IP-NEWS

EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeals confirms prohibition of double patenting

Most recently, the EPO published the written decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeals in the case G4/19 in which the Enlarged Board dismissed any doubts about the applicability of Art. 125 EPC on the prohibition of double patenting. The appeal leading to the Enlarged Board's decision was filed against the decision of th...mehr

NFT the new hype – what to watch out for from an intellectual property perspective

Summary The abbreviation NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. By definition, it is a type of certificate of authenticity for a digital work. The certificate of authenticity is stored decentrally on one or more blockchains. This certification ensures that the digital work, which can be reproduced at will, becomes an origina...mehr

Moon Boot – EU General Court upholds finding of partial invalidity of the Moon Boot 3D mark

Last week, the European General Court (EGC) answered this question in the affirmative in its decision in T-483/20 Tecnica Group, concerning trade mark protection of the shape of an icon of Italian fashion design and history: the Moon Boots. Background...mehr

Provisional application of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court begins

The Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court concerning provisional application (PVA) will enter into force on January 19, 2022, after Austria has deposited its instrument of ratification on January 18, 2022. The final preparations for the Unified Patent Court can now be initiated. With the start of provisiona...mehr

Calculation of the claim for damages in the case of use of a trademark solely in advertising possible within the scope of the license analogy

Judgment of 22.09.2021 - I ZR 20/21 Guiding principles of the BGH: (1) If a sign is used in advertising alone in a way that infringes trademark rights, this does not exclude from the outset that the claim for damages can be calculated on the basis of a...mehr

An artificial intelligence system cannot be the inventor of a patent

Yesterday, the Legal Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) announced its eagerly awaited decision on appeals J8/20 and J9/20. It confirmed the view of the EPO that patent applications should be refused in which an artificial intelligence system was designated as inventor. The Board of Appeal also rejected the auxiliary reques...mehr

G 1/21 – Oral proceedings as videoconference without consent of the parties?

In its referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal of 12 March 12 2021, the Technical Board of Appeal in case T 1807/15 had raised the question whether the conduct of oral proceedings in the form of a videoconference is compatible with the right to oral proceedings as enshrined in Article 116(1) EPC if not all of the parties to the proceedings have given their consent to the...mehr

International Convention on the Enforcement of Mediation Results

The Singapore Convention, formally the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, entered into force on September 12, 2020. It offers parties the opportunity to enforce international agreements reached through mediation to settle disputes across borders. Up to now, the parties involved were dependent on voluntary compliance w...mehr

Bundestag paves way for the Unified European Patent Court

On Thursday, November 26, 2020, the Bundestag approved the Federal Government's draft law on the Convention of February 19, 2013 on a Unified Patent Court. The Convention has now been ratified by 16 signatory states including France and the United Kingdom. Only ratification by the Federal Republic of Germany was still re...mehr

BGH: Interest in legal protection regarding dependent claims and further independent claims in a patent nullity action

Decision X ZR 96/18 "Data Packet Conversion” In the recently published decision in the patent nullity action "Data Package Conversion", announced on August 11, 2020, the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) discussed the question, whether a nullity action is admissible, if it is directed to an independen...mehr