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A few days ago news spread that well-known musical genre reggae, which originated in the beautiful island of Jamaica, would be protected by the UN. Katfriend Natalie Corthésy (The University of the West Indies at Mona) explains what happened in detail and reflects on the implications thereof. Here’s what Natalie writes: “BIG UP!” This popular Jamaican expression used to congratulate someone for achieving success, is an appropriate toast to reggae fans all over the world. At long last, reggae, a musical genre which originated in Jamaica, has been added to the United Nation’s list of International Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. The protected list was created in 2008 and came about as a result of the 2003 UN convention for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Its aims are to ensure respect for communities, groups and individuals involved in the listed activity, to raise awareness and encourage appreciation of those activities nationally and internationally. Led by J...

IPKat has been busy web-crawling over the past week and is delighted to bring its readers a roundup of the most exciting IP posts. Patents Northwestern University, Pritzker Law School, has released three databases on technology standards and standard-setting organisations. The databases are available free of charge for all academic researchers. IP Finance reports: Northwestern Releases Technology Standards and Standard Setting Organizations Databases and Congratulations to Dr. Roya Ghafele! The traditional rule of assignor estoppel prevents prior owners of a patent from later challenging the validity of the patent. In Arista Networks case , the Federal Circuit was faced with the question of whether assignor estoppel applies to prevent an assignor from later challenging a patent in an inter partes review proceeding. Resting its analysis on the statutory language, the Court ruled that assignor estoppel finds no basis in the AIA. PatentlyO review is available here: Inventors Can Chall...

Kat gap As the debate around the draft Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market continues to unfold [Katposts here ] , The IPKat is happy to publish the following contribution by  Ansgar Ohly  and  Matthias Leistner  (both LMU München) concerning their proposal – which will be hosted in full on the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice   (JIPLP) – concerning Article 13, that is the value gap (or transfer of value) proposal. Here’s what Ansgar and Matthias write: After lengthy discussion in the Council and in the European Parliament, the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market ( 2016/0280(COD) ) has now entered the trilogue. The most recent meeting took place on 26 November. Two more meetings are planned until the end of the year, and the ambitious goal is to reach a result by January 2019. Much of the discussion in Parliament as well as in the media has been about the proposed Art. 13, which concerns the liability of...

If someone takes part in a photo shoot for the promotion of a clothing line, they consented to his or her image being used online as part of the designers’ advertising campaign – surely ?  Similarly, if you blur somebody’s face in a film so much so that he or she is no longer recognizable, you have dispensed with your obligation to respect their right to their image  –   surely ?  Well, don’t be so sure  –  the Paris Tribunal would reject both assumptions, according to recent judgments on image rights.  In two decisions, dated 16 November 2018 and 21 November 2018 , respectively, the Paris Tribunal (‘Tribunal de Grande Instance’) clarified the application of image rights in the context of commercial advertising, opting for an interpretation of the law favourable to models and performers. The contribution of the Tribunal’s recent jurisprudence declared that: Taking part in a photo shoot for advertising purposes does not imply consenting to all forms of...

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!!