Wanhuida Intellectual Property | China | 5 Jun 2023
The IP Court of the Supreme People's Court of China recently released its 2022 annual report. The publication provides a holistic overview of the IP Court's operation since its inception in 2019, presenting key statistics concerning the cases handled by the IP Court in 2022, as well as during the four-year period from 2019 to 2022. This article sets out the key findings gleaned from the report.
Westerberg & Partners Advokatbyrå AB | European Union | 24 Apr 2023
The General Court recently delivered a ruling on what evidence is admissible in invalidity actions against registered Community designs (RCDs). The Court's examination exemplifies how to prove that a design is not solely dictated by technical functions and, hence, how to avoid invalidation of an RCD. The appeal to the Court was based on the ground that the previous instances had dismissed......
Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP | European Union, United Kingdom | 5 Apr 2023
Registered designs are often overlooked by businesses assessing how best to protect their Intellectual Property (IP). This is in part due to the…
Burges Salmon LLP | United Kingdom | 17 Feb 2023
Aldi’s ‘Infusionist’ gin liqueur bottles have been found to infringe M&S’s registered design rights in light-up bottles used for its own range of…
Lee and Li Attorneys at Law | Taiwan | 23 Jan 2023
In a recent design patent infringement case involving electric bicycle and motorcycle designs, the opinions of the first-instance court, the second-instance court and the Supreme Court showed that the court's opinion on which features are considered to be "salient" has a decisive impact on the result of the judgment. This case shows that significant work remains to be done in order to......
Smart & Biggar | Canada | 2 Jan 2023
🕑 4 minutes The Federal Court recently issued a rare decision concerning industrial design infringement. The Court showed a willingness to uphold the validity of an industrial design registration despite inconsistencies in the drawings contained therein, reaffirmed that infringement and validity are to be assessed from the perspective of the informed consumer, and reinforced the strength of......
Lee and Li Attorneys at Law | Taiwan | 19 Dec 2022
🕑 3 minutes The rising interest in technologies relating to the metaverse has provoked discussion over how to protect associated inventions and designs through patents. In June 2022, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) published an article entitled "Relationship between Metaverse and Design Patents", which may serve as a reference for the metaverse industry to improve patent......
Bristows | European Union, United Kingdom | 8 Dec 2022
Does the WaterRower qualify as a "work of artistic craftsmanship"? This article first appeared in the Intellectual Property Forum journal, published…
Bryn Aarflot AS | Norway | 7 Nov 2022
🕑 7 minutes In June 2022, the Borgarting Court of Appeal in Oslo concluded that Starco Norge AS, when marketing and selling its Angel wheel rims, had not infringed Audi AG's rims, protected with registered designs and designed for the Audi RS6 Avant car. This judgment raises the question of how strict a line the Norwegian courts can adopt before design rights become illusory. While many had......
Westerberg & Partners Advokatbyrå AB | Sweden | 10 Oct 2022
🕑 5 minutesIn Sweden, there is a long-standing tradition for the courts to let the prior art and functional elements of a design severely limit the scope of protection of works of applied art and to generally only recognise a very narrow scope of protection for such works. In a recent case from the Patent and Market Court of Appeal, these questions were front and centre in a copyright......