Exclusive: Rospatent backs Peppa Pig in win for Western brands
Russia’s intellectual property office backed the owner of the Peppa Pig brand in its global dispute with a Vietnamese company, Managing IP revealed this week.
Rospatent rejected a figurative trademark application for the ‘Wolfoo’ cartoon character filed by SConnect. It cited four existing Peppa Pig-related trademarks owned by media company Entertainment One.
The finding may give comfort to foreign IP owners, whose rights in Russia have been uncertain since Vladimir Putin's government hit back at sanctions imposed by several Western nations after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
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InterDigital wins again in Lenovo SEP dispute
InterDigital scored another win over Lenovo at the England and Wales High Court on Tuesday, January 31, after a patent it owns was found to be valid and essential to the 3G standard.
The judgment, issued by Mr Justice James Mellor, stemmed from the third technical trial in the pair’s dispute over standard-essential patents.
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UPC to run second CMS test before sunrise launch
Prospective users of the Unified Patent Court will be given another chance to practise key tasks in the court’s case management system, a statement confirmed on Monday, January 30.
A test period will run from February 13 to 24 and will allow users to practise completing the tasks they will need to carry out when the court’s three-month sunrise period begins in April.
It is the second such test period after an initial trial which ran from November 28 until December 16 last year.
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IP specialist Kitchin to retire from UK Supreme Court
Lord Justice David Kitchin will retire from the UK Supreme Court in September this year, it was confirmed on Wednesday, February 1.
Kitchin, who was appointed in October 2018, is the only intellectual property specialist serving at the UK’s top court.
It is expected that the lord chancellor will convene an independent selection commission to fill the vacancy.
Click here to read the full article.
Other articles published by Managing IP this week include:
CIPA picks Cambridge for first non-London Congress
Uncertainty lingers in Mexico as counsel await IP regulations
Landmark patent claims edict too liberal: India counsel
Why the Hermès NFT case unnerves (and excites) counsel
Weekly take: Law firms must act now to fix toxic cultures
IP counsel on fence over SME funding scheme
Challenges likely over BoA’s VICO move: sources
Elsewhere in IP
Gin hangover
The England and Wales High Court backed Marks & Spencer (M&S) in its design dispute with discount supermarket Aldi on Tuesday, January 31. The court found Aldi’s gin product ‘infusionist’ infringed a registered design owned by M&S for its own ‘light up’ gin bottle.
Notorious markets
The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) urged the US Trade Representative (USTR) to place nine countries on a priority watch list when it releases its 301 report later this year. According to an IIPA statement on Tuesday, January 31 Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Vietnam should get special attention. The 301 report focuses on countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights.
Separately, the USTR also published its 2022 Review of Notorious Markets on January 31. That report names online and physical marketplaces that engage in or facilitate IP infringement. WeChat, Aliexpress and DHGate were among the e-commerce platforms listed.
Embargo worries
In the world of patents, the dispute between InterDigital and Lenovo also took a non-IP related turn this week after the England and Wales Court of Appeal was forced to consider an embargo breach. The problem arose after Steve Akerley, deputy general counsel at InterDigital, shared an embargoed copy of the judgment with a third party. In a judgment handed down on Monday, January 30, the court decided further action was not necessary after Akerley apologised.
Excitable dragon
Sticking with UK litigation, a copyright dispute pitting a children’s author against the retailer John Lewis finished this week. Fay Evans alleged that John Lewis’s 2019 Christmas advert about an over-excitable dragon was a copy of her book ‘Fred the Fire-Sneezing Dragon’. Hearings took place at the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court on Monday, January 30 and Tuesday, January 31. Evans was represented by Brandsmiths while Lewis Silkin acted for John Lewis.
Long-lasting patents
A report by IP analytics company Clarivate published on Wednesday, February 1 explores trends in patent maintenance behaviour over two decades. The medical and biotechnology sector had the highest survival rate with 35% of patents in those categories still in force after 20 years.
German growth
Reddie & Grose has become the latest firm to expand its senior team in Germany with the appointment of Simon Lud as partner in its Munich office. The firm announced the hire on Wednesday, February 1. Lud was previously at Maiwald Intellectual Property.
That's it for today, see you again next week.
