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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.
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.
The 2022 Review of Notorious Counterfeiting and Piracy Markets by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has assessed the volume of online marketplace counterfeiting and ranked sites by worst offender.
You may already have started to consider how best to protect your IP rights in new digital worlds and on blockchain technologies. But did you know that the emergence of NFTs, the blockchain, metaverses and Web 3.0 also has implications for your domain name strategy? In our latest factsheet, we discuss NFT domains and offer strategies for success.
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.
On 17 February, Germany ratified the Unified Patent Court Agreement. This means that the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court system will enter into force as planned on 1 June 2023, with the Sunrise period beginning on 1 March 2023.
With the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court system on the horizon, the first question for European patent rights holders is whether to opt-out from the jurisdiction of the UPC before the system comes into force.
It’s possible to protect the shape of a new product through trademark, design and copyright law. However, in reality, design law and copyright are generally the most applicable.
A thorough review of your trademark portfolio now will put both your IP rights and your business in a strong position for the year to come. Assess your registrations for strength, accuracy and cost with the help of our three-step process.
With the imminent entry into force of the Unified Patent Court Agreement, the countdown has begun to opt-out of the jurisdiction of the new European court. Marie-Noëlle de la Fouchardière explains what can be opted out, by whom and how to simplify the management of opt-out declarations.