Posts Tagged ‘Copyright Designs and Patents Act’

Nominet appeal panel polishes off Furniture Village’s complaint

Monday, January 9th, 2012

Furnitureland went into administration in 2005. Its trade marks and the goodwill associated with them were sold to Furniture Village. In 2009, furnitureland.co.uk ltd was incorporated and obtained the domain furnitureland.co.uk.

Furniture Village brought a Nominet complaint about furnitureland.co.uk. The respondent claimed that, although he knew about Furnitureland, he thought they had stopped trading, and so his registration of the domain name was in good faith.

Both the first instance Expert and Appeal Panel agreed, so the respondent gets to keep the domain furnitureland.co.uk, which it is using as a click through website.

The case shows that the Nominet DRS is not suitable unless the complainant can clearly show the registrant knew of the complainant’s rights.

Faced with similar facts, brand owners should consider a passing off or trade mark action, which may have a better chance of succeeding.

It is also worth noting that the panel maintained the DRS’s reputation for speed by refusing to stay the appeal because of a pending trade mark revocation.

Posted by Giles Parsons, who specialises in intellectual property agreements and disputes relating to patents, copyright, trade marks, designs, as well as domain name disputes and reputation management.

Giles Parsons

Giles Parsons
0121 237 4557
gparsons@brownejacobson.com

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Apple victory over HTC in smartphone patent battle

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

After a lengthy legal dispute, the International Trade Commission (a US trade panel that investigates patent infringement involving imported goods) has ruled that HTC phones infringe one Apple patent.

HTC will by 19 April 2012 remove from all their devices the infringing feature, which enables the user to convert embedded data (such as a phone number) into a hyperlink.

The ITC embarked on their initial investigation in April 2010 after Apple complained that HTC infringed ten patents, which could have led to a ban of all HTC devices in the US market. Apple later dropped six patents and an ITC judge ruled that HTC had infringed two of the remaining four patents. This overdue final ITC decision, which follows a request for a review of their previous ruling from both companies, has been welcomed by the Taiwanese mobile phone-maker.

This result will be of interest to those following the patent disputes that Apple are embroiled in relating to Android technology, most notably with South Korean rival Samsung.

Laura Mackenzie

Laura Mackenzie
0121 237 3959
lmackenzie@brownejacobson.com

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Advocate General supports team Yahoo in fight over football fixture lists

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Today, Advocate General Mengozzi delivered his opinion to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on some “short” and “simple” questions referred to the CJEU by the English Court of Appeal in the case of Football Dataco Ltd and Ors v Yahoo! UK Ltd.

The Opinion relates to the scope of copyright protection for databases. The Opinion states that a database, including the likes of football fixture lists and TV listings, can only be protected by copyright if it is an original intellectual creation of its author. Any creative effort in determining the elements of the database is a data creation activity and so does not count.

AG Mengozzi’s Opinion, if followed by the CJEU, will be a blow to the creators of sporting fixture lists and similar databases. No matter how much creative effort goes into the difficult task of creating a set of sporting fixtures, copyright in the database will only subsist if the presentation of the database is also in some way creative.

Posted by Mark Daniels, who specialises in intellectual property dispute resolution involving infringement and validity of patents, trade marks, designs and copyright, as well as reputation management and domain name disputes.

Mark Daniels

Mark Daniels
0121 237 3993
mdaniels@brownejacobson.com

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Counterfeit products flood UK market warns UK Border Agency

Friday, December 9th, 2011

The Government’s UK Border Agency has warned shoppers of a flood of counterfeit products coming into the UK in time for the festive season.
Counterfeit products such as toys, electronics and beauty products all pose a potential health risk due to the use of banned chemicals or unsafe electronics.

For the companies whose products are being counterfeited it poses a concern not only for their customers’ safety, but also for the damage these inferior quality and potentially dangerous products could do to their reputation.

While stopping all counterfeit goods entering the UK is impossible, a strong and structured approach can be taken. In particular, customs watches can be set up with the UK Border Agency who will seize infringing goods of which it becomes aware, preventing their access into the UK. Once confirmed as counterfeit, goods are then destroyed.

In our view failure to control the influx of counterfeit products can cause irreparable damage to a company’s reputation and, as we have all seen, can be the death of a premier brand.”

Posted by Oliver Laing, who specialises in intellectual property agreements, anti counterfeiting and disputes relating to patents, copyright, trade marks, designs, as well as domain name disputes and reputation management.

Oliver Laing

Oliver Laing
0115 908 4854
olaing@brownejacobson.com

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Government Strategy to open up access to IP for SMEs

Friday, December 9th, 2011

A Strategy published yesterday and highlighted by the IPO’s press release sets out measures to help small and medium size businesses protect their IP rights.

The strategy picks up a number of proposals for the future (such as the creation of a register of IP advisors, online training tool, and provision of audits) and some that are already in place such as online patent service “Ipsum” which allows businesses to find patents and related documentation online.

All steps are welcomed if they result in SME’s developing and protecting IP. So often SMEs only become aware of IP rights and their protection as a result of an internal dispute or on the departure of a key developer. Lets hope these measures will allow SMEs to be sufficiently informed at an early stage to prevent unnecessary disputes from arising.

Posted by Richard Nicholas, who specialises in commercial, IT and outsourcing agreements, complex projects for private and public sector clients, collaboration, distribution & agency contracts, e-commerce and consumer law.

Richard Nicholas

Richard Nicholas
0121 237 3992
rnicholas@brownejacobson.com

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Unprecedented IP envoy appointed to protect UK interests in China

Friday, December 9th, 2011

Following our recent blog on UK businesses’ anger at China’s apparent ‘flouting’ of Intellectual Property (IP) rights, the government’s appointment of the UK’s first ever IP Attaché has been announced.

Tom Duke will be based at the British Embassy in Beijing and will be responsible for providing UK companies trading in China with support and advice about the enforcement of IP rights.

In making the announcement, Baroness Wilcox (UK Minister for IP) commented on the opportunity that the Chinese market represents for UK businesses, stating that trade between the two nations was last year worth an estimated £42 million; she noted ‘we need an efficient global intellectual property system where businesses have the confidence to trade in growing markets’.

This appointment will be welcome news to UK companies such as Dyson who, we reported this week, are put off from dealing in China despite its rapid growth, due to the apparent lack of monitoring of domestic infringers of UK IP rights.

Laura Mackenzie

Laura Mackenzie
0121 237 3959
lmackenzie@brownejacobson.com

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Dyson – China’s flouting of IP rights risks their expulsion from the WTO

Monday, December 5th, 2011

Sir James Dyson has warned that China’s reputation risks being tarnished in the eyes of foreign investors due to their approach to IP rights.

In advance of this week’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) symposium, which will be attended by trade representatives from China and the UK (including the UK Minister for IP- Baroness Wilcox), Dyson warned that China faces expulsion from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the body that enforces global trade rules.

Dyson, a member of the prime minister’s business advisory group, suggests that China is creating an unlevel international playing field which prevents foreign companies enforcing their rights against Chinese infringers by maintaining a patent application process in which Chinese applications are passed in less than a year, compared to five years for foreign businesses.

China’s approach to IP right enforcement is likely to be of increasing interest to UK companies eager to protect their products, should the emerging market continue to pursue rapid economic growth without attempting to monitor domestic infringers.

Laura Mackenzie

Laura Mackenzie
0121 237 3959
lmackenzie@brownejacobson.com

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Mandy the one man law-maker

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

The Digital Economy Bill continues to be a political hot potato as the government backtracks on key provisions following a wave of criticism.

On this occasion, the issue making the headlines is the proposed “Clause 17”, a provision which would enable the Secretary of State, Lord Mandelson, to make amendments to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act without first consulting Parliament.

In December, top level executives from Google, Yahoo!, eBay and Facebook expressed strong concerns about this in an open letter to Lord Mandelson, the closing line of which reads “we urge you to remove Clause 17 from the bill.” The crux of their complaint is that the controversial provision could pave the way for arbitrary measures and a high degree of uncertainty if new laws can be fast-tracked through the system on a whim.

The government has made a number of concessions in order to allay some of these fears including proposals to water down the powers conferred upon the Secretary of State. In particular, a 60 day consultation period has been proposed, as has an evidential test whereby it must be shown that harm would result if the amendments were not made. In addition, the power cannot be used to create or modify a criminal offence. In spite of mounting opposition to the clause, the government remains in support ofit, stressing that the new powers are required in order to “future-proof” copyright law as new technologies develop.

Whilst most will appreciate that the law must evolve in line with technology, Clause 17 allows the Secretary of State effectively to rewrite primary legislation with a minimum level of Parliamentary scrutiny making this clause, perhaps, a step too far.

Mark Daniels

Posted by Ryan Harrison
0121 237 3950
rharrison@brownejacobson.com

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