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In the latest edition of the HSF Automotive sector's series of articles looking at the evolution of the industry Andrew Moir, Ina vom Feld, Frédéric Chevallier, David Webb and Laura Adde of our London, Düsseldorf and Paris IP teams consider some of the key issues surrounding standard essential patents or SEPs for those in the sector. These include, in particular, how standards work, their role in the Automotive sector, how fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing operates, and the risks of litigation and the varying approaches across Europe (in the UK, Germany and France in particular). Read more
Today, the German Bundesrat (the upper house of the German Parliament) passed the Unified Patent Court (UPC) legislation, bringing us one step closer to the start of the UPC. To come into force, the law will now have to be signed by the Federal Government, the Federal President and, finally, published in the Federal Law … Read more
Consumer confidence in the origins and safety of the food they purchase and consume is a significant aspect of food brand protection and longevity. Maintaining that confidence involves the use of many different strategies, rights and regulatory controls at national and international level.
In Trust on a plate: consumer confidence and food safety, the latest briefing in our Future of Consumer series, contributors Italy, Australia, the UK, China, Indonesia and across the EU cover food trust issues including geographical indications, labelling, supply chain transparency and food crime. Read more
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) took another step closer to coming into being on November 26 with a Bundestag vote passing the legislation necessary for Germany to ratify the UPC Agreement and the Protocol on Provisional Application with (more than) the two thirds majority found to be required by the German Federal Constitutional Court in … Read more
In the final session of our Tech Disputes webinar series, High tech disputes: A round-up of key issues, Joel Smith hosted a panel session with speakers Kate Macmillan, Alexandra Neri, Peter Dalton, Andrew Moir, Laura Adde, David Webb and Ina vom Feld, to discuss their insights into the key topic areas discussed throughout the series.Read more
Like Cadbury before them, Glaxo’s hard-fought attempts to register a trade mark for a shade of purple have been rejected. In this case, Glaxo had sought to register the colour of its seretide inhalers and asthma treatments as a trade mark, by providing the description “Purple – Pantone: 2787C” and this sign: The General Court … Read more
The UPC Preparatory Committee met yesterday (10.9.20) to discuss UK withdrawal and German ratification. It agreed that, on a temporary basis (in order not to delay the start of the UPC system further), Munich and Paris would split the workload London would have taken as the life sciences seat of the central division of the UPC. Milan looks to be a lead candidate for the location of this seat of the central division in the longer term. Read more
CJEU rules that providing free samples of non-prescription drugs to pharmacists is permitted On 11 June, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU“) ruled on the question of whether free samples to pharmacists of medicines may be supplied by pharmaceutical companies to pharmacists. The German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) had referred questions regarding … Read more
CJEU follows Cofemel in allowing copyright protection where designs are not exclusively dictated by technical function The CJEU has decided in the Brompton Bicycle case C-833/18 (11 June 2020) that to qualify for copyright, a design must be original – that is, the subject matter must reflect the personality of its author (the creator or designer), as an … Read more