AWA Point
Breast cancer gene patents once again found valid by US appeals court
By Niklas Mattsson | Posted on August 23, 2012
In the “Myriad case” an ongoing legal battle with many twists and turns, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, CAFC, has decided to once again uphold patent claims covering isolated human genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, owned at least partly by Myriad Genetics Inc in Utah, USA. The patent claims were initially invalidated in...
Tags: gene patents, USA
Counterfeit Goods in the EU – Troubling News but No Surprise
By AWA | Posted on August 14, 2012
On July 24, the European Commission published a press release concerning its report on seizure of counterfeit goods during 2011 in the EU (see the full report). It turns out that seizure of suspected counterfeit goods increased some 15 % compared to 2010. Top categories are medicines (24 %), packaging material (21 %) and cigarettes...
Tags: china, counterfeits, EU, Infringement, IP rights, Piracy, Trademark
Big Bucks Bunny – Decision on Protection of 3-D Community Trademarks in the EU
By Claus Marcussen | Posted on August 8, 2012
The renowned chocolate manufacturer, Lindt & Sprüngli AG, had filed an application for the protection of their gold rabbit with a red ribbon as a 3-D Community trademark with OHIM (the Community trademarks office). The list of goods comprised “chocolate and chocolate products” in international class 30. A three-dimensional mark is a mark consisting of...
A new dawn for protection of designs?
By AWA | Posted on July 6, 2012
It is no secret that the differences in national European law concerning the protection of designs, has been driving many Danish rights holders crazy for years on end. It has been difficult to come to terms with the fact that while many of our prominent Danish designs – designs of which we as a nation are...
New decision on Utility Models from the Danish Supreme Court
By Troels Peter Rørdam | Posted on June 29, 2012
The Danish Supreme Court has on 16 May 2012 pronounced an interesting decision regarding utility models. Case no 331/2010 – RASN A/S’ utility model no. DK 2007 00003, concerns a device for loading and unloading cargo items into and out of aero planes. Previously, the DKPTO Board of Appeal for Patents upheld the utility model...
Tags: patents, utility models
The IP Translator watch is finally over
By Kristian Martinsson | Posted on June 25, 2012
On 19 June 2012, the Court of Justice of the European Union finally delivered its judgment regarding the legality of the of OHIM’s class heading practice. So, what is IP Translator? The case relates to the lawfulness of the OHIM’s practice that begun in 2003, which means that when a class heading in the Nice...
Tags: European Union, IP Translator, judgment, the court of justice
ZLATAN, ROONEY and EURO 2012 – Protected as Trademarks
By AWA | Posted on June 20, 2012
EURO 2012 is indeed on-going and now it is time for the exiting quarter-finals. Huge investments have been made for the tournament and companies are using various branding strategies to become connected to EURO 2012. However, in these times it is more important than ever to discuss with your marketing departments how you are going...
Tags: brands, Community trademark, Football, trademark registrations
The Patent Prosecution Highway expands
By Troels Peter Rørdam | Posted on May 31, 2012
I have previously written about the PPH MOTTAINAI agreement, which aims at easing the requirements for requesting patent examinations. The latest news is that the EPO (European Patent Office) entered the PPH MOTTAINAI agreement at the beginning of the year (29 January) and thus the PPH MOTTAINAI agreement has now been signed by a total of nine countries. With...
Awapatent at the 4th China IP Counsel Conference 2012
By Vibeke Warberg Rohde | Posted on May 25, 2012
On 22-23 May 2012 representatives from Awapatent participated in the 4th China IP Counsel Conference held in Shanghai. The program was very interesting with many different angles on IP, particularly on how to protect your IP in the best possible way. A representative from the Chinese Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) opened with a speech about the...
Tags: china, IP Counsel Conference, IP rights in China, Shanghai
High Court Decision Confirms Low Compensations to Inventors Employed to Invent
By Kim Garsdal Nielsen | Posted on May 16, 2012
Decisions are few when it comes to considering the inventor’s right to compensation in accordance with Section 8 of the Danish Act on Employee’s Inventions (Lov om arbejdstageres Opfindelser). Recently the High Court (Østre Landsret) has passed a decision in U.2012.420Ø, confirming that compensations to inventors employed to invent are low. In the case in...
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