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Chaudhry's  Handbook of Research on Counterfeiting and Illicit Trade  is a unique Handbook that provides multiple perspectives on the growth of illicit trade, particularly focusing on counterfeits and internet piracy. This book is kindly reviewed by  Dr Karen Walsh  who is a Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law (Education and Research) at the University of Exeter. - Counterfeiting and illicit trade are well-known issues when it comes to the protection of intellectual property rights. However, despite the prolonged prevalence of counterfeit goods and the number of mechanisms that have been introduced to battle this problem, the problem continues to grow and adapt. Peggy E. Chaudhry�s Handbook of Research on Counterfeiting and Illicit Trade provides an extensive examination of this topic. This edited collection discusses the various reasons for and means of counterfeiting and illicit trade and how these issues have been addressed thus far. It also proposes a number of...

Kat friend Carlos Castrillo explains for Kat readers the operative measures that are being put into place for various IP matters in Argentina following the Emergency Decree that was made public on 11 January 2018 and which promise a new era in IP practice. The Emergency Decree was aimed at simplifying numerous administrative procedures before the National Administration, including IP, and on June 26, 2018, the changes were enacted. The new law contains various amendments that will be popular amongst IP owners, the most notable of which are as follows: Trademarks Oppositions must be filed electronically. Until now, an application could be filed either manually or electronically via the IP Office webpage. There is a reduction, from twelve to three months, in the cooling-off period in which to negotiate the withdrawal of an opposition. If no withdrawal occurs, the IP Office will take a decision and there will be no mandatory mediation or court procedure (together with the costs and ti...

Would you confuse a LDNR with a LNDR?* A recent case from the IP Enterprise Court has the answer - Frank Industries PTY Ltd v Nike Retail BV [2018] EWHC 1893 (Ch) Frank Industries owns a UK and an EU mark for LNDR in relation to �clothing� including �sportswear�. In early January, sportswear giant Nike started a new London focused campaign which used the sign LDNR in various ways including in a popular YouTube video. Frank was unimpressed and after it became clear that the matter would not be resolved in correspondence, it started proceedings for trade mark infringement and passing off in the IP Enterprise Court (an increasingly popular English court for all your IP dispute needs - although larger disputes tend to go through the more regular High Court multi track, within this the Shorter Trials Scheme which is partly modelled on IPEC procedure has also proven popular). Frank applied for and was granted an interim injunction which survived an appeal (reported by the IPKat here )...

As announced earlier today, this morning Advocate General (AG) Wathelet issued his Opinion   [not yet available in English]   in Levola Hengelo , C-310/17 . He advised the Court of Justice of the European Union to rule that the taste of a cheese - Dutch spreadable cheese  Heks�nkaas (for which a patent was registered in 2012 and a word trade mark is registered)  -  is not eligible for copyright protection as a 'work' under the InfoSoc Directive . While the outcome of the Opinion may be sensible, its content raises a number of issues and, potentially, problems. But, first, let's see how the AG reasoned. Concept of 'work' At the outset, the AG tackled what is to be intended as 'work' under the InfoSoc Directive, this being a notion that this piece of EU legislation does not define.  Despite this, 'work' should be regarded as an autonomous concept of EU law that mandates uniform application throughout the EU. It follows that Member States may not gra...

Heks'nkaas (L) and competing and allegedly infringing product W itte WievenKaas (R) Finally: the time has (almost) come to know the answer to one of the most pressing IP questions: is  there, or not, copyright in the taste of a spreadable Dutch cheese known as Heks'nkaas? This morning Advocate General (AG) Wathelet issued his Opinion [not yet available on the Curia website] , in which he advised the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to rule that no copyright protection could vest in the taste of a cheese. Despite its seemingly cheesy subject-matter, this case is potentially a very important one, as I discussed more at length  here and here .  Yes, the referral in Levola Hengelo , C-310/17 [the questions are available here ] is asking the CJEU to clarify whether EU law precludes the taste of a food product � as its author's own intellectual creation � being granted copyright protection. However, the case goes well beyond the realm of cheese. In fact, the ...

Turkey's artistic celebration of Kats (more here ) The IPKat has recently received some news from Turkey regarding the functioning of its Patent and Trademark Office. Katfriend �zlem F�tman (Ofo Ventura) reports. Here�s what �zlem writes: �We would like to share with IPKat readers the news that the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TPTO) has set up a company called � Turkish IP Valuation Engineering and Consultancy Services Corporation � (T�rk Sinai M�lkiyet Degerleme M�hendislik ve Danismanlik Hizmetleri AS (T�RKSMD). The aim underlying incorporation of this company may be summarized briefly as "ensuring commercialization of the products emerging in the fields of patent, trademark, geographical indications registrations". The company is an affiliate of the TPTO, with the objective of valuating the IP assets of real and legal persons, and ensuring commercialization of their works resulting from R&D or that are patented. The Ankara-based company which is to conduct...

Last year the High Court of England and Wales (Arnold J) in FAPL v BT [2017] EWHC 480 Ch concluded that it had jurisdiction under section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act to order to block access to streaming services (rather than the more tradition case of websites) giving unauthorised access to protected content. In particular, unlawful streams services providing access to live Premier League football matches could be temporarily blocked by means of a so-called �live blocking order� until the end of the 2016/17 season. Still in 2017 (in July) the High Court issued a similar order ( [2017] EWHC 1877 (Ch) (25 July 2017) , again in favour of the Football Association Premier League, for the season that would end in May 2018. That order allowed the applicant to seek an extension of the order's operation (para 9). Further to such an application, on 18 July last the High Court granted the extension of the 2017 order to the 2018/19 Premier League season: [2018] EWHC 1828...

The question of whether a partial opposition is possible seems to differ across jurisdictions. Kat friend Lim Tianjun provides an illustrative account of how the issue was recently considered under Singapore law. �Can the registration of a trade mark be opposed for only some of the goods or services within the same class? The issue of whether the Singapore Trade Marks Act (the �Act�) permits such partial opposition was recently considered by the Intellectual property Office of Singapore (�IPOS�) in Tencent Holdings Limited v Monster Energy Company 2018 [SGIPOS] 9 . While not strictly required for the disposal of the opposition, the Registrar considered the parties� submissions and opined that partial oppositions are not permitted under Sections 8(2) and 8(4) of the Act. Decision This case concerns Monster Castle in stylized form in Classes 9, 41, and 42 (the �Mark�). The Opponent relied on numerous earlier trade mark registrations, although it identified a number of registered trad...

There is a new development in the judicial saga featuring the founder of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, against the US government. New Zealand Katfriend Ken Mo on  ( AJ Park )   explains it for Kat readers. �As many readers will know, the US Government has, since 2012, been seeking the extradition from New Zealand of Kim Dotcom, based on charges of criminal copyright infringement in the US. Megaupload purported to simply provide file storage on its website. In reality, Dotcom�s website hosted or stored infringing digital copies of movies � often ripped from DVDs. Each uploader would receive a link which they could share via third party websites. The viewing or downloading of movies was free for the first 72 minutes and thereafter Megaupload levied charges through a subscription service. The website also generated revenues by hosting advertisements. The movie companies had persuaded the US Government that Megaupload�s business operation constituted a criminal offence under the DMCA, b...

A bottle of Glen Buchenbach As previously reported on this blog, the CJEU had to decide on a case of interest to Whisky- and IP-connoisseurs alike. The Scotch Whisky Association from Scotland (TSWA) took offence at the name of a Whisky that is produced by the Waldhorn distillery in Ber glen , situated in the Buchenbach valley in Swabia (Baden-W�rttemberg, Germany). The Whisky in question is called �Glen Buchenbach�.   TSWA claimed that use of the term �Glen� infringes the registered geographical indication �Scotch Whisky� and asserted a breach of Art. 16 (a) - (c) of the Regulation No 110/2008 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks. The interesting detail in this case is that �Glen Buchenbach� does not use any part of the registered geographical indication �Scotch Whisky�, but �Glen� certainly makes you think of Scotland. But does it make you think of Scottish Whisky? The District Court of Hamburg, ...