto giant Daimler lost its bid on Wednesday for trademark registration over a logo bearing the word "certified" as a European Union court found that the word had no distinctive meaning in connection with trucks.
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May 08, 2024
Dr. Martens Accuses Temu Of Google Search TM Use
Dr. Martens has accused Chinese ultra-fast fashion giant Temu of paying Google to show its knockoffs of the British shoemaker's famous black boots in the search results of online shoppers.
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May 07, 2024
Mexican Media Co. Nixes Crypto Rival's 'Aztec' TM
Televisión Azteca successfully blocked a cryptocurrency software firm's trademark application for "Aztec," after British officials ruled that consumers might think the TV provider was promoting educational programs about digital coins.
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May 07, 2024
Doctor Wins Battle For 'Skinly' TM Against Cosmetics Co.
A Swiss dermatologist won his fight to get trademark protection for "Skinly," when appellate officials at the European Union Intellectual Property Office tossed a lower division's finding that consumers would mistake the mark for a rival skin care brand.
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May 07, 2024
Moderna Says Pledge Didn't Waive COVID Vaccine Patent Rights
Moderna and Pfizer questioned expert witnesses on U.S. federal law on Tuesday in their London court battle over whether Moderna is bound by its pledge not to enforce its COVID-19 vaccine patent rights against those making vaccines to combat the virus during the pandemic.
Expert Analysis
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IP Ruling Could Pave Way For AI Patents In UK
If implemented by the U.K. Intellectual Property Office, the High Court's recent ruling in Emotional Perception AI v. Comptroller-General of Patents, holding that artificial neural networks can be patented, could be a first step to welcoming AI patents in the U.K., say Arnie Francis and Alexandra Brodie at Gowling.
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Why It's Urgent For Pharma Cos. To Halt Counterfeit Meds
With over 10.5 million counterfeit medicines seized in the EU in 2023, it is vital both ethically and commercially that pharmaceutical companies take steps to protect against such infringements, including by invoking intellectual property rights protection, says Lars Karnøe at Potter Clarkson.
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Examining US And Europe Patent Disclosure For AI Inventions
As applicants before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office increasingly seek patent protection for inventions relating to artificial intelligence, the applications may require more implementation details than traditional computer-implemented inventions, including disclosure of data and methods used to train the AI systems, say attorneys at Finnegan.
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Incontinence Drug Ruling Offers Key Patent Drafting Lessons
In a long-awaited decision in Astellas v. Teva and Sandoz, an English court found that the patent for a drug used to treat overactive bladder syndrome had not been infringed, highlighting the interaction between patent drafting and litigation strategy, and why claim infringement is as important a consideration as validity, says George McCubbin at Herbert Smith.
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EPO Decision Significantly Relaxes Patent Priority Approach
In a welcome development for patent applicants, a recent European Patent Office decision redefines the way that entitlement to priority is assessed, significantly relaxing the previous approach and making challenges to the right to priority in post-grant opposition proceedings far more difficult, say lawyers at Finnegan.
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Why US Should Help European Efforts To Fix SEP Licensing
The European Commission's proposed reform of standard-essential patent licensing aims to fix a fundamental problem stemming from the asymmetry and obscurity of information about SEPs, and U.S. agencies exploring regulation of foreign regimes should support and improve these efforts, say David McAdams at Duke University and David Katz at WilmerHale.
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Shifting From Technical To Clear Insurance Contract Wordings
Recent developments on insurance policies, including the Financial Conduct Authority's new consumer duty, represent a major shift for insurers and highlight the importance of drafting policies that actively improve understanding, rather than shift the onus onto the end user, say Tamsin Hyland and Jonathan Charwat at RPC.
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What's In The Plan To Boost Germany's Commercial Litigation
Lawyers at Cleary discuss Germany's recent draft bill, which establishes commercial courts and introduces English as a court language in civil proceedings, and analyze whether it accomplishes the country's goal of becoming a more attractive venue for commercial litigation.
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Bitcoin Case Highlights Advanced Age Of UK's IP Law
An appellate court's recent decision in a case involving the copyright of bitcoin's file format emphasizes the role of copyright protection in software, and also the challenges of applying decades-old laws to new technologies, say Marianna Foerg and Ben Bell at Potter Clarkson.
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Future Paths For AI Inventorship After Justices' Thaler Denial
Anup Iyer at Moore & Van Allen examines the current and future state of AI inventorship in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to hear Thaler v. Vidal, including collaboration, international challenges, and the need for closer examination in research and development-intensive sectors.
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EU Ruling Highlights Strategic Benefits Of Patent Appeals
The European Patent Office board of appeal recently reversed the examining board's ruling in an application by LG Electronics, highlighting how applicants struggling to escape conflicting objection traps at the examination level can improve their chances of a positive outcome with an appeal, says Andrew Rudhall at Haseltine Lake.
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Series
In A 'Barbie' World: Boosting IP Value With Publicity Machines
Mattel's history of intellectual property monitoring, including its recent challenge against Burberry over the "BRBY" trademark ahead of the "Barbie" film, shows how IP enforcement strategies can be used as publicity to increase brand value and inform potential collaborations, says Carly Duckett at Shepherd and Wedderburn.
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UPC Revocation Actions Offer An Attractive Patent Strategy
As the Unified Patent Court gains momentum after an initial period of nervousness around the recently launched forum, more businesses may be starting to realize the value of running revocation actions as an alternative route to knocking out patents across Europe, say Oliver Laing and Georgia Carr at Potter Clarkson.
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5 Takeaways For Litigants From Early EU Patent Court Ruling
One of the first Unified Patent Court ex parte preliminary injunctions was recently granted in myStromer v. Revolt Zycling, demonstrating the court's ability to decide cases extremely quickly, but parties should be careful in phrasing their motions and sufficiently substantiating them to achieve the desired result, says Antje Brambrink at Finnegan.
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Copyright Cheat Sheet: Finding Substantially Similar Songs
Using the recent copyright infringement case against Ed Sheeran over his hit song "Thinking Out Loud" as a case study, forensic musicologist Ethan Lustig provides an overview for attorneys of which musical elements do and do not, when altered, create the sense of a new or distinct composition — a determination increasingly sought from experts in court.