Enforcement

As previously reported by our team at Inventa International, the European Union is set to modernize its Trademark System and new developments have occurred.

Past December 24, 2015, Regulation no. 2015/2424 of the European Parliament and the Council was fully published in the Official Journal of the European Union which means that the changes to European Union’s trademark system are entering into force on March 23, 2016.

Inventa International informs that the Libyan Registrar has confirmed that it would be possible to submit renewal applications for expired trademarks regardless of their expiry date until the 31st of December, 2015.

All expired trademarks that fail to proceed with this action on the stated date will be handled as if they were cancelled from the 1st of January, 2016.

To submit renewal applications or obtaining certificates, applicants are required to provide the following:

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.

The secession from Ukraine and consequent annexation to Russia of the territory of Crimea has resulted in the integration into the economic, financial, credit and legal system of the Russian Federation.

The treaty of March 18, 2014 that determined the terms of the annexation to Russia envisaged that Russian patents and trademarks would be valid and enforceable in the territory of Crimea, on the contrary to Ukrainian patents and trademarks which would no longer be considered valid or feasable.

In the last six years, VW has been cheating on the emissions testing for its cars. The cars' software was able to detect when they were being tested, changing their engines to look much cleaner than they were. This scandal that has been stirred the world, also has great effects in the Intellectual Property field.

The British government intends to introduce a new legislation that would enable registered UK and European Community design holders with the option to mark their products with the address of a website that links to the relevant registered design numbers. The initiative counts with the support of several interested parties within the intellectual property community.

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”.

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.