Intellectual Property updates
Argentina
Contributed by Obligado & CiaDesignations, trade names and the Civil and Commercial Code
- Argentina
- 25 February 2019
The terms 'corporate name', 'trade name' and 'designation' are frequently used without distinction in commerce and business. However, these expressions must be clearly distinguished. While corporate names distinguish corporations and their use and protection are based on the Companies Law, designations are protected under the Law on Trademarks.
Amendments to law on industrial models and designs
- Argentina
- 03 December 2018
The Argentine Executive Power recently issued Decree 27/2018, which has introduced significant and substantial amendments to the Law on Trademarks, the Law on Patents and the Industrial Model and Design Decree 6,673/63. The most important amendments include a simpler registration process, an expansion of the facts that do not destroy novelty and adjustments to renewal and grace periods.
Regulation of new trademark opposition system
- Argentina
- 08 October 2018
The government recently issued a decree which introduced substantial changes to the trademark opposition system, empowering the National Institute of Industrial Property to settle disputes concerning oppositions that parties cannot resolve through negotiation. The changes include the establishment of a three-month term to obtain oppositions and a 40-day evidence period.
Health Authority and use of trademarks on pharmaceuticals
- Argentina
- 06 August 2018
The Health Authority examines all relevant information to decide whether to authorise a product's introduction to the market, including its trademark or product name. In this regard, the Health Authority considers potential health risks that could occur in the event of confusion and error as regards trademarks or product names and how such confusion could affect physicians, pharmacists and consumers.
New trademark opposition system
- Argentina
- 14 May 2018
Decree 27/2018 was recently issued with the aim of further reducing and simplifying the regulations of different regimes in order to improve commerce and industry. In the IP sphere, the decree introduced important and substantial changes to the trademark opposition system. As a result, the administrative authority will be empowered to settle disputes concerning oppositions that cannot be resolved between the parties by means of negotiation.
Austria
Contributed by Graf & Pitkowitz Rechtsanwalte GmbHFlashlight decision illuminates compensation guidelines for unlawful use of IP rights
- Austria
- 22 April 2019
The Supreme Court recently had to decide whether the infringer of a registered Community design had to hand over the entire net profit or just a share of profit earned due to its use of an infringed design. The decision has great practical importance, as it gives IP rights holders clear guidelines regarding what to expect when claiming compensation for an unlawful use of their rights.
Dispenser for free newspapers – work of art?
- Austria
- 17 December 2018
The Supreme Court recently set out clear principles regarding the protection of a work of visual art under the Copyright Act where technical functions played a role. In its decision, the court explained that the assessment as to whether a (visual) piece of work is actually protected by copyright must be assessed by the court as a legal issue only. There is no room to consider the opinion of experts or any other third parties.
Exhaustion of trademark rights and burden of proof
- Austria
- 03 September 2018
The Supreme Court recently clarified the circumstances in which the burden of proof regarding the exhaustion of trademark rights shifts from the defendant to the trademark owner. It made clear that unless the defendant can prove a concrete risk of partitioning markets, it is up to the defendant to prove that the trademark rights relied on by the plaintiff are exhausted. This should be borne in mind when raising this defence.
Selective distribution systems and exhaustion of trademark rights
- Austria
- 04 June 2018
The Supreme Court recently affirmed once more that the exemptions to the principle of exhaustion of trademark rights must be construed narrowly. In its decision, the court made clear that once trademark rights are exhausted, resellers may use not only word marks, but also figurative marks without any limitations when advertising or reselling original products.
Marketability is key: if a work can be separated it is not a joint work
- Austria
- 08 January 2018
In a welcome development of Austrian copyright law, the Supreme Court recently ruled that a combination of works by two artists does not constitute a joint work if it can be separated, even if the works involved were created for the sole purpose of being combined as a jointly planned contribution. Strong indicators of whether parts of a work are separable are the individual marketability and possible depreciation of the separated parts.
Belgium
Contributed by ALTIUSDesperate times call for ex parte interim measures in patent disputes
- Belgium
- 18 March 2019
Preliminary injunctions are rarely granted on an ex parte basis in Belgium and adversarial debates are considered a cornerstone of legal proceedings which can be deviated from only in cases of absolute necessity. However, ex parte interim measures have been granted in at least four patent disputes in Belgium in recent years, which helps to shed light on the circumstances under which patentees can consider them to be a measure of last resort to stop a threat of infringement.
Express recognition and clarification of trade secret protection in Belgium
- Belgium
- 11 February 2019
On 30 July 2018 the Belgian legislature transposed the EU Trade Secrets Directive into domestic law via the Trade Secret Law. The Trade Secret Law is welcomed, as no general regulatory framework regarding trade secrets previously existed in Belgium. It remains to be seen how the law will be used and applied in practice, but it is an essential means in effectively appropriating, protecting and exploiting innovation by providing trade secret holders with the tools to protect valid trade secrets.
Trademarks versus artistic freedom of expression: milestone referral for preliminary ruling
- Belgium
- 09 July 2018
In a high-profile trademark infringement case involving Moët Hennessey Champagne Services and a Belgian painter, the courts were asked to strike a balance between the right to property, including intellectual property, and artistic freedom of expression. The decision is expected to set an important precedent on how to strike a fair balance between freedom of speech and the protection of trademarks when these two concepts conflict.
Parallel import of medicinal products
- Belgium
- 06 November 2017
Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) recently sued PI Pharma before the Brussels Commercial Court for the parallel import and repackaging of one of MSD's medicinal products. MSD based its claim on the alleged violation of the first, third and fourth Bristol-Myers Squibb conditions. Although this is not the first time that the Brussels Commercial Court has been involved in a dispute over the parallel importation of medicinal products, the judgment further refines the scope of certain Bristol-Myers Squibb conditions.
Court issues decision on parallel importation of debranded Mitsubishi forklift trucks
- Belgium
- 10 April 2017
In a recent judgment, the Brussels Court of Appeal ordered two parallel traders to pay provisional compensation of €3 million to the Mitsubishi Corporation for illegally importing hundreds of Mitsubishi forklift trucks which had been on the Asian market into the European Economic Area via parallel trade routes. The court held that the parallel traders had failed to provide conclusive evidence that Mitsubishi, the proprietor of the Benelux and EU trademarks, had consented to the parallel trade.
Canada
Contributed by Smart & Biggar/FetherstonhaughFederal Court finds invalidity allegations relating to patent for metformin formulations unjustified
- Canada
- 22 April 2019
Valeant Canada's application for an order prohibiting the minister of health from issuing a notice of compliance to Generic Partners for its generic version of Valeant's Glumetza, a metformin formulation, was recently granted. With respect to anticipation and double patenting, the court found that the prior art document on which Generic Partners had relied for both allegations did not disclose all three of the size, shape and time elements of the claimed formulations.
Save money: renew all trademark registrations now
- Canada
- 15 April 2019
The new trademark law will take effect on 17 June 2019. Among the changes is a new fee-per-class structure, under which the government renewal fee will be C$400 for the first class and C$125 for each additional class. Brand owners can potentially realise huge savings if they take steps to renew all of their existing Canadian trademark registrations before the new law takes effect.
Apotex seeks leave from Supreme Court of Canada in cefaclor damages action
- Canada
- 15 April 2019
The Federal Court of Appeal recently allowed in part Apotex's appeal of a decision awarding Eli Lilly more than C$100 million for Apotex's infringement of eight process patents relating to the antibiotic cefaclor. The court rejected Apotex's argument that a non-infringing alternative would have been available to Apotex during the relevant period. The case was remitted to the Federal Court for reconsideration on the issue of prejudgment interest; Apotex has applied to the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal.
Save money: file your multi-class applications now
- Canada
- 25 March 2019
Canadian trademark law will be overhauled on 17 June 2019, with many significant changes – both procedural and substantive – coming into effect. This article discusses the important strategies to consider before these changes take effect, including tips that could save time and money now and in future.
Orders of prohibition relating to polymorphic form patent for Pristiq upheld on appeal
- Canada
- 18 March 2019
In a pair of decisions, the Federal Court granted orders prohibiting Apotex and Teva from marketing their generic o-desmethyl-venlafaxine succinate products until the expiration of Patent 2,436,668. Both Apotex and Teva appealed the decisions, claiming – among other things – that the application judge had misapplied the test for obviousness and erred in considering several aspects of the inventors' course of conduct. However, the Federal Court of Appeal recently dismissed both parties' appeals.
Cayman Islands
New Cayman Islands IP regime
- Cayman Islands
- 11 September 2017
The Trademarks Law 2016, the Patents and Trademarks (Amendment) Law 2016 and the Design Rights Registration Law 2016 recently came into force, introducing a new IP regime in the Cayman Islands. The legislation establishes a standalone trademark registration system, prohibits the assertion of patent infringement in bad faith and allows existing UK and EU-registered design rights to be extended to the Cayman Islands, among other things.
