Around the IP Blogs

In a post on the JIPLP blog, Carina Gommers and Eva de Pauw provided a preview of their article on liability for trade mark infringement of online marketplaces in Europe, considering the extent to which they can be held liable, and the possibility of injunctions in light of Article 14 and 15 of the Enforcement Directive and recent (and upcoming) CJEU case law.

The Kluwer Trademark Blog took a look at trade mark case T-40/19, Amigüitos pets & live v EUIPO, where the General Court denied that a likelihood of confusion could be found between ‘THE ONLY ONE’ and ‘ONE’ (held by Purina) in relation to pet care products and food. This finding was contrary to the earlier decision of the EUIPO Fourth Board of Appeal.

The Kluwer Trademark Blog also examined the importance of obtaining a word mark registration for weak trade marks. This was in relation to a case in Denmark, a country which has in the past been described as the easiest place in Europe to obtain a right to a trade mark solely on the basis of use.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the go-to topics nowadays for IP aficionados, and earlier last week, the EPO contributed to that discussion, publishing its grounds for its decision to refuse the two patent applications which had named an AI system as its inventor. You can find further information provided here.

On the topic of AI, IPWatchdog looked at the marked increase in the number of patents granted by the USPTO, which mentioned AI and machine learning.

The Patent Lawyer Magazine reported on the status of proceedings between Nintendo and iLife Technologies Inc, arisen over claims that Nintendo had infringed the motion-control patents held by iLife through its Wii remote. In a decision of a US Federal Court in Dallas, the previous patent verdict was overturned in favour of Nintendo.

The Kluwer Trademark Blog also reported on a decision of the High Court of Frankfurt on keyword advertising, in which the outcome appeared to be the opposite of the Interflora case (C-323/09). The case involved the use of a trade mark for a plaintiff in orthodontics, with the High Court ultimately granting an injunction to the plaintiff.

In light of the UK’s exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020, the Meyer-Dulheuer MD blog examined the implications of the extension of the transitional period for the automated conversion of registered trade marks and designs of the European Union into compatible UK trade marks. The transitional period has now been extended until 31 December 2020.