Around the IP Blogs

A few months ago the world seemed to have taken a time-out. However, the time-out long gone and this IP world is buzzing again with news. This Kat has some of highlights here…

Patents

Federal Circuit indicates that conventional technologies can be used in unconventional ways! The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that certain claims directed to a method of preparation is patent-eligible at Alice Step 1. IPWatchdog reported on the Court’s opinion in Illumina Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics Inc., 2019-1419 (Fed. Cir. 2020).

 

Battery manufacturer Varta has ended its patent dispute with Samsung and other various dealers after the parties agreed on a global settlement. The settlement also puts an end to several pending infringement and nullity proceedings in Germany and the US. JUVE Patent reported on the settlement.

 

Trademarks

The MARQUES Unfair Competition Team has just completed the 2020 update of the Look-Alike Chart! The chart contains practical and relevant information on protecting and taking enforcement actions against look-alikes in 47 countries in Europe and other key jurisdictions.

Recently there have been a lot more interest from life sciences companies in applying for slogans. Unfortunately, some of these slogans rarely manage to make the hurdle of distinctiveness applied by the EUIPO and usually confirmed by the European Courts. Kluwer Trademark Blog reported on two applications by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries have now suffered that fate again.

Recently, the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS), in the Booking.com decision held that a generic .com domain name can obtain a trademark registration under certain conditions. This raises the question how far domain name trademark protection can extend. SpicyIP explored this question.

Amazon and KF Beauty joined forces and filed a joint counterfeit suit. According to the complaint that they filed in a federal court in Washington, Amazon and KF Beauty claim that four companies and 16 individuals are on the hook for selling counterfeit versions of KF Beauty’s WUNDER2 beauty products, on Amazon’s sweeping third-party marketplace site. The Fashion Law reported on the complaint.

 

Copyright

Does the breach of a software licence agreement constitute a copyright infringement, or may a contractual liability regime apply to that breach? Kluwer Copyright Blog answered this question.