The 5th Board of Appeal’s decision (Case R 1488/2016-5) on the registrability of EUTM No. 14430276 “SMART-SEAL” in Classes 16, 17, 20 (essentially packaging goods) includes, a more detailed than usual, analysis of why EUIPO is not bound by its own previous decisions and perhaps merits commentary.
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| Some IP-blog would be nice too :) |
A seller of computer aided design (CAD) files used for steel detailing services could have infringed a software provider’s CAD program by downloading an unauthorized copy of the program, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has held -- Thomas Long brings readers a detailed analysis of the case.
Bojana Kostic associates the newly introduced Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement in the U.S. with the EU’s reform of the Enforcement Directive. “Although the proposed policies have different focuses”, he explains that “there are certain sections that can be compared, revealing similar approaches to particular aspects of the protection of IP rights.”
The United States Copyright Office announced it is undertaking “a public study to assess the current state of U.S. law recognizing and protecting moral rights for authors, specifically the rights of attribution and integrity.” It now “will review existing law on the moral rights of attribution and integrity, including provisions found in title 17 of the U.S. Code as well as other federal and state laws, and whether any additional protection is advisable in this area.” Comments are welcome before March 9, 2017.
The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments beginning on April 6th in the copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by founding members of the 1960s rock group the Turtles against SiriusXM satellite radio.
The Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright in the Digital Single Market was published on 14 September 2016, as part of a wider reform package on the Digital Single Market. Tibbie McIntyre recaps some of the most significant debates regarding the “most controversial aspects” in Articles 11 and 12 of the proposed Directive, which relate to the creation of a new right for publishers.
