The European Court of Justice has upheld a ruling by the EU's General Court in 2018 that the footballer's surname "Messi" is too well known for confusion to arise with the Spanish sports brand "Massi". An interesting case / example of when the fame of an Applicant can counteract visual and phonetic similarities.
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The road to implementation of the Unified Patent Court has been particularly rough, with the withdrawal of the United Kingdom’s ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement being the most recent setback. Nevertheless, despite these problems, the Preparatory Committee of the UPC remain optimistic. According to a recent press release, the Committee met on 10 September 2020 (at their first meeting since March 2017): “[I]ssues concerning the effects of the UK withdrawal were discussed as...
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To give a very brief history of Rolls Royce... back in 1904 two men started up a company to manufacture motor cars, thus Rolls Royce was born. In less than a decade the world changed drastically, the focus was on winning a war rather than owning a luxury motor car. Rolls Royce adapted to this change by developing and manufacturing aero-engines to power the military's aircraft. From then on the RR mark, representing the two men's last names Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, was an iconic symbol...
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A company called xMEMS has recently boasted that its latest product, the xMEMS Montara speaker, is the first true monolithic MEMS speaker. They claim it is a potentially revolutionary step change in audio engineering by enhancing the use of piezoelectric effect to manufacture a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) speaker; providing the components of a speaker within a microchip. This may be comparable to the similar leap we saw in standard disk drives to solid state drive for computers. The...
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As a patent attorney with an interest in technology and music, this patent granted last month to Apple caught my eye. It seems that a future generation of AirPod might include two methods of transmitting music to listeners. The first is conventional sound waves into the listener's ear. The second generates vibrations in the listener's skull. I guess that would make for a more immersive experience. There's much to be learnt from the patent publications of tech companies and others. I've...
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The UKIPO Opinions service is, in my humble view, a greatly underused resource for questions of validity or infringement, particularly those between smaller entities that are unlikely to make it into the courts. The costs are much cheaper than litigation, and the UKIPO issues the opinion typically within a few weeks. With the relatively short deadlines for response this means there can be an answer within a couple of months of filing the request for an Opinion. I was therefore very interested...
Read MoreLuke Portnow's article was first published in the July issue of CITMA Review, the journal of the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA). For more information on CITMA, please visit citma.org.uk.
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Broad trade mark specifications and terms are still acceptable at the UK and EU IPOs, but will likely come under significant scrutiny if relied upon where no commercial justification exists, and the UK Courts are free to draft their own “fair specification” during proceedings if a counterclaim for bad faith is filed. Particular note should be taken with Brexit: the UK could well move away from the more generous approach taken by the EU IPO, potentially moving closer towards the USPTO model,...
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The EPO has decided to postpone all in person Opposition Hearings for the rest of 2020. Not surprising given the complexity of travelling and the risks associated with bringing people together from all over Europe and beyond. If all participants agree for the Hearing to take place by video conference then it can go ahead. Otherwise, it will be postponed. This is big news for a number of reasons. First, it is likely to push parties to video conference in complex cases where there are major...
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The German Patent and Trade Mark Office recently published statistics in their diverting column "Number of the month" on the increase in patent applications in the field of digitalisation having effect in Germany. It is interesting to note that, in addition to the digitisation of existing technology and developments in digital technology, there has also been an increase in patent applications for "data processing methods for business management purposes" - of roughly 40% in relation to the...
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The UK Government has today announced that it has deposited notification of withdrawal of ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement. With Brexit, it always seemed unlikely that the UK would end up a part of the UPC. It seems the fate of the UK is now sealed. Whether the UPC project will proceed without the UK remains to be seen. More to follow.
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Earlier this month the European Patent Office (EPO) published their Annual Review, and it appears that 2019 was a good year for patents. The report shows that in 2019, the EPO received 181,406 European patent applications – a record number and up 4.0% from 2018, with a +3.3% growth in PCT applications and a +4.9% growth in direct EP applications. Furthermore, in 2019, the number of patent applications published by the EPO was up 8.0% compared to 2018. At the EPO, 2019 also saw the launch of a...
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A leak at Apple has announced the release of an unexplored range of technology for Apple. As previously discussed by Nicholas Widdowson, patent publications are a good source for understanding what might be surfacing in years to come. Apple has also been prolific for leaks regarding their new technology releases, especially around their annual seminar. This most recent leak is regarding a piece of wearable technology, Apple glass. If you are well versed in wearable technology, companies such...
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Spider silk has long been lauded as a Holy Grail among materials. Lightweight and durable, with a high tensile strength and impressive biocompatibility, this material's many advantages make it suitable for a broad range of applications. However, a number of issues, including limited yield and cannibalistic tendencies, make large-scale spider farming impractical. In this proof of concept study, researchers have engineered photosynthetic bacteria to express the MaSp1 protein, a key component in...
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In widely discussed decisions of February this year, the European Patent Office (EPO) refused two applications filed for inventions allegedly invented by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) called “DABUS”. Their reasoning being that DABUS did not fulfil the necessary formal inventor requirements, since under the European Patent Convention (EPC), the term ‘inventor’ refers only to a natural person, of which AI is not (see our bulletin here). In the latest development, appeals have now been filed...
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