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After much dispute, discussion and delay, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) officially opened its doors this morning at 9 am CET (1 June 2023). From today, organisations can benefit from a new unitary patent (UP) right and access the new Europe-wide patent court system (UPC).
Parallel imports, also known as ‘exhaustion of trademark rights’ or the ‘first sale doctrine’, is a well-known limitation to the rights of trademark owners. Volha Parfenchyk discusses the practice in the context of two recent EU rulings on the branding of generic medicinal products.
Changes to trademark registration requirements promised to herald a new era for non-traditional trademarks, such as shape marks, in the EU. But, has anything really changed for trademark owners, asks Megan Creemers.
The sessions scheduled at INTA's 2023 Annual Meeting remind us that trademarks are not the only rights to consider when looking at brand protection.
26 April is World IP Day! This year's theme is 'Women and IP: Accelerating innovation and creativity', which provides an opportunity to talk about why it is important for women to be part of climate change innovation solutions, and to highlight a few of the women leading the way.
Air France KLM has successfully brought EU trademark opposition proceedings on the grounds of likelihood of confusion for the trademark ‘Flying Blue’ and the domain name flyingblue.com, as used for the airline's frequent flyer programme. Frouke Hekker outlines the EUIPO ruling and explains how likelihood of confusion is assessed.
Non-traditional trademarks, such as those protecting shapes, smells and sounds, are becoming an increasingly popular way for companies to distinguish their products and services. Savvy Kaushal explains how to register a sound mark in the EU.
A recent decision by the European Patent Office on neural network patentability has interesting implications for artificial intelligence and other computer-derived innovations, says Martin Kohrs.
A single letter can be registered as a trademark, provided that it is distinctive in relation to the goods and services to which it applies. But enforcing short signs, such as single letter trademarks, is another challenge.
In December 2022, the EU General Court discussed the assessment of the likelihood of confusion in the context of the dispute between the holders of the ‘Well and Well’ and ‘WellBe Pharmaceuticals’ trademarks. Florence Chapin sets out its conclusions
Most IP legislation was designed to support trademark protection in physical markets, making its application a challenge for brand owners facing trademark infringement on ecommerce channels, such as online marketplaces. Megan Taylor discusses strategies for brand protection online in light of recent rulings by the EU and UK courts.
In its December 2022 preliminary ruling, the Court of Justice of the EU found that Amazon’s practice of displaying ads for counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes makes the e-tailer liable for online trademark infringement.