Enforcement

Kickass Torrents (KAT) is one of the largest file sharing websites in the world that has allowed people to copy and distribute more than $1 billion worth of media. Since its inception in 2008, KAT has provided a directory that allows users to download TV shows, music, movies, videogames and other types of media. It is estimated that the aggregation of media that has circulated the website to be worth $1 billion.

A Chinese court has ruled against Apple in a case over the use of the ‘iPhone’ trademark claiming that the Californian company failed to prove the term was “familiar to the public and widely known” at the time of registration. The trademark ‘iPhone’ was registered by the Chinese company Xintong Tiandi Technology Co. in 2007 on the same year the iPhone was launched, although it was not available in China until 2009. The company is a leather manufacturer that commercialises leather goods such as phone cases, purses, handbags and wallets.

Canadian popstar Justin Bieber and American music producer Skrillex are being sued by an indie pop singer that performs under the stage name White Hinterland due to an alleged copyright violation.

Following several months of political and social unrest, the Republic of Burundi appears to be returning to normality and regaining its commercial and financial interests. A gesture that demonstrates Burundi’s firm commitment is the nation’s recent adherence to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and to the WIPO Copyright Treaty.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation informed that Burundi had deposited the instruments of accession with the organisation on the 12th of January of 2016.

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.