Should design rights protect things you can’t see? – OUP Blog

Posted January 26th, 2016 in Community designs, EC law, intellectual property, news, regulations by sally

‘Although many EU IP lawyers are currently concentrating on the trade mark reforms, the Commission is quietly getting on with its study of the design protection system in Europe.’

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OUP Blog, 26th January 2016

Source: www.blog.oup.com

Ruling means UK courts will not overturn decisions by domain name dispute resolution panels, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

‘A UK court ruling that it did not have the jurisdiction to hear and determine an appeal against a decision taken by domain name dispute resolution panel will be welcomed by brand owners, an expert has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 11th December 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Tobacco firms challenge plain packaging rules – BBC News

Posted December 10th, 2015 in advertising, intellectual property, news, regulations, smoking, trade marks by sally

‘Four of the world’s biggest tobacco firms are to begin a legal challenge to the government’s new packaging rules.’

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BBC News, 10th December 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Peter Hook sues New Order, claiming they ‘pillaged’ the group’s name – The Guardian

Posted December 1st, 2015 in artistic works, intellectual property, news by sally

‘Peter Hook is suing his New Order ex-bandmates for “many millions of pounds” in the high court, accusing them of secretly “pillaging” the group’s name and starving him of cash.’

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The Guardian, 30th November 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Should intellectual property be abolished? – OUP Blog

Posted November 24th, 2015 in competition, intellectual property, news by sally

‘The Economist has recently popularised the notion that patents are bad for innovation. Is this right? In my view, this assessment results from too high an expectation of what should be achieved by patents or other intellectual property.’

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OUP Blog, 24th November 2015

Source: www.blog.oup.com

UK government scraps plans to legalise private copying – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 19th, 2015 in copyright, EC law, intellectual property, news by sally

‘The UK government has scrapped plans to legalise private copying in the UK, Out-Law.com has learned..’

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OUT-LAW.com, 18th November 2015

Source: www.outlaw.com

Reforming intellectual property law – Government consultation – Law Commission

Posted October 29th, 2015 in bills, consultations, intellectual property, Law Commission, news by sally

‘The Intellectual Property Office has opened a consultation to assess whether there would be sufficient stakeholder support to introduce our Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill into Parliament using the special procedure reserved for uncontroversial Law Commission Bills.’

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Law Commission, 23rd October 2015

Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk

Daily Mail owners challenge damages award to Paul Weller over photos of singer’s children – The Independent

‘The media’s right to publish images of the children of celebrities when they are out in public has re-emerged after the owners of the Daily Mail challenged an award of £10,000 in privacy damages to singer Paul Weller last year.’

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The Independent, 27th October 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Civil Restraint Orders in IPEC: Perry v Brundle – NIPC Law

‘This case note discusses the power of a judge of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court to make an extended civil restraint order under para 3.2 (1) (b).’

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NIPC Law, 12th Ocotber 2015

Source: www.nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

When one charity sues another – NOCN v Open College Network Credit4Learning – NIPC Law

Posted October 6th, 2015 in charities, intellectual property, news, trade marks by sally

‘An open college network is a regional organization that accredits adult education courses offered by educational institutions and employers. The claimant was established to coordinate some of those organizations.’

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NIPC Law, 4th October 2015

Source: www.nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Business that makes square pies given legal warning by rival – BBC News

Posted October 6th, 2015 in food, intellectual property, news, trade marks by sally

‘A company which makes square-shaped pies has been told it cannot call them “square” by a rival pie maker.’

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BBC News, 6th October 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Tech 21 UK Ltd v Logitech Europe SA – WLR Daily

Posted October 2nd, 2015 in Community designs, intellectual property, jurisdiction, law reports by sally

Tech 21 UK Ltd v Logitech Europe SA: [2015] EWHC 2614 (Ch); [2015] WLR (D) 389

‘It is not right to characterise a claim under regulation 2 of the Community Design Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2339) as one for a declaration of non-infringement.’

WLR Daily, 15th September 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

‘Infosecurity’ not distinctive enough for trade mark protection, says court – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 29th, 2015 in EC law, intellectual property, news, trade marks by sally

‘The UK-based organiser of the international ‘Infosecurity’ conference series has failed in its attempt to register the name as a trade mark, after an EU court found that it had “not acquired distinctive character through use”.’
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OUT-LAW.com, 29th September 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Unhappy returns of the day for copyright claim – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 24th, 2015 in artistic works, copyright, evidence, intellectual property, news by sally

‘A California judge’s ruling that Warner/Chappell can no longer collect royalties for Happy Birthday may not apply in England, says IP expert.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 23rd September 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Ukulele Wars: The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain v Clausen – NIPC Law

Posted August 6th, 2015 in EC law, intellectual property, news, striking out, trade marks by sally

‘Although Judge Hacon’s decision in The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain v Clausen and Another [2015] EWHC 1772 (IPEC) was reported as a “victory” in the Independent (The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain wins duel with German ‘copycat’ 3 July 2015) it was somewhat of the pyrrhic kind. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain sued The United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra for trade mark infringement, copyright infringement and passing off and applied to strike out the defence on the grounds of abuse of process less than two weeks before the trial. The claim succeeded on passing off but failed on all other counts. The claimants lost their Community trade mark and the judge saw no merit in the strike out application whatever.’

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NIPC Law, 5th August 2015

Source: www.nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Copying for private use: to be quashed with prospective or retrospective effect? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted July 21st, 2015 in consultations, copyright, human rights, intellectual property, news by sally

‘British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and others, R(on the application of) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and another [2015] EWHC 1723 (Admin) – read original judgment and [2015] EWHC 2041 (Admin), 17 July 2015. On 19 June 2015, Green J ruled that an exception to copyright infringement for private use was unlawful, at common law, because of flaws in the consultation process which had preceded its enactment.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 19th July 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Disney wins starwars.co.uk net domain battle – BBC News

‘A Berkshire-based fancy-dress retailer is being made to surrender the starwars.co.uk web address after feeling the force of Disney’s wrath.’

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BBC News, 9th July 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Jeremy Phillips speaks to the Oxford Law Vox – OUP Blog

Posted July 7th, 2015 in intellectual property, news, speeches by sally

‘In the second of Oxford’s new series of Law Vox podcasts, Jeremy Phillips, editor of Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, describes how the field of intellectual property law looked when he started his illustrious intellectual property law career. Jeremy’s conversation with Law Vox also addresses how intellectual property evolved and grew to encompass many different features.’

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OUP Blog, 7th July 2015

Source: http://blog.oup.com

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain wins duel with German ‘copycat’ – The Independent

Posted July 7th, 2015 in artistic works, intellectual property, news by sally

‘A legal duel between two ukulele orchestras competing over the right to their British-themed names has seen a German-backed group ordered by a court to change its name or stay out of the UK for fear of confusing fans.’

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The Independent, 3rd July 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Do you copy? UK’s new format-shifting exception found illegal – Technology Law Update

Posted June 30th, 2015 in artistic works, compensation, copyright, EC law, intellectual property, news by sally

‘You buy a CD and makes a copy for use on a portable device, or for storage in a cloud service. That’s allowed isn’t it? Well, it wasn’t strictly legal in the UK until October 2014. That was when the UK introduced a new exception from copyright infringement for personal copies for an individual’s private use. Now the new exception has been found illegal in court and hangs in the balance while the courts and the UK government decide what happens next.’

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Technology Law Update, 26th June 2015

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk