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A number of Greek collecting societies managing copyrights and related rights filed preliminary injunction actions against internet service providers (ISPs) in 2014 before the Civil Court of Athens. These requested the defendants to take the appropriate technological or other measures, the implementation of which will make it unfeasible – impossible for their subscribers – to visit specific named websites, the content of which infringes the creators' copyrights.

On January 20 , the General Court issued a decision in respect of a Community design registration for a heat exchanger. This heat exchanger to which the contested design was applied was presented as a part of a complex product, namely a household boiler. A direct competitor of the applicant filed a claim with OHIM to declare the design invalid, on the ground that the design as registered did not remain visible after its installation in the boiler, and therefore did not constitute a valid design in the sense of the Regulation.

In the case of Ricardo Honrado v GMA Network Films, docketed as GR No 204702, the Supreme Court of the Philippines in its decision dated January 14 2015, showed the need for clearer language in drafting licensing agreements.

As reported in our article in July 2014, the interim decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of April 25 2014 in case R 19/12 has highlighted a statutory imperfection of the patent system in Europe. More specifically, it follows from the decision that the judicial independence of the Boards of Appeal which follows from Article 23 EPC may not be reconcilable with the organisational ties of the vice president of the Boards of Appeal to the management of the EPO.

At last, the Trade Mark Act 2014 amendment, which will come into effect on April 1 2015, has introduced new kinds of trade marks such as colour marks and sound marks. In the United States, Christian Louboutin had filed a lawsuit against Yves Saint Laurent for an infringement of Louboutin's trade mark, consisting of a red, lacquered outsole on a high fashion woman's shoe. We may expect similar lawsuits in Japan in the near future.

On January 9 2015, the Dutch first instance patent court found that a Dutch company had "offered" a product because a product brochure was accessible from its English language website. As a result, the company was found to have violated a preliminary injunction on offering the product for use in an infringing process.

Analysis of Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions using the Docket Navigator database reveals the top petitioners, patent owners, law firms and lawyers during 2014

The eligibility criteria for obtaining supplementary protection certificates has been the subject of much debate since the SPC Regulation was introduced in 1992. Laura Reynolds finds some guidance in the latest rulings from the CJEU

The CJEU gave 14 trade mark judgments last year, with cases including the Apple Store, the Tripp-Trapp chair and Golden Balls. Alice Stagg identifies some trends from the decisions

Many practitioners outside Germany have concerns about bifurcation. Adam Cooke considers how it will work in practice in the UPC