Firm

This article aims to discuss similarity of goods and services in case of an opposition against a trademark application before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (the office).

The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office recently announced three new fast-track options for the examination of patent applications, which are already in effect. These new fast-tracks are available for: (i) applications covering “technologies already available in the [Brazilian] market”; (ii) applications filed by local startups; and (iii) applications for “technologies resulting from [Brazilian] public funding.”

The headline of this article might provoke amazement or concern among football fans. They might even wonder why Wikipedia missed this important event in the life of the famous footballer. The truth, however, is detailed below.

In a recent decision, the Athens Full Member Court of First Instance (IP Division) ruled that the successor-in-title of a patent is not entitled to a claim for damages regarding the time period between the patent’s transfer agreement and the corresponding recording thereof in the patent register. In essence, the court dismissed the successors-in-title’s claim for damages for the abovementioned time frame due to lack of legal standing, making it clear that damages can only be sought for the time after a patent transfer has been recorded .

In a decision published on June 26 2020, the Indonesian Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling against a celebrity who sought to acquire prior rights to a disputed mark and then cancel a competitor’s trademark. The decision demonstrates some limit on the jurisdiction’s first-to-file position, which has historically been strictly applied and enforced both by courts and by the Indonesian IP Office. The Supreme Court also upheld the cancellation of some of the celebrity’s trademarks due to his previous work for the defendant as a brand ambassador, serving as a cautionary tale to potential bad faith plaintiffs.

Track and trace smartphone applications used in the fight against COVID-19 are representative of a relatively new industry falling between the healthcare, IT, medical devices and pharmaceutical sectors.