Never Too Late: If you missed the IPKat last week!

Alessandro Cerri reported on a recent decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of the EU Intellectual Property Office concerning the likelihood of confusion between two pictures of elderly men’s faces. The Board’s decision included the assessment of Article 8(1)(b) EUTMR and Article 8(5) EUTMR. The case highlighted the importance of the quality of the evidence.

Former GuestKat Nedim Malovic (ASSA ABLOY) commented on a recent referral to the EUIPO Grand Board regarding the registrability of face trade marks which was also discussed during last October’s IPKat webinar on image rights. The Grand Board will address whether a sign depicting a person’s face can function as a trade mark.

Anastasiia Kyrylenko discussed the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the GIs for Corsican cold cuts (C-579/23 P). Our Kat followed up on the details of the case months after her discussion on the Advocate General’s Opinion.

Marcel Pemsel analysed a recent judgment of the General Court concerning the distinctiveness of a political slogan closely related to the Russian invasion in Ukraine. The court reached its decision after evaluating claims concerning distinctiveness, equal treatment, and public policy/morality. 

In his Monday Melange post, Alessandro Cerri informed The IPKat readers about upcoming IP events and opportunities. Forthcoming events include the IViR workshop event on “The Human Right to a Healthy Environment: What Impact on Intellectual Property Laws?” to be held on 4 November 2024, and the 4iP Council Webinar on Leveraging Geographical Indications: Benefits, Types, and Registration Essentials which will take place at 16:00 CET on 5 December 2024. Additionally, he informed us about a book launch event, “The Future of Geographical Indications,” which will take place on 12 December 2024. For details and further opportunities, do not forget to have a look at our Kat’s post here.

Eleonora Rosati notified Readers about further upcoming IP events in her Sunday Surprises post. Before you check our Events page, here are some details. The UCL Institute of Brand & Innovation Law Annual Innovation will host the “Patent Law – Fit for an (Emotional) AI age?: CIIs, Training ANNs and Other Stories” event on 4 December. Fair MusE will host a hybrid event on the role of regulation in the European digital music ecosystem on 11 December. Moreover, the IPR University Center will host the online “Obvious No More: A Guide to Overcoming Obviousness Rejections” event in March 2025.

Finally, the Pharma & Biotech Patent Litigation Summit will take place in Amsterdam on 21 and 22 January 2025, with the UPC Litigation Forum taking place on 20 January. Please note that the 15% discount for our IPKat readers ends on Friday, 6 December.