Insights
China issues Opinions on Judging Trademark Violations
By Ai-Leen Lim, Ashley Zhao | Posted on January 28, 2022
The National Intellectual Property Administration of China (CNIPA) issued the Standard for Judging General Trademark Violations (Standard) on December 13, 2021. It entered into force on January 1, 2022. Background In China, the Administration for Market Regulation (AMR) at the state, provincial, municipal and county levels (including all branches) are the enforcement authority tasked with administering and...
Tags: china, Standard, Trademark, Violations
The Business of IP – Understanding and Creating Value: Part 6 – Costs of IP
By Anders Isaksson | Posted on January 17, 2022
In this six-part series, Anders Isaksson explores some of the critical factors and motivators for why companies, small or large, should obtain intellectual property. The aim is to help you understand when and how you can create value from IP, especially when considering a company’s long and short-term goals. In the previous article in this...
Tags: costs, designs, patents, trademarks
China endorses good-faith commitment when applying for well-known status
By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on November 8, 2021
From 1 September 2021 applicants and their trademark agents or representing agency will be required to sign and seal a “Letter of Commitment to the Good Faith of the Parties Requesting the Protection of Well-Known Trademarks” (当事人请求驰名商标保护诚信承诺书). Background Well-known status for Chinese trademarks is typically requested through: the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), either directly or...
Tags: china, trademarks, well-known
EPO’s highest legal authority to decide if post-published data can support inventive step
By Michael Bech Sommer | Posted on August 17, 2021
The European Patent Office’s (EPO) highest legal authority, the Enlarged Board of Appeal, is about to be referred questions from the Board of Appeal (BoA) on whether data produced after the filing date of a patent application (post-published data) can be used as the sole basis to support the inventive step of a claim. Essentially,...
Tags: BoA, data, EPO, patents, post-filing data
The Business of IP – Understanding and Creating Value: Part 4 – Spin-Offs
By Anders Isaksson | Posted on July 27, 2021
In this six-part series, Anders Isaksson explores some of the critical factors and motivators for why companies, small or large, should obtain intellectual property. The aim is to help you understand when and how you can create value from IP, especially when considering a company’s long and short-term goals. In the previous article in this...
Tags: design, Intellectual Property, patents, spin-off, trademarks
Was this the last hurdle for German UPCA Ratification?
By Niklas Mattsson | Posted on July 12, 2021
At the end of 2020, German ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) looked promising as the German parliament (Bundestag) was approved with the required two-thirds majority. However, two applications before the German Constitutional Court (FCC) for preliminary injunctions against ratification delayed the final steps for the act to be promulgated. This...
Are companies in control over influencer marketing?
By Sara Söderling | Posted on June 28, 2021
A recent judgement from the Swedish Patent and Market Court of Appeal demonstrates under what conditions an influencer’s posts can be regarded as commercial content and be subject to the Swedish Marketing Act despite not being explicitly included in the agreement between the influencer and the brand owner governing a marketing campaign. Influencers use...
Tags: advertising, commercial content, influencer, marketing, Swedish Marketing Act
MedTrace receives $30 million investment fuelling US expansion and new business area
By AWA | Posted on May 13, 2021
AWA’s client MedTrace Pharma A/S has received nearly $30 million from Swiss-based Swisscanto Invest and Danish investors ATP and BankInvest. MedTrace has developed a fully automated technology that makes radioactive water clinically available to patients in need of diagnostic heart imaging. Radioactive water (15O-water), currently used on occasion for various scans, will now be produced...
Lego’s compensation increased tenfold by appeal court
By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on May 12, 2021
On 1 April 2020 the Guangdong Higher People’s Court announced that it had awarded Danish toymaker Lego Rmb30 million (approximately $4.58 million) in damages for trademark infringement and unfair competition against Guangdong Meizhi Zhijiao Technology Co Ltd and three other defendants. The amount was increased tenfold compared to an earlier decision by the Guangzhou Intellectual...
China’s president pledges stronger IP enforcement
By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on May 4, 2021
China’s president Xi Jinping has reiterated the country’s commitment to strengthening intellectual property protection and enforcement through higher damages and criminalisation. The article was published by the official state-run press agency of the People’s Republic of China – Xinhua. It stresses that innovation is the primary driving force behind development and protecting intellectual property rights is equal to protecting...
Tags: awards, china, copyright, Intellectual Property, Patent, Trademark
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