Posts Tagged ‘copyright’
Thursday, January 3rd, 2013
Golden Eye was licensed on terms to bring copyright infringement proceedings against people alleged to have shared pornographic works.
The High Court did not find this agreement illegal but refused to order O2 to disclose alleged filesharers’ identities as that would ‘endorse’ the agreement, and be ‘tantamount to… sanctioning the sale of the Intended Defendants’ privacy and data protection rights’.
The Court of Appeal disagreed – the licence did not increase the risk to vulnerable defendants, and any information received could only be used for the proceedings.
Although the Media CAT cases suggested courts should put safeguards in place before granting such orders, it is clear from this decision and the Supreme Court’s decision in RFU v Consolidated Information that the courts will order disclosure of individuals’ identities to enable legitimate claims to be pursued.
So, expect more P2P litigation against individuals; though it could still be difficult to prove who actually performed the infringing act and the recovery sought may not reflect the level of damage suffered.
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
0121 237 4557
gparsons@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Browne Jacobson LLP, copyright, Court of Appeal, Data Protection, Giles Parsons, Golden Eye, High Court, Intellectual Property, Norwich Pharmacal, O2, P2P, Supreme Court
Posted in Commercial dispute resolution, Commercial Litigation, Data Protection, Intellectual Property, Technology | No Comments »
Friday, October 19th, 2012
A strong Court of Appeal (with 2 acknowledged experts in intellectual property), has ruled in favour of Samsung over Apple in the battle of the tablets. The Court has ‘dispersed the fog’ that the cloud of litigation created over the alleged infringement of design rights and has clarified the issues in dispute; given valuable advice on the characteristics of the informed user and when a publicity order should be made.
The first instance decision of HHJ Birss QC became notorious in the media after his comparison between ‘cool’ (Apple) and ‘not as cool’ (Samsung). The judgment of the Californian court awarded Apple substantial damages for patent infringement. Finally, the German court granted a pan European interim injunction in respect of the 7.7 Samsung product.
The court held that ‘real commercial uncertainty’ arose causing damage to Samsung’s business and justifying the ruling for a publicity order, requiring Apple to inform the market that Samsung’s product does not infringe its registered designs throughout the European Union.
Posted by Peter Ellis, who specialises in commercial litigation or dispute resolution; intellectual property disputes e.g. trade marks, copyright, designs issues; breach of contract and claims through interruptions to trade.
Peter Ellis
0115 976 6269
pellis@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Apple, copyright, Peter Ellis, Samsung
Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Brands, Commercial dispute resolution, Commercial Litigation, Competition, Intellectual Property, Licensing, Litigation, Retail, Technology | No Comments »
Monday, May 21st, 2012
Protecting intellectual property rights requires a balance between those who seek to safeguard their IP rights and those who receive groundless threats. These claims take different forms, those with no basis for the allegation and those where there is no legitimate intention to litigate. These types of actions are becoming more prevalent.
There have been many complaints over the consistency and complexities of the system in the UK which deal with these allegations and threats. In order to consider these issues the Law Commission is proposing a three month consultation review of the legislation which covers groundless threats in the UK. It runs from February 2013 with a final report to be presented by March 2014.
It will look at whether the legislation needs repealing, reforming or extending; this will cover patents, trade marks and design rights. It will not, however, cover copyright.
Those with views are encouraged to take part in the consultation and help the Commission carry out this long awaited review.
Laura Richards
0115 908 4886
lrichards@brownejacobson.com
Tags: copyright, Intellectual Property, Laura Richards, Law Commission
Posted in Intellectual Property, Retail | No Comments »
Monday, March 19th, 2012
As Cameron and Obama were recently discussing the current extradition laws between the 2 countries, Home Secretary Theresa May approved the extradition of Richard O’Dwyer to the US, after a UK court had earlier decided he could be extradited for copyright infringement for hosting sites that provided links to unauthorised copyright material on other sites, which could then be download.
Mr O’Dwyer argues he had not downloaded the infringing material but merely directed searchers to other sites.
The two countries’ copyright infringement laws differ; Mr O’Dwyer is facing a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment in the US, compared with 2 years in the UK.
This decision will certainly concern UK infringers; although whether this will set a precedent will perhaps depend on Cameron and Obama’s recent discussions. Either way, we can be sure that Mr O’Dwyer’s case will only add to the current debate on whether UK copyright law can stand up to technological advances.
Laura Mackenzie
0121 237 3959
lmackenzie@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Barack Obama, copyright, David Cameron, extradited, imprisonment, Richard O'Dwyer, web hosting
Posted in Commercial contracts, Data Protection, IT Contracts | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
An appeal by BT and TalkTalk regarding measures to tackle copyright infringement online, a rapidly growing issue, has been rejected in the Court of Appeal. The ISPs (Internet Service Providers) challenged the provisions of the Act stating that they were incompatible with EU law, including the E-commerce directive. The decision rested on some key technical issues regarding the construction of legislation.
Under the Act ISPs will be required to send warning notifications and potentially cut off alleged illegal file downloader’s services, raising concerns regarding privacy and costs of this obligation on the providers, however the Court stated that ISPs would not be liable for case fees in relation to subscriber appeals. They will now have to consider how to deal with the implementation of this Act and its provisions and the effect it may have on their customers.
It is likely that the parties will seek leave to appeal the decision and flowing from this the promised Initial Obligations Code for ISPs will probably suffer further delays while this matter plays out.
Laura Richards
0115 908 4886
lrichards@brownejacobson.com
Tags: BT, copyright, Court of Appeal, isp, Laura Richards, Talk Talk
Posted in Intellectual Property | No Comments »
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
The Court of Justice has confirmed the Advocate General’s opinion (reported by Browne Jacobson) on copyright protection for football fixture lists. In its decision the court found that the determination of all the elements relating to a single football fixture (date, time, venue etc) is a data creation activity. As such, this activity is irrlevant in an assessment of whether the fixture list has copyright protection.
The decision represents a serious blow to Dataco, as there seems to be no scope now for the English court to find in their favour. Football fixtures lists (and similar listings) have already been found not to attract database right protection and now cannot, it seems, be adequately protected by copyright. All this, in circumstances where everyone agrees that the level of intellectual effort and skill in determining all the elements relating to a single match is significant.
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
0121 237 3993
mdaniels@brownejacobson.com
Tags: advocate general, copyright, court of justice, football, Intellectual Property, mark daniels
Posted in Intellectual Property | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012
In the latest chapter in the long running telecoms patent dispute between Nokia and IPCom, the English High Court has ruled that IPCom’s European patent (UK), which related to the handover of mobile phones between different base stations (eg when the mobile user is on the move), was invalid as originally granted but allowed IPCom to amend its claims, so that the patent remains on the register.
Importantly for Nokia and other would-be licensees, the court found that the patent (even as amended) was not essential to the GSM, UMTS or LTE telecoms industry standards, so a licence of the patent is not required in order to comply with those standards.
Nokia will no doubt use this decision and others like it as leverage in future licence negotiations with IPCom. A victory for the licensee? Maybe, but the portfolio of patents owned and licensed by IPCom remains substantial, as highlighted on its website. Perhaps a convenience based licence still beckons….
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
0121 237 3993
mdaniels@brownejacobson.com
Tags: copyright, High Court, Intellectual Property, IPCom, LTE telecoms industry standards, mobile phone technology, Nokia, patent protection, Patents
Posted in Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property | No Comments »
Friday, February 17th, 2012
The Copyright Tribunal has determined that the Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA) must cut licence fees charged to end users of news monitoring services who receive emails containing online news clippings.
Last year, in an action brought by the NLA against Meltwater, a media monitoring business, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision that PR agencies infringed newspaper copyright when they used Meltwater’s news aggregation service which provided them with emails containing news items. Following the Court of Appeal’s decision, the Tribunal was ruling on the NLA’s licensing structure, including the rates charged by the NLA to both the media monitoring service providers and to the end users of such services. The Tribunal approved the NLA licensing structure but, whilst it agreed to the NLA’s variable licence fee rates for media monitoring service providers, it ordered that the rate for end users should be significantly reduced.
The decision seems a fair one and has been welcomed by both parties: the NLA’s licensing regime remains intact with newspapers being remunerated for their content but at a rate which is equitable and proportionate to the level and type of content being provided.
Posted by Sara McNeill, who specialises in non-contentious intellectual property matters, including licensing, franchise, collaboration and development arrangements and IP audits and strategy; experienced in drafting and advising on commercial agreements.
Sara McNeill
0121 237 3930
smcneill@brownejacobson.com
Tags: copyright, Intellectual Property, media, media sharing, Meltwater, newspaper copyright, Newspaper Licensing Agency, PR Agencies, press cuttings
Posted in Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property | No Comments »
Friday, January 20th, 2012
The Patents County Court (PCC) has found that copyright in a predominantly black and white photograph featuring a red London bus on Westminster Bridge (below left), was infringed by a later image created by combining two images using image manipulation software (below right).
Although the two final images are clearly the product of different photographs, the PCC held that on a qualitative assessment Image 2 reproduced a substantial part of Image 1 and therefore infringed.
Given that the two images are taken from a very different perspective this decision seems to grant very wide copyright protection to the claimant. Here the defendant has infringed by reproducing an image of a classic London icon from a location which the judgment acknowledges is popular with photographers, and has applied a well-known editing technique to isolate the red colour of the bus.
Although there are similarities, this decision pushes the very limits of what is protectable in a photographic image.
Posted by Ryan Harrison, who specialises in intellectual property agreements and disputes, licensing, commercial contracts, and commercial and intellectual property issues arising from M & As and disposals.
Ryan Harrison
0121 237 3950
rharrison@brownejacobson.com
Tags: copyright, new english teas ltd, patents county court, temple island collection ltd
Posted in Brands, Intellectual Property | No Comments »
Monday, January 9th, 2012
Richard Hooper, appointed by the government to conduct a study of the Digital Copyright Exchange (DCE) proposed in the Hargreaves Report on intellectual property rights, has called for evidence from interested parties . Submissions must be made by Friday 10 February.
The DCE is proposed as a solution to the problem of the collapsing value of creative content – which can be electronically replicated and shared – by creating a cheap and efficient online copyright licensing system. The Government hopes that this will harness the growth potential of creative industries and make the UK a leader in digital copyright services.
However, there was a note of uncertainty from Baroness Wilcox, the intellectual property minister, who indicated that it was still to be determined if the DCE was a “workable proposition.” Updating copyright law for the digital age will be complicated and, whatever the government’s decision, Hargreaves’ proposed completion date of the end of 2012 looks increasingly ambitious.
Dave Drew
0115 976 6226
ddrew@brownejacobson.com
Tags: baroness wilcox, copyright, digital copyright exchange, hargreaves report, Intellectual Property, intellectual property rights, online infringement, richard hooper
Posted in Brands, Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property | No Comments »
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
0121 237 4557
gparsons@brownejacobson.com
Tags: copyright, domain registration, Intellectual Property, intellectual property rights, Nominet, patent, trade marks
Posted in Brands, Commercial dispute resolution, Intellectual Property | No Comments »
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
0121 237 3959
lmackenzie@brownejacobson.com
Tags: android, Apple, copyright, HTC, International Trade Commission, patent, Samsung, smartphone
Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Brands, Intellectual Property | No Comments »
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
0121 237 3993
mdaniels@brownejacobson.com
Tags: advocate general, CJEU, copyright, court of justice, football, Intellectual Property, patent infringement, patent protection, premiership football games, Yahoo
Posted in Brands, Intellectual Property | No Comments »
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
0115 908 4854
olaing@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Brands, copyright, counterfeit goods, Intellectual Property
Posted in Brands, Intellectual Property | No Comments »
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
0121 237 3992
rnicholas@brownejacobson.com
Tags: copyright, Intellectual Property, ip, IPO, Ipsum, SME's
Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Brands, Intellectual Property, Retail | No Comments »
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
0121 237 3959
lmackenzie@brownejacobson.com
Tags: baroness wilcox, Brands, copyright, Dyson Ltd, Intellectual Property, IP Attache, Tom Duke
Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Brands, Intellectual Property, Retail | No Comments »
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
0121 237 3959
lmackenzie@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Brands, copyright, Dyson Ltd, Intellectual Property, patent applications, UK Intellectual Property Office, world trade organisation
Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Brands, Intellectual Property, Retail | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
The ECJ has ruled that courts of member states cannot force ISPs into broad filtering and monitoring of their user’s access to copyright-infringing file-sharing websites.
It follows an order by a Belgian court that an ISP (Scarlet) must implement a filtering system to block their user’s ability to send and receive files containing musical works using file-sharing software without the copyright-holders permission.
The ruling does not prevent the blocking of specific illegal file-sharing sites by ISPs as in BT and Newzbin’s case; however the ECJ ruled the filter system ordered in this case, in which the ISP was expected to install the system at its own expense and use it for an unlimited period to indiscriminately monitor all customer’s electronic communications, was contrary to EU law and fundamental rights, including the E-Commerce Directive.
This ruling will be welcomed by both ISPs and campaigners for internet freedom, particularly those following the relationship between the E-Commerce Directive and the Digital Economy Act.
Laura Mackenzie
0121 237 3959
lmackenzie@brownejacobson.com
Tags: copyright, digital economy, e-commerce directive, ECJ, file sharing websites, illegal file sharing, isp, newzbin's case
Posted in Intellectual Property | No Comments »
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
The Patents County Court was revamped this time last year with its principle objective being to promote access to justice at proportionate cost for SMEs and other parties involved in lower value IP disputes.
The damages cap which is to be applied to claims in the Patents County Court has now been formally extended to all claims brought in that court (previously it applied only to patents and designs). A sensible move, ensuring that claims relating to all intellectual property rights are brought into line with the court’s objective. With the PCC having dealt with over 100 new cases in the last year, it is apparent that parties have the confidence to resolve their disputes using the reformed process in the court.
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
0121 237 3993
mdaniels@brownejacobson.com
Tags: copyright, Intellectual Property, lower value ip disputes, Patents, patents county court
Posted in Intellectual Property | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
Understandably, the annual Facebook F8 developer conference is about the best place to go to find out about the key trends in online social networking. Last week, Mark Zuckerberg announced a new Facebook media sharing application which allows users to share music, TV and film from media sites such as Spotify.
Facebook has clearly recognised that the way technologically literate consumers access media content has changed forever. Illegal file-sharing has increased exponentially since the days of Napster and is now a global phenomenon which is virtually impossible to police. Facebook’s collaboration with innovative media streaming sites will surely be a huge step in the right direction for the online entertainment industry.
The rapid decline in sale of CDs has left the music producers with a profound problem. How do they protect the copyright of their creative endeavours and make a profit? Spotify seems to think the answer is to align their service with the habits of consumers and with more than 750 million active users, there is no online habit more engrained than Facebook.
Dave Drew
0115 976 6226
ddrew@brownejacobson.com
Tags: copyright, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Social Media, Spotify
Posted in Intellectual Property | No Comments »
