On April 16, 2024, Canada’s Department of Finance tabled the 2024 Canadian Federal Budget (“Budget 2024”). Budget 2024 contains proposals about intellectual property ("IP") that will be beneficial to innovative Canadian companies, both big and small, that intend to pursue Canadian patent rights within the next several years.
For over two decades, the European Union's design regulations as set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 have remained largely unaltered, yet technological advancements and the digital age have dramatically transformed the design industry.
Before Brexit, once goods had been legitimately placed on the market anywhere in the EEA, any applicable IP rights, such as registered trade marks, were “exhausted” so that the rights holder could no longer restrict further dealings in those specific goods anywhere in the territory (unless there were circumstances where the condition of those goods had been tampered with, for example).
Many designers of vehicles and vehicle components have been taking advantage of the UK and EU registered design system to obtain IP protection for their automotive innovations.
In the recent WIPO Domain Complaint of ALTILINK Real Estate Hungary KFT v. Domain Administrator, SK Creations, Inc., the Complainant (ALTILINK) was unsuccessful in proving the Respondent (SK Creations, Inc) had acted in bad faith in purchasing the disputed domain name <nestra.com> (the Domain Name). This case highlights the importance of appropriately evidencing that a domain name has been bought and is being used in bad faith and the importance of keeping on top of domain name renewals!
Did you know that the word orangutan derives from the Malay language where “orang hutan” literally means “man of the forest”? You might wonder how this links to biofuel and to exciting Cambridge start-up HutanBio. But the word “hutan” is used in the same way in HutanBio’s company name, a reference to their use of algal “forests” to make biofuel.
The EU’s proposed ban on patents for plants obtained through 'New Genomic Techniques' (NGTs) calls into question who really profits most from patented technologies, and in particular patented crops? The EU Parliament suggests that farmers need protecting from monopolistic agritech companies – but what evidence is there for this?
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 came into force in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2024. This piece of legislation is likely to have important implications for owners of intellectual property rights in the UK, in that UK law relating to trade marks, copyright, design rights and SPCs (Supplementary Protection Certificates) may well start to diverge from EU law moving forward.