EU
European Commission reports show misuse of divisionals can in itself contravene EU law
By Mikkel Roed Trier | Posted on January 28, 2025
In November last year, I was interviewed about the European Commission’s €462.6 million fine against pharmaceutical giant Teva and what it could mean for European patent practices. In short, the European Commission fined Teva for artificially extending patent protection by pursuing divisionals and spreading misleading information about a competing product to hinder its market entry...
Interview: Will patent filers have to change practices after European Commission’s €462.6 million fine against big pharma’s Teva?
By AWA | Posted on November 26, 2024
The European Commission recently fined pharmaceutical giant Teva €462.6 million for artificially extending patent protection by pursuing divisionals and spreading misleading information about a competing product to hinder its market entry and uptake. Margrethe Vestager, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, commented that the decision “reaffirms the Commission’s commitment to competition enforcement...
Filed under: Insights, Interviews
Tags: antitrust, competition, divisionals, EU, patents, Teva
Balancing Innovation and Regulation: Comparing China’s AI Regulations with the EU AI Act
By AWA | Posted on April 11, 2024
The recent passing of the EU AI Act presents an opportunity to conduct a comparative law analysis against China’s earlier promulgated artificial intelligence (AI) regulations. This is a crucial time for the industry as global attention increasingly focuses on the ethical development, deployment, and regulation of AI technologies. China, a leading player in AI development,...
Tags: AI, artificial intelligence, china, EU, generative AI, Internet
After seven years China and EU sign investment agreement
By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on March 16, 2021
Ai-Leen Lim considers some of the highlights from the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment between China and the EU. Agreement negotiations have been ongoing for seven years, but finally a deal has been reached “in principle”. Despite the ongoing pandemic, two of the world’s largest economies came together on shared priorities. On December 30, 2020, the...
All eyes on Germany as UPC is resuscitated at Bundestag and Bundesrat
By Louise Jonshammar | Posted on December 18, 2020
German ratification of the UPCA is one of the last hurdles for the Unitary Patent system. The system has suffered a series of delays ever since an agreement was reached in 2012 that made the Unitary Patent possible through enhanced cooperation at an EU-level. The Unitary Patent system aims to provide easier and affordable access...
Tags: Bundesrat, EU, Europe, European patents, Germany, patents, unitary patent, UPC, UPCA
EORI number mandatory to file actions against counterfeit goods in the EU
By Mette Parlev | Posted on November 25, 2020
Danish customs oversee thousands of counterfeit goods each year and over the past five years, the number of cases of counterfeit goods has quadrupled. This has also caused the number of intervention cases to increase. Rights holders have a very short time to react and file an intervention action when Danish customs find potential cases...
Tags: counterfeits, Customs, EORI, EU
EU requires manufacturers to disclose scientific documents during risk assessment for food chain production
By Eric Van Malderen | Posted on September 30, 2020
The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) is in charge of the registration into the European Union of novel foods and feeds, food and feed additives, food and feed contact materials, GMO’s, plant protection products, food and feed enzymes as well as food and feed flavourings. To increase the legitimacy and credibility of their opinions, food...
Tags: EFSA, EU, European Union, Food, Manufacturing, patents, trade secrets
Brands must take extra caution against counterfeits during Covid-19 pandemic
By Mette Parlev | Posted on June 5, 2020
Enhanced online brand protection and anti-counterfeiting measures are needed due to the current pandemic: as demand from e-commerce consumers increases, so does the market for counterfeits. Background A recent report from EUROPOL, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, provides an overview of how criminals are adapting to profit from the covid-19 pandemic. Findings include that...
Tags: anti-counterfeiting, Coronavirus, COVID-19, enforcement, EU, Europe, trademarks
Balmain case highlights risk of using specialised public with low distinctive character marks
By AWA | Posted on April 20, 2020
Balmain’s appeal to the General Court demonstrates that applicants should not rely on a specialised public for goods or services when applying for a trademark Background Balmain is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1945, which operates globally across 16 stores. In addition to its iconic logo and coat of arms, Balmain uses a lion’s...
Tags: Balmain, enforcement, EU, General Court, IP, trademarks
German Court finds Unified Patent Court legislation unconstitutional
By Niklas Mattsson | Posted on March 20, 2020
Today, the court tasked with upholding Germany’s constitution, the Bundesverfassungsgericht, has issued its long-awaited decision on a complaint against ratifying the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA). The Court’s decision upholds the complaint, finding that the German legislative act that ratifies the UPCA does indeed contravene the German constitution. The German Federal President is now prohibited...
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