General IP News

Links to the speakers:The impressive Brian Steinhobel through his website Art Steinhobel.The tax specialist and ENS executive - Mansoor Parker ... Read More

GemShares LLC v. Secured Worldwide, LLC, No. 17 C 6221, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 13, 2019) (Kennelly, J.). Judge Kennelly granted plaintiff GemShares’ motion for partial summary judgment as to liability on its breach of contract claim against the individual defendant. The Southern District of New York’s prior ruling ... Read More

GemShares LLC v. Secured Worldwide, LLC, No. 17 C 6221, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 13, 2019) (Kennelly, J.). Judge Kennelly granted plaintiff GemShares’ motion for partial summary judgment as to liability on its breach of contract claim against the individual defendant. The Southern District of New York’s prior ruling ... Read More

Take note of these events, call for papers, summer school and vacancies and don’t forget that you can always find a list of IP events on the IPKat’s Forthcoming Events page!IP developmentsThe 7th International IP Congress: “Recent IP developments in Europe” will be held on 7 June 2019 at the ... Read More

As reported by The IPKat, earlier this week, like the European Parliament, also the Council adopted the latest version of the the Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive).One of the seemingly most complex -if nothing else, due to its length - provisions is what is now ... Read More

Is Haar Munich or is it Haar? A few weeks after one of the most unusual referrals to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of the EPO, this Kat tries to take a step back to answer both: (1) why the highest judicial instance of the organization has to ... Read More

Sullivan & Survivor Music, Inc. v. Bickler, No. 18 C 3770, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 25, 2019) (Lee, J.). Judge Lee denied defendant Bickler’s, the former lead singer of the band Survivor, Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) & (6) motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ (collectively “Survivor”) Lanham Act claims related ... Read More

Sullivan & Survivor Music, Inc. v. Bickler, No. 18 C 3770, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 25, 2019) (Lee, J.). Judge Lee denied defendant Bickler’s, the former lead singer of the band Survivor, Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) & (6) motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ (collectively “Survivor”) Lanham Act claims related ... Read More

"Nope, nothing to see here..."A couple of weeks ago, AIPPI UK held their latest Rapid Response seminar addressing the UK's Supreme Court decision in Actavis v ICOS [2019] UKSC 15.  Yet another seminar had to pass the AmeriKat by, but she had to hand a perky Kat friend, in the ... Read More

Paul RawlinsonIt is with great sadness that the IPKat team has learnt of the unexpected passing on Friday of IP lawyer, Global Chair of Baker McKenzie, husband, father and friend - Paul Rawlinson.After studying law at Kent University and University of Paris XI, Paul joined Baker McKenzie in 1986 and ... Read More

Hot on the heels of last month’s 2019 edition of the Retromark conference, reviewed here, comes the fifth (how times flies) edition of Darren Meale of Simmons & Simmons’ Retromark rundown of notable trade mark cases over the past six months. Links to the four previous editions are at the ... Read More

The debate over controversial reforms to EU copyright laws will not end with the adoption of the Digital Single Market Copyright Directive, an intellectual property law expert has said. ... Read More

Session 3: Defining Marks in Trademark Law vs. Defining Subject Matter in Adjacent Areas of IPIn formulating rules about defining marks in trademark law, what (if anything) can be learned from the longstanding debate about defining pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works in copyright law? What can be learned from the ... Read More

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. v. ICE Clear US, Inc., No. 18 C 1376, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 1, 2019) (Kennelly, J.). Judge Kennelly granted defendants’ (collectively “ICE”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss and motion to strike paragraphs of the complaint in this Lanham Act and breach ... Read More

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. v. ICE Clear US, Inc., No. 18 C 1376, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 1, 2019) (Kennelly, J.). Judge Kennelly granted defendants’ (collectively “ICE”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss and motion to strike paragraphs of the complaint in this Lanham Act and breach ... Read More

After the vote in the European Parliament, this morning the Council also voted in favour of the latest version of the Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive).Here's how individual countries have voted:What happens now?Following publication on the EU Official Journal, the DSM Directive will enter into force. ... Read More

The miscellany this week includes a PhD opportunity, a number of calls for papers and some summer courses.EventsTop US and UK intellectual property judges, USPTO and UKIPO officials and leading IP litigators will discuss the impact of Brexit on IP - and other hot topics - in a series of ... Read More

The USPTO recently refused registration of the 3D mark filed by Coscentra B.V. shown below left (colour is not claimed as a feature of the mark) for goods ultimately identified as “Perfumery, essential oils, articles for body- and beauty-care, namely, perfumes” in Class 3, based on the existence of a ... Read More

As discussed previously https://blog.ipfactor.co.il/2019/04/03/association-israel-pepperoni-pizza-iniquity/, at the last AIPPI meeting which was an AGM with lectures as well, the AGM bit didn’t take place due to lack of a quorum. Indeed, a grand total of 15 members turned up, including the president Nachman Cohen Tzedek, the treasurer Eyal Bressler and the ... Read More

The EUIPO Fourth Board of Appeal recently issued an interesting – yet unsurprising –decision concerning the distinctive character of three-dimensional marks. In particular, the question before the Board was whether the headstock of a guitar could be registered as a figurative mark for guitars. With an application filed in February 2017, Paul reed Smith ... Read More

The weekend is here, but you can’t really enjoy it if you don’t read Never Too Late first!PatentsAfrica Correspondent Chijioke Okorie discusses the judgment of the Dutch Court of Hague in Ancientgrain BV and Bakels Senior NV delivered on 21st November 2018 and what this decision means for Ethiopia’s battle ... Read More

Last week the city of London hosted the 2-day conference More Than Just a Game: The Role of Games and Interactive Entertainment in Society, organised by Dr. Gaetano Dimita. The event took place in the Victorian One Birdcage Walk building at the heart of Westminster where a total of 42 ... Read More

Session 2:  Defining Markets: Doctrinal Settings for Market Analysis in Trademark LawTrademark law clearly already undertakes market definition in the analysis of genericism and also for functionality. Are current approaches adequate? Are markets defined the same way, through the same inquiries, in both settings?   Should they be?   If so, what ... Read More

Telebrands Corp. v. Ragner Technol. Corp., No. 16-3474 (ES) (MAH), 2019 WL 1468156 (D.N.J. Apr. 3, 2019)“The dispute between these parties spans multiple lawsuits, multiple jurisdictions, and even multiple countries.” Ragner owns patents for expandable hoses.  Telebrands sells expandable hoses and is the exclusive licensee of another patent directed to ... Read More

Session 1:  The Process for Defining Marks (Registered, Unregistered)What are the different ways to define marks? What are/should be our goals in defining marks? What are the costs of permitting fuzzy definition? Are there costs to  imposing  strict requirements in defining marks? What are the next steps in the debate ... Read More

In a proceeding that included Patent Office Director Andrei Iancu on the panel, the PTAB issued an order this past week denying institution of 3 IPRs filed by Valve. The decision demonstrates that the PTAB continues to tighten its standards for institution of post-grant challenges, including based upon considerations related ... Read More

On Tuesday 2nd April the Israel Patent Office hosted a seminar about various aspects of patenting. The topics covered included: The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) The patentability of software and business method patents in ... Read More

I have been busy this past month researching and speaking on the important relationship between IP, governance, business finance and accounting in the context of the collapse of Steinhoff involving irregularities in reporting on IP, the dramatic sale of EOH shares following the termination of Microsoft reseller license, the ongoing ... Read More

I have been busy this past month researching and speaking on the important relationship between IP, governance, business finance and accounting in the context of the collapse of Steinhoff involving irregularities in reporting on IP, the dramatic sale of EOH shares following the termination of Microsoft reseller license, the ongoing ... Read More

Gabriel Fuentes has been appointed as the Northern District of Illinois’ newest magistrate judge. Before going to Northwestern Law, Fuentes was a journalist for the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. After law school, he served as an assistant U.S. Attorney before becoming a partner at Jenner & Block, where ... Read More