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In recent ex-parte appeal proceedings (decision 14 W (pat) 10/16 of January 23 2018), the German Federal Patent Court (GFPC) contributed to the interpretation of Article 3(a) of Regulation (EC) No 469/2009 (the Regulation).

In recent years, the protection system for trade mark rights has become more and more mature in China. Non-trade mark rights have also caught the attention of IP practitioners and even outsiders. After all, who can overlook the news that Disney has profited more from merchandise related to Frozen than publishing the movie and DVD? Even people who barely know anything about basketball or IP must have heard that the NBA superstar Michael Jordan has finally stopped a Chinese company from using his surname in Chinese as a trade mark in the Supreme Court. When posting pictures on WeChat's Moments has become a habit for thousands of Chinese people, it is astonishing to think that posting a picture of the night view of the Eiffel Tower could be an act of infringement.

The Thai Alcohol Control Act (ACA) B.E. 2551(2008) sets the legal framework for restrictions on alcoholic beverages in Thailand, as well as establishing governmental bodies to oversee such restrictions, i.e. the National Alcohol Beverage Policy Committee and the Alcohol Beverage Control Committee.

In 2008, a legislator's wig was ripped off at the Control Yuan of Taiwan, an incident which was recorded by photography by a number of reporters at the scene. As a newspaper company used a photograph taken by an on-the-spot reporter hired by another party without obtaining prior consent, the company was sued for violation of copyright law.

One of the two IP courts of Istanbul rejected a crucial precautionary injunction (PI) demand of a patent owner on the ground that the demand requires a full trial due to the pending invalidation action against the relevant patent.

Cialis® is a pharmaceutical product for the treatment of erectile dysfunction developed by Lilly ICOS, a joint venture of ICOS Corporation and Eli Lilly and Company. The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) of Cialis®, tadalafil, inhibits the PDE5 enzyme, just like sildenafil in the better-known Viagra®.

The recent Kenyan High Court decision of Fibrelink Limited v Star Television Productions Limited is important. This is because it confirms that it is possible to oppose a trade mark application in Kenya on the basis of a common law or unregistered mark. The basis for such an opposition will be Section 14 of the Kenyan Trade Marks Act, which reads as follows: “No person shall register as a trade mark or part of a trade mark any matter the use of which would, by reason of its being likely to deceive or cause confusion or otherwise, be disentitled to protection in a court of justice, or would be contrary to law or morality, or any scandalous design.”

A common dilemma for inventors and applicants before the European Patent Office is whether an invention is sufficiently mature for a patent application to be filed. Although a proof-of-concept is often established at the date of filing, an inventor does not always have the opportunity to investigate every aspect of their invention before a patent is filed.

A new Code of Conduct for Trans-Tasman Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys (the code) came into effect on February 23 2018 to address two issues:

The holder of word mark JOY, Jean Patou Worldwide, filed an opposition against the EU registration of the mark HISPANITAS – Joy is a choice. The Opposition Division upheld this opposition and rejected the application for registration for goods in class 3 on the ground that there was a likelihood of confusion within the meaning of Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation No 207/2009.