Search results for

The District Administrative Court has issued an interesting judgment concerning foreign names registered as trade marks in Poland.

In the case of Gemma Ong aka Maria Teresa Gemma Catacutan v People of the Philippines on November 23 2011, the Supreme Court held that "the defence of denial is unavailing when placed astride the undisputed fact that there was positive identification of the accused". This case began 13 years ago, upon a complaint of infringement of the Marlboro trade mark by the Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (EIIB). Armed with a search warrant, on September 25 1998 the EIIB went to the premises of one Jackson Ong where the accused, supposedly the spouse or common law wife of Jackson Ong, was found. The accused initially refused the EIIB entry but they were eventually able to search the premises and found several boxes containing boxes of fake Marlboro cigarettes.

There is new practice in Norway related to SPCs on combination products following recent Court of Justice decisions in Medeva and Georgetown University.

A recent High Court decision, Interpharma (NZ) Limited v Commissioner of Patents, considered the question of whether a patent amendment after acceptance is open to judicial review.

Nowadays it is common for companies to advertise their products through social media networks. These kinds of promotions often employ the names of celebrities and public figures, and this presents a challenge for copyright, in particular the Mexican reserva right. The names of celebrities are most commonly used by linking their names to a website. Hyperlinks are the most essential quality of the internet, and the most common medium to share self-created or a third party's content with a broader number of internet users.

Malaysia's Patents Act 1983 provides a different set of rules and requirements for the conferment of protection upon minor inventions: utility innovations. An advantage of utility innovations in contrast with regular patents is that they have a lower threshold for patentability.

It seems the circulation of counterfeit and pirated products still cannot be stopped by law enforcement in Indonesia. Although the government is conducting aggressive raids searching for products that violate IP rights, the illegal practice is still commonplace in several shopping malls and online. This not only affects the IP owner – the state also loses financially from the circulation of counterfeit and pirated products.

Indian law allows a holder of IP rights, including patents, to prevent the import of infringing products through the mechanism established under the Intellectual Property Rights (Imported goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007, notified under the Customs Act, 1962. As per the Rules, clearance of goods suspected to infringe is suspended and once it is determined that the goods are infringing, they are confiscated, then seized and eventually destroyed or disposed of otherwise than in the normal course of trade.

In Germany, a granted preliminary injunction may be revoked if a change in circumstances occurs after grant. In a recent decision the District Court in Düsseldorf decided on a case where a request for revocation of a preliminary injunction was filed based on the fact that the utility model (the subject of the injunction) had been partially cancelled by the German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO).

In a recent case, the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission considered a complaint filed by the owner of the Community trade mark Wind for services in class 38, which includes telecommunications, against the owner of the Greek domain name www.wind.gr.