The regulations relating to personal data conflict with the needs of the intelligence, justice and police services, and the arbitration between the two has been brought to the French Council of State.   Indeed, it is customary that these services ask telecommunications providers to keep in a generalized and indiscriminate manner the data relating … Continue reading “Debates in progress before the French Council of State”

  On February 25, 2021 the Paris court recognized the famous Rolling Stones logo as a well-known trademark.   The company that owns the intellectual property rights of the Stones had sued a company importing crests from China for trademark and copyright infringement. These badges reproduced the famous mouth adorned with the Breton flag. The … Continue reading “Two rock’n roll decisions”

  The Higher Council for Literary and Artistic Property (CSPLA) entrusted Sarah Dormont, lecturer and Pierre Sirinelli with a mission to assess the advisability of defining a legal regime specific to the “commission contract” within the French Code of Intellectual property. The desired goal is in particular to improve the remuneration of authors for the … Continue reading “The author’s remuneration in the commissioning contract”

  According to recent results published by the European Patent Office, medical technologies registered the highest number of inventions in 2020. The pharmaceutical sector (+10%) and biotechnologies (+6%) are the ones that have experienced the fastest growth. These results do not seem surprising given the health situation since 2020.   In volume, European patent applications … Continue reading “Health, the main sector for European patents”

  Like you insure your car, watching your brand or domain name is your insurance.   Watching your mark or domain name means protecting your heritage!   Watching your mark will allow you to detect potentially conflicting later applications. Conflicting because competitors can take advantage of the reputation of your mark or domain name which … Continue reading “The interest of surveillance (or) to watch is to protect”

  Signed last December by former President Trump, the Trademark Modernization Act includes provisions relating to the assessment of infringement damage and questions of the use of trademarks in commerce.   This law introduces a presumption of irreparable damage if the infringement is evidenced or likely. In addition, two new procedures have been put in … Continue reading “The Trademark Modernization Act in the United States”

  Counterfeit or contractual liability? That is the question! The Paris Court of Appeal ruled on March 19, 2021 in favor of contractual liability and set a guideline for the future.   It takes into account the event giving rise to the dispute: If the chargeable event results from an act of infringement, the holder … Continue reading “What legal basis to use in the event of non-compliance with a license agreement?”

  Since November, the European Union Office (EUIPO) has been offering a database of geographical indications recognized and protected in the European Union: GIview. Its main advantage is to provide with the status of a geographical indication abroad under bilateral treaties and conventions. Rather intuitive, the database allows you to search by country, type of … Continue reading “A new database which lists geographical indications”

  On November 26, the Bundestag adopted the ratification bill on a unified patent court (UPC). This is an important step towards the implementation of the unitary patent in the European Union. It remains to pass the stage of the Bundesrat (upper house of the German Parliament), which will have to give its approval.   … Continue reading “German Bundestag approves bill to ratify Agreement on a Unified Patent Court”

  An interesting decision of the French Supreme Court was issued on October 14th. A natural person had filed a French trademark on behalf of a company in the process of being formed and this company was not incorporated.   The plaintiff, however, brought an action for infringement on the ground of this trademark in … Continue reading “Who can act on the ground of a registered trademark in the name and on behalf of a company not yet registered?”