Latest Eipr

The Apr 2005 lawsuit of Sweet & Maxwell's monthly European Intellectual Property Review has directly been published. This lawsuit leads alongside an persuasion past times Colin Davies on access past times developing countries to patented medicines inward the post-Glaxo v Dowelhurst as well as Doha era. There's besides a lengthy review of Community merchandise compass decisions from Alicante as well as Grand Duchy of Luxembourg during 2004 from Arnaud Folliard-Monguiral (OHIM IP Litigation Unit) as well as David Rogers (European Commission).

Rock Of Ages Meets The Data Society

After beingness pursued past times the Commission as well as hence savaged past times the European Court of Justice for failing to implement the Directive on Copyright as well as the Information Society in Gibraltar, Her Majesty's Britannic Government has done the honourable thing. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 slice of suitably subordinate legislation, the Copyright (Gibraltar) Order 2005 (2005 No.853) was made on 22 March as well as came into forcefulness on that real same day.

Worried close the historic menstruum of InfoTec, a Barbary Ape searches a colleague for hidden bugs

says, it's xx pages long as well as amount of actually exciting things close Gibraltarian copyright -- hence banking concern gibe out the novel police pull earlier you lot become aping the industrial plant of others. Merpel says "is this something to produce alongside protecting Rock music?"

Gibraltar: a citadel of Rock culture

Case C-88/04 Commission v United Kingdom here

Reader To Pay Extra Damages For Contemptuous Infringement

Subscription-only service Lawtel brings tidings of Phonographic Performance Ltd v Reader [2005] EWHC 416 (Ch), a Chancery Division determination of Mr Justice Pumfrey. After Reader admitted copyright infringement, rights direction fellowship Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) applied for an monastic tell for additional damages nether the Copyright, Designs in addition to Patents Act 1988 s.97(2). PPL had previously granted Reader a licence to play its copyright-protected recordings inwards a monastic tell inwards Brighton. After he failed to renew the licence in addition to the premises were unlicensed for 2 years, PPL obtained a courtroom monastic tell to halt him from playing copyright recordings inwards world without a licence, but Reader did then inwards breach of the order, a clear contempt of court.

On the application to commit Reader for contempt of court, Reader said he intended both to pay the unpaid licence fees in addition to to conduct maintain a licence for the future. PPL claimed it had incurred substantial expense, both inwards seeking to receive Reader to conduct maintain a licence in addition to inwards policing his activities: those additional costs, PPL argued, could last recovered equally additional damages nether s.97. After all, it was Reader's deliberate refusal to obtain a licence that caused PPL to incur the expenditure, all of which was a foreseeable upshot of Reader's playing copyright recordings inwards world without a licence.

PPL: the claimant in addition to its manifesto

Pumfrey J granted the application. He held equally follows:

* The courtroom had mightiness accolade damages where a breach of an project to the courtroom or an injunction was likewise a breach of contract;

* An infringement of copyright committed inwards breach of an injunction to forbid it could back upwardly an accolade of additional damages (citing Sony Computer Entertainment v Owen [2002] EWHC 45 (Ch) -- for a authorities notation click here and scroll down;

* Where the underlying infringement was established to the touchstone required to back upwardly an application to commit for breach of an injunction, at that topographic point was no arguable defense to a claim for copyright infringement. Reader's infringements were committed inwards breach of a courtroom order, which made it appropriate to monastic tell either (i) an enquiry equally to additional damages or (ii) a summary accolade of additional damages to the copyright owner;

* The expenditure inwards investigating Reader's unlawful activities was of a variety which could last recovered equally damages for infringement;

* An accolade of statutory additional damages could include a punitive element, provided that the occupation of the accolade was non exclusively to punish the accused (citing Nottinghamshire Healthcare National Health Service Trust v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2002] EWHC 409 (Ch));

* This was a illustration of deliberate in addition to flagrant infringement. If it were appropriate to base of operations an accolade of additional damages on the contribution of the infringements to the profitability of the club, at that topographic point would last fiddling choice to an enquiry to flora that contribution. The courtroom would hence accolade additional damages, inwards add-on to the costs of the enquiry agents, an amount equal to the licence fees unpaid downward to the hearing of the application to commit.

is most impressed. There was a fourth dimension when it was close impossible to squelch additional copyright damages out of the courts, in addition to it's likewise non then long agone that the IPKat was commenting on how lightly they treated applications for committal for contempt. But when the court's respect is impugned, the injured claimant's illustration for extra damages grows stronger. Merpel says, 2 years is a long fourth dimension for an unlicensed monastic tell to acquit on without beingness stopped. Wonder what went wrong?

2005 Ecj Cases

The U.K. Patent Office has published a list of the get-go batch of references to the ECJ relating to IP made inward 2005:

-References made inward the 2 August Storck cases, regarding the registrability of Werthers toffee sweets together with their wrapping. says that this example is peculiarly interesting because inward 1 of the cases the CFI applied the postulate to proceed certainly marks costless for others to purpose to lack of distinctiveness, fifty-fifty though its to a greater extent than traditional domain is descriptiveness.
-Commission of the European Communities v the Kingdom of Spain – alleged failure of Kingdom of Spain to properly implement the populace lending together with retain rights
-Adam Opel AG v Autec AG – does a toy scale model of a existent automobile infringe the existent car-maker’s merchandise marks? Trade grade purpose rears its ugly caput 1 time again inward the referred questions…
-Siemens AG v VIPA gesellschaft für Visualisierung und Prozebautomatisierung mbH – interpretation of the Comparative Advertising Directive.

It’s yummy – simply is it a merchandise mark?

salutes the Patent Office for providing this incredibly valuable service. He has 1 tiny criticism though – it’d hold out squeamish to come across the countries that accept made the references recorded. too advises his readers to read the information close how the Patent Office deals amongst ECJ references from other Member States/appeals from CFI decision.

Sweet shapes here
Why Werthers are meliorate than gender activity (and other toffee trivia) here
Werthers for grown-ups here

Gsm Damage Upset Cry Upwards Networks

reports that the GSM Association, which represents to a greater extent than than a billion Galvanic cell users worldwide, is unhappy at the Digital Rights Management damage proposed yesteryear the MPEG LA inwards January, which postulate carriers to pay i per cent of transactions in addition to US$1 per handset dorsum to the DRM patent holders, which include ContentGuard, Intertrust, Matsushita, Philips in addition to Sony. The proposals are described every bit "unworkable" in addition to the fearfulness is that users volition motility away from the DRM standard, adopting cheaper simply incompatible music download schemes.

doubts that the proposed damage are unworkable: the existent final result is whether they are desirable. If marketplace forces crusade mobile operators away from the proposed terms, it is upwards to the patent holders to crusade them dorsum over again yesteryear offering something better.

Music in addition to telephones: from cords to chords ...

Music downloads here and here

Ip Review Effect 10

Issue 10 of CPA's quarterly IP Review has forthwith been published. H5N1 low-cal but informative read, this 28 page outcome tackles protection of 3D shapes too designs, what independent inventors tin create to alleviate their lot too the interface betwixt IP exploitation too expert accounting practice. There are too to a greater extent than or less enjoyable historical perspectives. If y'all desire a copy, only click here.

Us Guess Doesn't Duck The Issue

The Mercury News here, here, here, here as well as here