The first week of the new year on The IPKat has, as always, been packed with news from the IP world. Here is a recap of what we have covered:

Katcall

A Kat trying to get out of bed and catch up
with IP news after the Holidays…
Time is ticking for GuestKat [apply here] and InternKat [apply here] applications! Be sure to submit your application by Monday, 20 January (midnight GMT) if you want to join the Kats! For further information, see Merpel’s announcement.

Trade Marks

Eleonora Rosati reviewed a recent decision by the Board of Appeal (BoA) of the EUIPO regarding the eligibility of Tetra Laval’s liquid container for trade mark protection. BoA was asked to decide whether the container’s shape served a technical function, thereby preventing it from being protected as a trade mark under Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of the EU Trade Mark Regulation. Additionally, the BoA considered whether the application to register the shape of this patented invention was made in bad faith. Both points were answered in the negative.

Former GuestKat Nedim Malovic (ASSA ABLOY) discussed a decision by the EUIPO Cancellation Division on the invalidity of a trade mark featuring a fictional character’s name from Emily in Paris, Pierre Cadault. By invalidating the “Pierre Cadault” mark, the EUIPO emphasised that unfairly exploiting the name of a fictional character may not align with acceptable commercial practices and could even amount to bad faith.

Marcel Pemsel commented on a recent EU General Court decision regarding the distinctiveness assessment of a trade mark for virtual products. The Court’s judgment made it clear that the distinctiveness of trade marks covering virtual goods and services should be assessed in the same manner as those covering tangible products.

Copyright

This Kat began exploring the European Copyright Society’s Opinion in Pelham II. In Part 1, this Kat delved into the four options outlined by the Opinion regarding how the Court of Justice of the EU might approach pastiche vis-à-vis parody. The Opinion also identified key features that pastiche works should demonstrate – stay tuned for Part 2 for further insights on these.

Verónica Rodríguez Arguijo reported on the 34th International Publishers Congress, held in Mexico from 3 to 6 December 2024. The copyright sessions of the event included discussions on the impact of AI technology on human creativity, the enforceability of EU AI Act and the text and data mining exceptions, the Mexican and Colombian proposals to regulate AI, the US Copyright Office’s report on digital replicas, and the role of exceptions and limitations more generally.

IP Events and News

Jocelyn Bosse notified IPKat readers of several upcoming events and news. She provided an update on Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) v Dr Craig Steven Wright, regarding Craig Wright’s authorship battle over the Bitcoin White Paper. She also informed patent enthusiasts about Cohausz & Florack’s two webinars on the case law of the European Patent Office and reminded readers about the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (CIPIL) at the University of Cambridge’s Annual IP Lecture, to be delivered by Robert P. Merges on 18 March. In addition, she shared the bittersweet news of the farewell of three GuestKats. For further details, do not forget to check out our latest Wednesday Whimsies post.

Technical Issues

Merpel McKitten reported a technical issue concerning posts by The IPKat’s co-founders, Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Fhima, published between 2003 and 2006. To learn more about what happened and the practical solution devised by Merpel and our TechieKat, check out what Merpel has written.


Image courtesy: Aylin Atilla