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Intellectual Property UK
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May 31, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen financier Crispin Odey file a defamation claim against the Financial Times, Ford hit with the latest "Dieselgate" claim and a human rights activist bring a privacy claim against Saudi Arabia. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 31, 2024
Teva Can't Nix Glaxo's Asthma Patent In EPO Appeal
Teva's U.K. business has failed to convince an appeals board at the European Patent Office to upend a decision that a Glaxo Group patent for a drug combination used to treat asthma involved an inventive step.
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May 31, 2024
Future Bright For UPC If 'Urgent' Tech Problems Solved
A year after the Unified Patent Court opened its doors, the court looks to be living up to its promise as a premier venue for global patent litigation, but lawyers say that technical glitches behind the scenes must be remedied urgently if it is to excel.
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May 31, 2024
Adhesive Biz Comes Unstuck In Bid To Block 'Monta' EU TM
A packaging company has fought off an adhesive producer's attempt to dash its "Monta" European Union trademark hopes, convincing an appeals panel that consumers would not confuse the sign with its opponent's earlier "Montack" sign.
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May 31, 2024
US Medical Products Maker Loses Slogan TM Challenge
A U.S. medical products company has lost its appeal for trademark protection for its slogan "Think. Make. Protect." after European officials ruled that the sign implies that it gave "thorough consideration" to its products when they were manufactured.
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May 30, 2024
EU Court Buries Bid To Nix Plant Nursery's Succulent Variety
A European court ruled Wednesday that a Belgian plant nursery can register a new type of succulent, upholding an earlier decision by the bloc's plant intellectual property rights body to refuse a Dutch company's challenge to the plant.
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May 30, 2024
Nike Scores Partial Win In Adidas '3 Stripes' Appeal
Nike successfully challenged a German regional court's ruling preventing it from using a stripe pattern on five of its trouser designs, in the latest round of its stripe-centric trademark dispute with Adidas.
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May 30, 2024
Xiaomi Hit With FRAND Litigation In Paris
A patent holding company has accused Xiaomi in a French court of unlawfully using its tech patents for "nearly all" of 4G-enabled devices, just a week after suing the phone giant in India.
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May 30, 2024
UPC Names Pinsent Masons Atty As New Appeals Judge
The Unified Patent Court said Thursday it has appointed a new judge to its Court of Appeal in Luxembourg after one of its legally qualified members stepped down.
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May 30, 2024
3M Nixes Teva Inhaler Patent On Appeal At EPO
3M Innovative Properties Co. has convinced European officials to ax a patent owned by Israeli generic-drug maker Teva for an inhaler that relieves pulmonary disease symptoms, arguing that other scientists would have eventually figured out its special formula.
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May 30, 2024
Nokia Can't Block Music Streamer's 'Nonoki' TM
Nokia cannot stop the registration of a trademark for "Nonoki," after European officials ruled that people wouldn't confuse the Finnish phone brand with a free music and video streaming platform.
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May 29, 2024
Rain Bird Irrigation Company Loses Fight To Keep 'Bird' TM
U.S. irrigation technology company Rain Bird Corp. has lost its fight to save its "Bird" trademark, with a European trademark authority appeals board concluding that the company had not validly used the mark because it only ever used "Rain Bird."
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May 29, 2024
Penguin Loses 'Plan B' TM Bid Over Bad Faith Ruling
A European court refused to overturn a decision nixing a Penguin Random House trademark bid Wednesday, upholding a previous ruling that the application was made to usurp the existing name rights of an independent Spanish publisher.
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May 29, 2024
Airbus Can't Resurrect European Patent For Cabin Tech
Airbus has failed to restore its patent protections over a modular cabin design after a German rival convinced a European appeals panel that the invention is too similar to two earlier patent applications.
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May 29, 2024
Facebook Parent Gets TMs Trimmed In Camera Biz Challenge
Meta had a host of its trademarks stripped back by the U.K. Intellectual Property Office on Friday, after the body sided with a London-based camera business that consumers could easily mix up the products of the two brands.
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May 29, 2024
Chiquita Brands Scores Victory In 'Queen' TM Dispute
Chiquita Brands notched a trademark win Wednesday in its bid to register "Chiquita Queen," after a European court ruled that earlier panels were wrong to think it would encroach on an existing fruit brand's territory.
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May 29, 2024
EUIPO Spoils 'Tuna' TM Bid For Halal Meat
A German halal meat company has lost an appeal to register the mark "Tuna" over food-related goods that excluded the fish, after European officials ruled that it was still capable of deceiving shoppers.
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May 28, 2024
UPC Appoints New Judges Ahead Of Milan Debut
The Unified Patent Court on Tuesday named three judges that will join its central division in Milan when the court opens in June.
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May 28, 2024
Lego Defeats Custom Train Maker In TM Dispute
Lego has convinced a Netherlands court to stop a man from selling train sets that incorporate the brand's building blocks and figurines, arguing that it still had the right to prevent resales in Europe.
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May 28, 2024
Swiss Solar Energy Co. Loses 'Sun2Cool' TM Challenge
A Swiss renewable energy company failed in its bid for trademark registration for its sign "sun2cool" on Friday after appellate officials at a European Union intellectual property authority ruled the mark was a "purely informative message."
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May 28, 2024
Eastman Group Accused Of Owning No Rights In IP Spat
A company selling paint protection film for cars is fighting allegations that one of its managers stole a database belonging to Eastman Group in order to jumpstart the business, arguing the information wasn't confidential.
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May 28, 2024
Regulators Must Weigh If 'Image Rights' Needed For AI Policy
Once the dust settles after the general election, a new government will have to consider whether protection for a person's likeness is required to help crack down on deepfakes created by artifical intelligence, as lawyers warn against a rush to introduce the new form of intellectual property.
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May 28, 2024
Samsung Bioepis Fights AstraZeneca Unit Over Soliris Patent
Samsung Bioepis has challenged the validity of Alexion's Soliris drug in a London court in a bid to clear its path to sell a biosimilar version of the rare blood disease medicine — but the AstraZeneca unit has hit back amid hopes to maintain its monopoly over the treatment.
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May 28, 2024
EasyGroup Sues Biz Owner For Confidentiality Breach
EasyGroup, the parent company of easyJet, has accused a U.K. business owner of flouting a confidentiality agreement with the brand by contacting a journalist at The Times newspaper about the group's legal action against him.
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May 24, 2024
The UK Laws That Will Pass Or Fail As Election Looms
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to call an early general election to be held on July 4 has left several pieces of legislation hanging in the balance during the so-called "wash-up" period before Parliament is formally dissolved, while others have been pushed through.
Expert Analysis
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Bribery Class Action Ruling May Revive Bifurcated Processes
The Court of Appeal's recent decision allowing the representative bribery action in Commission Recovery v. Marks & Clerk offers renewed hope for claimants to advance class claims using a bifurcated process amid its general absence as of late, say Jon Gale and Justin Browne at Ashurst.
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Ocado Appeal Outcome Will Gauge UPC Transparency
As the sole Unified Patent Court case concerning third-party requests for court records, the forthcoming appeal decision in Ocado v. Autostore will hopefully set out a clear and consistent way to handle reasoned requests, as access to nonconfidential documents will surely lead to more efficient conduct of proceedings, says Tom Brazier at EIP.
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Businesses Using AI Face Novel Privacy, Cybersecurity Risks
Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence are resulting in complex privacy and cybersecurity challenges for businesses, and with the forthcoming EU AI Act and enhancement of existing laws to ensure a high common level of security, key stakeholders should be empowered to manage associated risks, say lawyers at Goodwin.
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Following The Road Map Toward Quantum Security
With the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent publication of a white paper on a quantum-secure financial sector, firms should begin to consider the quantum transition early — before the process is driven by regulatory obligations — with the goal of developing a cybersecurity architecture that is agile while also allowing for quantum security, say lawyers at Cleary.
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AI Is Outpacing IP Law Frameworks
In Thaler v. Comptroller-General, the U.K. Supreme Court recently ruled that artificial intelligence can't be an inventor, but the discussion on the relationship between AI and intellectual property law is far from over, and it's clear that technology is developing faster than the legal framework, says Stephen Carter at The Intellectual Property Works.
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New Reduced EPO Fees May Shift Applicant Demographics
The upcoming European Patent Office fee reduction scheme, aimed at helping smaller organizations access the patent system, is a positive step that could help shift the applicant demographic, which has typically been dominated by larger businesses, says Annabel Williams at Marks & Clerk.
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Mitigating And Managing Risks Of AI Use In Private Equity
While generative artificial intelligence has the ability to transform private equity firms and their portfolio companies, its deployment brings inherent risks, including those presented by the forthcoming EU AI Act, requiring appropriate risk management strategies, processes and policies to be adopted, says Barry Fishley at Weil.
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Aldi Design Infringement Case Highlights Assessment Issues
The forthcoming English Court of Appeal decision in Marks and Spencer v. Aldi, regarding the alleged infringement of design rights, could provide practitioners with new guidance, particularly in relation to the relevant date for assessment of infringement and the weight that should be attributed to certain design elements in making this assessment, say Rory Graham and Georgia Davis at RPC.
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Generative AI Raises IP, Data Protection And Contracts Issues
As the EU's recent agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act has fueled businesses' interest in adopting generative AI tools, it is crucial to understand how these tools utilize material to generate output and what questions to ask in relation to intellectual property, data privacy and contracts, say lawyers at Deloitte Legal.
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Vodafone Decision Highlights Wide Scope Of UK's FDI Rules
The U.K. government’s recently imposed conditions required for its approval of Vodafone and Etisalat’s strategic relationship agreement under its National Security and Investment Act jurisdiction, illustrating the significance of the act as an important factor for transactions with a U.K. link, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.
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What The EU AI Act Could Mean For Patent Law
As the EU Artificial Intelligence Act has now been endorsed by all member states, companies and patent owners with interests in the bloc may want to prepare for when the act enters into force, including by considering potential subject matter exclusions, says Terence Broderick at Murgitroyd.
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Considering A Practical FRAND Rate Assessment Procedure
As the debate over a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory rate continues inside and outside courtrooms, a practical method may assess whether the proposed FRAND rate deviates significantly from what is reasonable, and ensure an optimal mix of assets for managers of standard-essential patent portfolios, says consultant Gordon Huang.
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How AI Inventorship Is Evolving In The UK, EU And US
While the U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision in Thaler v. Comptroller-General is the latest in a series of decisions by U.K., U.S. and EU authorities that artificial intelligence systems cannot be named as inventors in patents, the guidance from these jurisdictions suggests that patents may be granted to human inventors that use AI as a sophisticated tool, say lawyers at Mayer Brown.
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Cos. Should Plan Now For Extensive EU Data Act Obligations
The recently enacted EU Data Act imposes wide-ranging requirements across industries and enterprises of all sizes, and with less than 20 months until the provisions begin to apply, businesses planning compliance will need to incorporate significant product changes and revision of contract terms, say Nick Banasevic, Robert Spano and Ciara O'Gara at Gibson Dunn.
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UK Ruling Revitalizes Discussions On Harmonizing AI And IP
The U.K. Supreme Court's decision in Thaler v. Comptroller-General last month has reinvigorated ongoing discussions about how the developments in artificial intelligence fit within the existing intellectual property legislative landscape, illustrating that effective regulation will be critical as the value and influence of this sector grows, say Nick White and Olivia Gray at Charles Russell.