Europe

Igor Charles and Franck Soutoul of Inlex examine a Paris Court of Appeal ruling that fully invalidated a ‘Richard Mille’ trademark for fraud despite limits on protection based on reputation

David Ives, Laura Houston, and Richard Barker of Slaughter and May examine the UK High Court’s ruling and assess its implications for AI developers, rights holders, and future appeals

Marco Stief of Maiwald argues that the District Court of The Hague missed an opportunity to clarify the uncertainty surrounding the term ‘first authorisation’ in Article 3(d) of the SPC Regulation in a recent judgment

The ruling addresses the impact of device mark differences, proof of use, and well-known status arguments, say Hande Hançar Koç, Havva Yıldız, and Zeynep Berfin Ekinci of Gün and Partners

Jakob Pade Frederiksen of Inspicos highlights how a recent ruling relating to the applicable standard for inventive step assessment diverges from the EPO’s problem-solution approach

Spain’s Donut case shows how widespread linguistic use does not necessarily erode trademark rights. Diogo Antunes of Inventa examines how Spanish and Portuguese practice address lexicalisation, reputation, and the boundary between descriptiveness and genericide