Enforcement

Kristen Visbal’s sculpture, “Fearless Girl”, was unveiled in Manhattan's Financial District, New York, as an advertisement for an index fund which comprises gender diverse companies that have a higher percentage of women among their senior leadership. The “fearless girl” was settled in front of the famous Wall Street “Bull” of the sculptor Arturo di Modica.

“Fearless Girl” strategical position is, without question, the reason of its power’s dimension. The sculpture of the girl facing the “bull” quickly became a symbol of entrepreneurship and women’s strength.

The company TM25 Holding B.V., which trademark G-STAR RAW belongs to, among others, took legal action in the Portuguese courts, demanding the condemnation of Tiffosi’s owners by copyright infringement. This violation rests on the commercialization of many jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts that are identical to previous models commercialized by G-STAR RAW.

The Canada – European Union Trade Agreement (CETA, from Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) aims to facilitate and reduce barriers to trade, as 98% of the trade tariffs will be removed. The deal was recently ratified by the European Parliament. CETA has several Intellectual Property (IP) related provisions which might affect companies that wish to provide goods across borders and protect their IP assets.

Past January 31st, a letter was sent to the European Union Commission President Jean Claude Juncker by big companies such as Apple, Adidas, Bayer, Channel, Hero, Lego, L’oréal, Moët Hennessy, Nike, Philips or Coca Cola, amongst others, with a call for action to modernize the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED).

"The struggle to protect patents in Africa" an article written by Vítor Palmela Fidalgo from Inventa International for the magazine The Patent Lawyer.

Up until now, there wasn’t any opposition proceeding in Russia whereas any person could submit a notice to examiners after publication up until granting. Afterwards, it is only possible to revert the decision through an invalidation proceeding. The invalidation could be requested in the first five years counting from the publication of the registration of the trademark.

The new Act was approved July 14th, 2016 by the House of Representatives of Liberia and was published past July 22nd, 2016. It is noteworthy that it has received unanimous approval by the Liberian legislators, a decision which was based on a report issued by a join commission with members of the areas of commerce, industry and justice.

THE CONTEXT

The society of today galloped through technological evolutionary steps. Everyday life has been hijacked by Wi-Fi and all types of connectable devices. From smartphones to smart-fridges, everything is connected through wireless systems, various networks existing simultaneously, intertwined amongst themselves. While it may not be possible to protect the aforementioned programs by themselves, what is protected is exactly the method or a system implemented by software.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

The case reports back October 2011 when GS Media provided hyperlinks from its website Geenstijl.nl to external websites that hosted unpublished photographs of Dutch TV celebrity and hostess that were due in the next issue of the Playboy magazine. Sanoma Media Netherlands BV was the publisher of Playboy in the Netherlands.

A case that is currently attracting a lot of media attention has been the case of Pirate Joe vs Trader Joe’s. The first is a Canadian retailer, located in Vancouver, who resells products belonging to the second party at a 30 to 40% increased price, without any authorization to use the similar trademark; the second party is a large company based on Monrovia, California, United States, who sells various food products for almost 60 years.