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Intellectual Property

Iconic Ferrari 250 GTO Trademark (Partially) Cancelled

"Cancellation Division considers that genuine use of the contested EUTM has been sufficiently demonstrated for the relevant factors in relation to toy vehicles, scale-model vehicles, whereas no use of the mark or proper reasons for non-use have been demonstrated in relation to any of the other goods for which it is registered."Hardcore car enthusiasts (or just casual followers of the Top Gear series) know that the Ferrari 250 GTO is the holy grail of the automotive world – a car so valuable and revered that Jeremy Clarkson himself was denied the privilege of driving it. It remains, as far as…
Jonathan Tonna
10th July 2020
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COVID19 MeasuresIntellectual Property

IP Hurdles in the Race for a Covid-19 Vaccine?

Perhaps the most common complaint about modern legal systems is that they stifle justice for want of simplicity. Lately, however, it seems that what most people had simply regarded as a disappointing (some might say necessary) feature of the law, has become a real and immediate danger. After all, every day wasted on regulatory bureaucracy in the pursuit of a globally available vaccine represents thousands more human lives lost to the disease. Now it is not merely justice that the legal system may stifle, but the availability of treatments for a deadly global pandemic.One of the first commitments the United…
Jonathan Tonna
12th June 2020
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Intellectual Property

Copyright and Freely Accessible Photos: The Implications for Website Operators and Social Media Users

Early last month the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the reproduction of a photo on a website, not being the website through which the rightholder initially made that photo available to the public, constitutes a new communication to the public for the purpose of determining a copyright infringement claim. The Facts:-In case C-161/17, Mr Renckhoff brought proceedings before the Courts of Hamburg against the local authorities having the direct supervision of a secondary school. Mr Renckhoff was a photographer by profession and in 2009 it was possible for persons to access the school's website which…
Mark Soler
8th September 2018
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Intellectual Property

Copyright and Freely Accessible Photos: The Implications for Website Operators and Social Media Users

Early last month the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the reproduction of a photo on a website, not being the website through which the rightholder initially made that photo available to the public, constitutes a new communication to the public for the purpose of determining a copyright infringement claim. The Facts:-In case C-161/17, Mr Renckhoff brought proceedings before the Courts of Hamburg against the local authorities having the direct supervision of a secondary school. Mr Renckhoff was a photographer by profession and in 2009 it was possible for persons to access the school's website which…
Mark Soler
8th September 2018
News_Copyright.jpg
Intellectual Property

Copyright and Freely Accessible Photos: The Implications for Website Operators and Social Media Users

Early last month the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the reproduction of a photo on a website, not being the website through which the rightholder initially made that photo available to the public, constitutes a new communication to the public for the purpose of determining a copyright infringement claim. The Facts:-In case C-161/17, Mr Renckhoff brought proceedings before the Courts of Hamburg against the local authorities having the direct supervision of a secondary school. Mr Renckhoff was a photographer by profession and in 2009 it was possible for persons to access the school's website which…
Mark Soler
8th September 2018
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Intellectual Property

Messi Wins: EU Court Rules No Potential Conflict Between “MESSI” and “MASSI” Trademarks

In a decision issued yesterday morning, the General Court of the CJEU (EGC) approved the registration of a logo consisting of a shield motif with the letter "M" blazoned across the front, sitting on top of the letters "M-E-S-S-I".The application for the logo was filed by one Lionel Andrés Messi in August 2011. Messi's trademark was shortly thereafter opposed by Mr. Jaime Masferrer Coma, the previous owner of the trademark "MASSI" (the mark has since been assigned to the company J.M.-E.V. E HIJOS, S.R.L.). For six and a half years Mr. Messi had been engaged in a legal battle with…
Jonathan Tonna
27th April 2018