EPO: It's now possible to validate European Patents in Morocco
On December 17th, 2010, an agreement to enable European patents to be validated in Morocco was signed between European Patent Office (EPO) and Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office (OMPIC). The Moroccan industrial property law has been revised and amended in order to be compatible with this agreement that will finally enter into force on March 15th, 2015.
USPTO: New and reduced Office fees come into force
After consultation with the Trademark Public Advisory Committee and authorization by the Leahy-Smith American Invents Act, the United States Patent and Trademark Office proceeded to reduce the official fees required to register trademarks in the US, as of January 17, 2015.
EU: The trademark race for “Je suis Charlie”
The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) has recently addressed the question whether the expression “Je suis Charlie” could be a Community Trade Mark (CTM). Despite OHIM’s general rule of not commenting on individual cases of trade mark applications before or during the registration procedures, the public interest regarding the registration of “Je suis Charlie” as a CTM, lead OHIM to make an exception.
TURKEY: Benfica has successfully opposed against a “bad faith” Turkish trademark
The Lisbon-based Portuguese sports club ‘Sport Lisboa e Benfica’, generally known as ‘Benfica’, or ‘SLB’ by loving fans has recently “scored one for the team” when they successfully opposed a Turkish trademark application made in the name of the club.
Coca-Cola files applications of hashtag trademarks
Right before the end of 2014, the soft drinks company Coca-Cola filed applications for two new trademarks at the US Patent and Trademark Office that consist of hashtags: #cokecanpics and #smilewithacoke. Hashtags became very popular because of the social network Twitter. Simply consisting of words or short expressions, they allow to easily search published messages about a certain topic.