Litigation

In a decision dated July 6, 2015, the Spanish Supreme Court, confirmed a judgment by Burgos Court of Appeal, which declared that the use of the corporate name “AUTORAM”, by the defendant, infringed the trademark and two trade names “AUTORAMA”, owned by the plaintiff, for services in Class 35.

For the Supreme Court it was clear that the similarity between "AUTORAM" and "AUTORAMA" could give the impression to the consumers that the services have the same commercial origin or that at least, there is a link between the companies.

The case that opposed an individual against the German company Breiding mbH is still fresh. This case was the result of a request for a preliminary ruling regarding the interpretation of article 23(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the Community trade mark (hereinafter “Community Trade Mark Regulation”).

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has informed that the official fees for most intellectual property transactions will be increased. The measure will most likely become effective as from the 21st of December, 2015.

The increase will affect all trademark, patents and industrial design applications filed after the aforementioned date as well as retroactively for pending applications.

The decision has not been officially announced yet, the announcement will most probably be published in the Official Gazette on the 21st of December this year.

Apple has lost a patent lawsuit to the University of Wisconsin and risks paying fines of up to $860 million for utilising a design owned by the University’s licensing arm without permission.

The story of Naruto, which is the name given to an Indonesian macaque ape who rose to fame after taking a series of perfectly framed ‘selfies’ with a camera continues to widen its controversies with regard to copyright laws.

The House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands has passed a new Trademarks Act on the 30th of April 2013. This legislative measure will bring extensive changes to Intellectual Property in the region and it will effectively come into force on the 1st of September 2015. The implementation of the new act will substitute the current Trademarks Act (Cap. 158) dated all the way back to 1887 and the United Kingdom Trademarks Act (Cap. 157) of 1946.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has teamed up with Latinstock and Cheil Spain to create “Animal Copyrights”, the first Image Database whose authorship is exclusively owned by different species of animals. This initiative includes rare images from the animal’s point of view, which according to WWF, has the aim of “presenting the world from their point of view is the best way to put ourselves in their position”.

The six-time NBA champion and former Chicago Bulls player has lost a lawsuit to a Chinese brand that has imitated his name and brand. Jordan sued Qiaodan Sports in 2012 and has requested the Chinese authorities to revoke the trademark alleging that it mislead consumers about its ties to him.

Qiaodan (乔丹), pronounced “chee-ow dahn” is a Mandarin transliteration of “Jordan”. In addition, Qiaodan’s products also carry a silhouette of a leaping basketball player resembling the “Jumpman” logo used by Nike to promote its Air Jordan brand.

One of our IP attorneys from our Portugal office, Master Vitor Fidalgo, was yesterday distinguished with the First Award "Professor José de Oliveira Ascensão" as part of his Master's thesis entitled "Compulsory licenses of Industrial Property Rights".

Past July 9th, the European Parliament voted 445 to 65 (with 32 abstentions) against a proposal to restrict the freedom of panorama in the European Union, maintaining the status quo.

Freedom of Panorama consists on a limit to Copyright Law and that permits someone to take photographs, make paintings or videos of other works that are permanently located in a public space (such as sculptures or architectural works), without the need to acquire a license that states the consent of the owner of the work that is displayed publicly.