AWA Point
Protecting the FIFA brands
By Hanna Hansson | Posted on June 10, 2014
With the 2014 FIFA World Cup coming up in Brazil times are busy for organizer The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, FIFA. FIFA continuously takes action against ambush marketers, advertising or promoting around the World Cup without authorization. The preparations of the 2014 FIFA World Cup were initiated several years ago and an important part...
Tags: FIFA, trademarks
Adopting a stricter view on ethics?
By Vibeke Warberg Rohde | Posted on June 3, 2014
The everyday work of an IP attorney may seem to amount largely to pencil pushing, but it does in fact involve a surprisingly large number of decisions, where moral issues have to be considered. For instance, can I take on this new client without risking to step on existing clients’ toes? Events of the last...
The life sciences patent maze – USA
By AWA | Posted on May 27, 2014
ON MARCH 4, 2014, the US Patent Office issued new guidelines on how to evaluate the patentability of inventions reciting or involving “laws of nature/natural principles, natural phenomena, and/or natural products”. Considering the fact that the first federal patent statute of the United States was established in 1790, one might be inclined to believe that...
Tags: life science, patents, USA, USPTO
The new unitary patent opens many opportunities
By Eva Carlsson | Posted on May 19, 2014
One of the most significant issues within the European patent industry concerns the unitary patent and the courts which will belong to the new system. In December 2012 the EU made the historic decision on introducing a new patent system, but many detailed issues still need to be resolved. The current system, the European Patent...
Introduction of fee reductions for small entities before the EPO
By Troels Peter Rørdam | Posted on May 15, 2014
Effective 1 April 2014 the Administrative Council (AC) of the EPO has changed the rules for obtaining reduction on certain fees charged in relation to the procedure before the EPO . The requirement that the applicant must be a resident of or have principal place of business is in an EPC contracting state with an...
PCT to the rescue
By AWA | Posted on April 22, 2014
According to Wikipedia, “time to market is the length of time it takes from a product being conceived until its being available for sale“. However, the success of the product can often not be determined until the product has been on the market for a period of time. For some products, the success is immediate,...
Tags: EQE, European Patent Attorney
The (trade) secret of success
By AWA | Posted on April 8, 2014
We have all heard of success stories such as the Coca-Cola recipe and the Google search algorithm. Many companies value their trade secrets and consider them important for competitiveness and innovative performance. Although the general understanding is that trade secrets are good for business, there seem to be many incorrect assumptions about their legal protection....
Tags: EU, trade secrets
Fighting the bad guys with customs surveillance
By AWA | Posted on April 3, 2014
Most classic feel-good Hollywood movies reach a point when things look most bleak, and you almost doubt whether the hero will defy all odds and beat the villain. The eternal fight against counterfeiting is starting to reach a similar point. As IP specialists and larger companies are aware, one of the most effective remedies in...
Fatal success
By Claus Marcussen | Posted on February 14, 2014
When introducing a product, the company must have as a goal or at least a hope that the trademark related to the product will become known. Some may even pray for well known or famous. They may get exactly what they hope for and some of those may find themselves cursing the day, when it...
Tags: trademarks
Changed conditions regarding the possibility to register “geographical” trademarks
By AWA | Posted on February 6, 2014
As you might have heard before, a fundamental requirement for registering a trademark is that the trademark is distinctive, meaning that it must have the ability of distinguishing the goods or services provided from the goods and services of others. The Swedish Trademark Act holds that a trademark might lack distinctiveness inter alia when it...
Recent contributors
Partner, Attorney at Law, Business Area Manager
Partner, European Patent Attorney
Senior Counsel, European Patent Attorney
Counsel, AU and NZ Patent Attorney
Senior Associate, China Patent Attorney
Senior Associate, Attorney at Law