Region: Europe

In <i>Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport vs. Coop Danmark A/S</i>, the Supreme Court stated that Puma’s shoe has a low degree of distinctiveness and therefore only enjoyed protection against slavish imitations under the Danish Marketing Act. The Court found that the defendant’s shoe differed sufficiently from the plaintiff’s shoe and consequently the sale of the JFY Retro shoe did neither constitute trademark infringement nor a violation of good marketing practices.

01 January 2008

In <i>Chanel S.A. vs. Begravelsesservice ApS</i>, the Maritime and Commercial Court found that a funeral service firm had made commercial use of the Chanel’s trademarks, and that such use had been detrimental to Chanel’s reputation. The funeral service firm was ordered to cease use of the Chanel trademarks and to pay compensation with DKK 25,000 (approx. EUR 3,300).

01 January 2008

In a significant break with precedent, an appeal court has awarded compensation to a patent owner based on the profits made by the infringer, amounting to Nkr12 million. There is no basis for such an award in the Norwegian Patents Act nor in other written law, although some commentators on the subject have advocated that there ought to be.

19 December 2007

The European Patent Office has announced that it will participate in a pilot scheme with the US Patent and Trademark Office to accelerate patent applications. This is good news for UK patent holders as the increased harmonisation should result in greater efficiency in terms of time and spend throughout the filing process.

19 December 2007

After years of uncertainty surrounding an industrial design registration for terrace umbrellas, an appeal court has cancelled the registration. The case hinged on when an industrial design can be said to be ‘new’ and thus when the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks can issue an industrial design protection certificate for it.

12 December 2007

A Madrid court has issued the first ever Spanish ruling to deal with the interpretation of the EU Biotech Directive in infringement proceedings. The court found that a patent for a DNA sequence could not be extended to protect soy meal derived from transgenic soy beans, as the patent holder failed to prove that the DNA sequence was incorporated into and contained in the soy meal, and performed its function therein.

05 December 2007

Ireland is one of the largest exporters of intellectual property in the world, an impressive achievement that owes much to its friendly tax approach to intellectual property. Companies that engage in IP licensing in Ireland can take advantage of many favourable tax provisions, as well as a 12.5% rate of corporation tax.

05 December 2007

This year has been a significant one for Swiss IP legislation, with five separate amendments to the Patent Act and four to the Copyright Act. Some changes were necessitated by the opening of the Federal Administrative Court at the beginning of 2007, while others serve to ratify and implement international agreements.

05 December 2007

Following the amendment of the Copyright Act to acknowledge explicitly that design creations are entitled to protection under copyright law, Italian case law in the area of industrial designs is looking far more settled. Earlier this year, a Milan court affirmed this trend by finding that Arco floor lamps qualify for copyright protection.

28 November 2007

A Turin tribunal has revoked an earlier injunction granted for the alleged infringement of an Italian utility model application. The change of heart indicates that more stringent standards are to be expected from the Italian courts in evaluating the inventiveness requirement that must be met by utility model patents in Italy.

21 November 2007