sutton044

This Kat devotes substantial (Mrs. Kat says too much) time following the geopolitical challenges of our time. But he seldom loses a good night’s sleep agonizing over them. The same cannot be said about IP matters, especially when they seem to be curious, bordering on the improbable. And what could be more curious, indeed, improbable, than the lexical transformation of the “troll” from being a stock character in Scandinavian mythology into a staple of contemporary IP discourse, not once but twice. This Kat offers a feline reflective. The mythological character came to be viewed in two quite different forms. As described , in one form, he was “a large, brutish, and dumb creature that resembles a disproportionately giant human,” suggesting for some a distorted cultural memory of Neanderthal humans. In the other, the troll was seen as smaller than the human beings, with “short stubby arms and legs”, whose overall effect was that of an especially ugly creature, “gross-looking” and e...

The new mandatory exceptions: weaponless ... As readers know, the draft Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market [Katposts here ] has now reached the trilogue stage, further to the adoption – by both the Council and the European Parliament – of their own versions of the text to be used as a basis for the next round of negotiations. An important aspect, which has not received too much attention, concerns the topic of contractual override of new mandatory exceptions in the directive. The IPKat is therefore delighted to host the following analysis by Adrian Aronsson-Storrier (University of Reading). Here’s what Adrian writes: Regular IPKat readers will be familiar with the EU Copyright in the Digital Single Market Proposal, which was first detailed by the European Commission in 2016 and forms part of the Digital Single Market Strategy launched in 2015 . The proposal continues to attract controversy as it undergoes final compromise trilogue negotiations. Lawmakers aim to ...

On Monday 3 December 2018 The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) will organise the webinar Litigation Financing – Removing Financial Risks from Patent Infringement , with speakers Eric Morehouse ( Kenealy Vaidya ) and Chris Thornham (Taylor Wessing). This webinar, part of a series on different forms of litigation funding, will address this general topic specifically in reference to the applicability and availability of litigation financing to patent disputes and the defence of company’s protected technology. The webinar is open to both members (£ 48.00 including VAT) and non-members (£ 72.00 including VAT) of CIPA, however registration is necessary. For additional information on this event and on the speakers, click here. Registration closes today at 16:00!!  

A few days ago the High Court of England and Wales (Arnold J) issued an interesting judgment concerning determination of the law applicable to an online trade mark infringement. It is  Easygroup Ltd v Easy Fly Express Ltd & Anor [2018] EWHC 3155 (Ch) (21 November 2018 ) .  The claimant, easyGroup is the owner of a large number of marks. In particular, it is the proprietor of the word mark EASYJET for goods and services in Class 39 (transport, packaging and storage of goods, travel arrangement) of the Nice Classification, and a device mark including device mark the word easyFlights registered in respect of (inter alia) “transportation of goods … by air …; … cargo handling and freight services”, also in Class 39.  The two defendants’, Mr Chowdhury and his company Easy Fly, both based in Bangladesh, are the holders of the domain  www.easyfly-express.com   from which Easy Fly’s services (airline cargo) were marketed.             ...

A Thursday thunder of events! Copyright exceptions have been partially harmonised at the EU level. But are Member States transposing them correctly? The new Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive will impose the adoption of new exceptions. What freedom do Member States enjoy in shaping national rules? This and other questions will be addressed during the event  Beauty and the Beast ... and the Memes! Copyright exceptions under EU and national laws organised by Wikimedia Movement and the Free Knowledge Advocacy Group and    presented by IPKat own Eleonora.  The event will take place at 17:00 on 3 December 2018 at The Office, rue d ' Arlon 80 in Brussels: all welcome! For registration and more information on the event, click here .  The use and creative reuse of audiovisual works play an increasingly crucial role in education. In this context, understanding what uses are covered by licensing schemes, such as the ERA licence, and can be enable...

On 26 November 2018, the EU Commission initiated proceedings for infringement of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union against 17 (out of 28) Member States for non-compliance with the Directive requiring the transposition into national law of the Marrakesh Treaty (Directive (EU) 2017/1564). The Marrakesh Treaty is a WIPO-administered convention that was signed on 27 June 2013 and entered into force on 30 September 2016. The convention seeks to facilitate “the production and international transfer of specially-adapted books for people with blindness or visual impairment” ( here ). This was done by creating copyright limitations and exceptions to allow the creation of copies of protected works accessible to the visually impaired, when none is otherwise available. As member of both WIPO and WTO, the EU has authority to sign and ratify treaties on behalf of its Member States and to then require their implementation into national law via EU instruments such as directives or re...

Via Katfriends Elena Martini and Luigi Manna ( Martini Manna Law Firm ) comes the news that recently the Venice Court of First Instance - in the context of interim proceedings - acknowledged copyright protection in the design (including of its interiors) of a yacht ( RG 2236/2018 ). Background An architect, Tiberio Cerato, was commissioned to design the layout, interiors and furnishings of a yacht named Checkmate. A company, Wally, from which the yacht purchaser had only acquired the structural parts, however, published on its own website photographs of the yacht as if it was its own work. It also uploaded a video of the yacht  on both YouTube and Vimeo  in which it represented itself as the one responsible for the styling and interior design, without even mentioning the architect's name and indicating, instead, itself and another person as responsible for them. Cerato requested the Venice Court of First Instance to issue an interim order that would prohibit the company from ...

Anyone who knows the AmeriKat knows how much she absolutely adores airplanes.  There is nothing so cool to her as the incredible power, engineering prowess and beauty of airplanes.  The sound of the thrust reversal roaring into action upon landing is one of her favorite sounds (she takes out the noise cancelling ear phones for that one...).  And as soon as she disembarks from a long-haul flight, she looks back at the airplane that has just taken her over the Atlantic or across the world, to the still rotating blades of the Rolls-Royce or GE engines and beams.  And she has been known to spend a good hour watching tricky airplane take-offs and landings on YouTube.   Yes, she is an aviation nerd.  So, it is with great pleasure that she lets IPKat readers know about next week's IP Seminar 2018 at the Airbus Leadership University in Toulouse-Blagnac, organized by Premier Cercle on 6-7 December 2018.  The program includes: IP in Aerospace:  An O...

Four years is a long time in politics but not a particularly long time in the land of government reports. Just under four years ago the UK Intellectual Property Office commissioned research to address the lack of existing data on design infringement. The results of that research were published last week .  Designs are an important part of the UK economy. In 2015, the UK design economy was worth 6% of the nation’s total economy. It was therefore considered a worthwhile exercise to review the current designs regime and identify opportunities for improvement. The report includes some positive indicators about the design sector " there is some evidence that the design sector as a whole is thriving, and that the use of design improves the productivity of firms in other sectors ." It is less positive about the legal mechanisms which are designed to protect this: " there is still little knowledge based on reliable evidence about the effectiveness of the legal system to achieve ...