Never Too Late: if you missed the IPKat last week

Looking for a beautiful example of legal fudge? Look no further – the Enlarged Board of Appeal’s (EBA) decision in G3/19 is such. Rose Hughes reported on G3/19, which brings to an end the see-sawing the EPO has experienced in recent years over the issue of the patentability of plants and animals produced by essentially biological processes.

A decision by the EUIPO’s Cancellation Division, regarding bad faith in an invalidation action involving Chinese character marks, merits particular attention. Kat friend, Matej Michalec, reported on this decision.  

In breaking news, the US Copyright Office released its much-awaited Report on Section 512 of the US Copyright Act, which was enacted in 1998 as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and introduced the so called ‘safe harbor’ system into US law. Eleonora Rosatireported that the US Copyright Office finds the current safe harbor system ‘unbalanced’ and ‘out of sync with Congress’ original intent’

Last month the Milan court ruled against Antonio Marras over unauthorized use of howling wolf photograph. The court sided with the claimant, having established that his photograph – which has been also registered with the US Copyright Office – would qualify for protection under the ‘ordinary’ copyright regime. Eleonora Rosati reported on the case.

Want to understand goodwill? Neil Wilkof looked at what a cat, dog, rat and rabbit can teach us about goodwill.

Can a person be prohibited from sharing a picture of her grandson online? Léon Dijkman answered this question in light of a recent case in the Gelderland district court in the Netherlands, which ordered a person to remove a picture of her underage grandchild from her Facebook and Pinterest accounts, at the request of the child’s mother (the defendant’s daughter).