Never Too Late: if you missed the IPKat last week

Summer in Europe is fast passing by. However, it is ‘never too late’ to catch the latest posts on this blog. 

In ‘YouTube takes copyright law into their own hands with new policy on music infringement‘, SpecialKat Hayleigh Bosher discusses the new copyright policy created and implemented by Youtube. The new policy changes the rules on its manual claiming tool for copyright owners to prevent the use of their work. Hayleigh expresses her concern about the Youtube’s ability to make its own law. 

GuestKat Ieva Giedrimaite writes about Common Clauses as a source-available license used by the software industry. She raises the issue in ‘Commons Clause in open source licenses: business necessity or betrayal of software freedom?‘

In ‘InterDigital starts Lenovo FRAND war‘ , Annsley Ward reports that InterDigital has filed a FRAND case against Lenovo involving its 3G and 4G wireless technology in the UK. 

Annsley also reports on the 2019 AIPPI’s study question concerning the role of plausibility in the patent law and the responses of the various country groups to this question in her post, ‘What is the future of plausibility? AIPPI country survey results suggest plausibility requirement “undesirable“’ 

GuestKat Rose Hughes, in ‘The patent debate surrounding PrEP, the game-changer in HIV prevention‘ , writes about the patent controversy concerning Truvada, an HIV prophylactic and shed some light on the issue of PrEP pricing in the US. The contested patents involve a compound patent owned by Gilead and a second medical use patent owned by the government of the United States. 

In addition, Rose reports the Technical Board of Appeal’s decision where the Board considered when a user of EPO may have legitimate expectations to be informed of an underpayment of an appeal fee. See her post ‘The three Rs of legitimate expectation: Recognizability, recoverability and responsibility‘ (T 0703/19)’. 

Last, but not least, Rose, in ‘Has the EU lost its way on gene-editing?‘, discusses the EU agricultural industry and the reaction of EU research institutions over the consequence of the CJEU’s ruling in Case C-528/16. There, it was held that organisms obtained by gene-editing should be considered genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The consequence of this ruling is that the gene-editing organisms shall be subjected to the supervision of the GMO directive. Rose reflects on the concerns of the community and questions whether the EU may lag in the area of gene editing because it is subject to the GMO Directive.. 

SpecialKat Tian Lu reports on the facepalm trade mark case in China, in which an applicant attempted to register an emoji created by Tencent as a trademark in China. The Trademark Office refused the registration on the ground that the Tencent owns a prior right on this emoji. 

In ‘International jurisdiction in online EU trade mark infringement cases: CJEU rules that targeting may serve to establish jurisdiction‘ , Eleonora Rosati reports on the latest decision of the CJEU in AMS Neve Case (C-172/18). In this case, the Court addressed the issue of the locus of an alleged on-line infringement. It ruled that Article 97(5) of 2009 EU Trade Mark Regulation must be interpreted as meaning that the proprietor of a European Union trade mark may bring an infringement action against an infringer before a European Union trade mark court of the Member State within which the consumers or traders to whom that advertising and those offers for sale are directed are located, notwithstanding that that third party took decisions and steps in another Member State to bring about that electronic display. 

SpecialKat Chijioke Okorie discussed the regional integration of Africa through trade agreements in the shadow of the xenophobic attacks against Africans living in South Africa. She raised the question in ‘Can Africa’s trade agreements handle regional integration?‘

SpecialKat Hayleigh Bosher reviews the book ‘Online Distribution of Content in the EU’, edited by Taina Pihlajarinne, Juha Vesala and Olli Honkkila. The key theme of the book are the developments found in the Digital Single Market Strategy and Directive. The book considers whether the changes of the Strategy and Directive will lead to positive developments within the EU framework or rather it will lead to further fragmentation and incoherence. 

Eleonora Rosati announced three events organized and hosted by the Academy of European Law concerning AI challenges for IP law, European patent law and European copyright law. The IPkat readers enjoy a 25% discount for all these events. 

PREVIOUSLY ON NEVER TOO LATE: 

Never Too Late 232 [Week ending 1st September] Board of EUIPO says re-filing of ’Monopoly’ as EUTM is invalid due to bad-faith | Can the ideal image of female beauty be considered a limit to a designer’s freedom? | Brussels court grants Louboutin inhibitory decision against Amazon | Planet Art v Photobox passing off: no compunction when refusing injunction | On economic analysis of IP law: an interview with professor Tom Cotter | Calls for holistic reforms to digital platforms from Australia’s competition regulator | Enterprise name vs. trade mark: throwing a straw against the wind? | What we can learn from Jane Austen and President Ulysses S. Grant about the business of book publishing: “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” | Invitation for applications for the Shamnad Basheer IP/Trade Fellowship at the Texas A&M University School of Law 

Never Too Late 231 [Week ending 25th August] Copyright infringement in the ‘iron pipe film’ case | Makeup brand Charlotte Tilbury successfully proved copyright infringement of its packaging | copyright cases on the U.S. Supreme Court docket this term | Raconteur Productions Limited v Dioni Visions Entertainment Limited and 2 Others: screenplay copyright in Nigeria | Another CJEU referral on Youtube’s role as service provider | Irish Supreme Court in Merck v Clonmel puts “adequacy of damages” back in the balance when granting preliminary junctions | The first AI inventor – IPKat searches for the facts behind the hype | Repurposing patented products: Inking a new test for infringement in Australia? | When a tiger loses its teeth: applying the step-by-step approach on a word mark and a mark containing a device representation thereof | Four Rings to Rule Them All – German Federal Court of Justice Finds Trademark Infringement in Radiator Grille with Audi-Logo-Shaped Mounting Fixture | USPTO amends the rules: “Requirement of U.S. Licensed Attorney for Foreign Trademark Applicants and Registrants” now in effect 

Never Too Late 230 [Week ending 11th August] The IPKat team: arrivals, farewells, and news | Nokia v. Daimler: (anti-)anti suit injunctions and the Brussels I regime in global FRAND litigation | Are FRAND-disputes too complex for PI proceedings? | When will the appeal fee be refunded?: G 1/18, the decision | Coloplast v Salts: Should UK infringement proceedings be stayed if the patent has been opposed? | Patent infringement in public procurement? Still awaiting an answer | Jury awards Joyful Noise $2.8M in copyright infringement damages for Katy Perry’s Dark Horse | Gigi Hadid Instagram copyright infringement case dismissed | US Senate Judiciary Committee approves small-claims copyright bill (CASE Act) and reports its to legislature without amendment | AG opinion regarding Aceto Balsamico leaves a sour taste for Modena | ‘Going down’ is a trade mark that causes a bad influence on morality, says the Beijng High Court in China | Latin America–a whole lot of trademark activity is going on | SportFuel is running on empty after losing appeal: US 7th Circuit Court affirms that Gatorade’s slogan, ‘Gatorade The Sports Fuel Company’ is fair use. | Book Review: Unified Patent Protection in Europe | Tragic news: Professor Shamnad Basheer has passed away | Remembering Shamnad Basheer | WIPO launched its first program on IP for indigenous women | IP Tribunal of SPC opens first circuit trial in July 2019