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Welcome to the July issue of Licensing Executives Society Britain and Ireland's eflyer. In this Issue New Members and Address Changes Pass it on Know anyone who might be interested in our eflyer? |
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LES NewsXchange Issue 130 January 2010 The Newsletter of the Licensing Executives Society Britain and Ireland Deliverables for Christmas- good news for Mistletoe patents In recent years, end-of-year intellectual property round-ups have focused on media obsession with grim Dickensian tales of patent abuse. This year, against the background of collapsing credit-crunched clients and run-away overheads unwisely committed to in better times, the oppression of licensing professionals has reached a zenith. The European Commission’s massive report on miscreant pharma patentees appeared in July, and now, just in time for the turkey dinner, Manchester University’s Institute of Science, Ethics and Innovation have published their IP-critical ‘Manchester Manifesto’... Full Article Barry Quest, iPC2 Nigel Jones, President, LES B&I Formula One Sponsorship Litigation A recent case, Force India Formula One Team Ltd v Etihad Airways PJSC and Aldar Properties PJSC [2009] EWHC 2768 (QB), has illustrated the need for sponsors to pay close attention to the terms of their agreement, especially the termination clauses. The decision concerned an action by licensee, Force India, for damages from sponsor Etihad due to an alleged repudiatory breach... Full Article Sophia Dean, Charles Russell Freedom to operate survey provides benchmarking data, highlights commercial options for dealing with infringement How much effort should a company invest in trying to avoid patents belonging to its competitors? Should the IP manager investigate competitor patents at an early stage in the product development project and risk wasted effort if the product design subsequently changes? Or wait until the product has been developed before searching for blocking patents? Faced with a blocking patent, should the IP manager try to invalidate, design around or seek a licence? And how much money to spend – there is no point carrying out comprehensive clearance if it leaves no money to bring the product to market... Full Article Ian Hartwell
Wars of the (Christmas) Roses and other Flowers- Interflora Inc v Marks & Spencer plc One of the hottest topics for brand owners and trade mark practitioners at present is the issue of Google ‘AdWords’ or ‘keywords’ (i.e. advertising links triggered by the use of registered trade marks as search terms and auctioned by search engines to the highest bidder) and whether their use constitutes trade mark infringement or a violation of the E Commerce directive (2000/31). To date, at least three cases involving Adwords have been referred to the European Court of Justice (‘ECJ’) by the English courts and courts in other Member States have made similar references... Full Article Dr Belinda Isaac, Isaac & Co Solicitors, Principal
A Christmas Stocking -- Trade mark filings stats, World Cup Woes and new consumer protection legislation The US Patent and Trade Mark Office recently released its 2009/2010 Annual Report which showed a 13% fall in annual trade mark filings from a record high in 2008/2009. The figures show a decline to 2006 levels. The equivalent report from the European Community Trade Mark Office illustrates that we might expect (they run a calendar year) a 3-5% drop in filings from a record high in 2008. The International Registration (WIPO) figures have not been released although there was mention of a slowdown in March this year in a report on their record filings in 2009. The equivalent trade mark statistics from the South Africa Registry show a drop off of between 25% and 35%... Full Article Darren Olivier An Opportunity for Franchisors: The Consumer Protection Act The Consumer Protection Act (“the Act”) will apply to franchise agreements and is likely to pose significant challenges to many weaker franchisors, including those which do not abide by best franchise practices or provide reasonable value to their franchisees... Full Article Eugene Honey
Case Study – Countering the Chinese Counterfeiters The large extent of counterfeiting of consumer electronics worldwide is well known, and a significant proportion of the counterfeit products are manufactured in China. The Chinese government recognises the scale of the problem and has put substantial resources in place in recent years to tackle the problem... Full Article James D Brown, Murgitroyd & Company
An Enhanced Patent System In Europe The European Council is again pushing for a Community Patent, now to be called the European Union patent (EU patent), and an European Patents Court, to be known as the European and EU Patents Court (EEUPC). At an Internal Market, Industry and Research Meeting on 4th December the Council considered and agreed the general approach to a Council Regulation on the Community Patent (Doc 16113/091 and 16113/09 ADD12) and the EEUPC (Doc 7928/093). Details of the results appear in the Council Conclusions (Doc 172209 and the corresponding press release4)... Full Article Robin Nott, Chairman, LES B&I Laws Committee
Important Legal Changes in December 2009 Four important new laws came into force in December 2009. Whilst they are not strictly “intellectual property” they will affect most IP lawyers whether litigators or those involved with drafting agreements and they are briefly summarised here. At the end are links to the legislation on line and any further information issued by the Government... Full Article Susan Singleton, Singletons, Member EC Laws Committee, LES B&I
The Times they are a Changing… The Scottish Civil Courts Review Jim Cormack and Jane Cornwell, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, McGrigors LLP
North West Region Meeting and Photographs from the last LES Ireland Branch meting 3rd December 2009- Report Rachael Sharples, Hammonds LLP As many of you will already know, LES Britain & Ireland won the bid to be the host chapter for the 2011 LESI Annual Conference and International Delegates Conference. The Annual Conference will be held in London from 5th-8th June 2011, and the International Delegates’ Conference from 3rd-5th June. This is a great opportunity for LES B&I... Full Article Anne Lane International Delegates Meeting Delegates from all chapters of LES International met in San Francisco on 22nd and 23rd October 2009... Full Article Jennifer Pierce Please click here to view the upcoming events in 2010/ 2011
Moving Company/ Changing Address? LES Administrative Office, Please also remember to change your contact details in the membership directory on the LESI website (www.lesi.org). As a service to our members the editor will print any change of company and location in newsXchange™. Please contact Mary Elson, elson.mary@btinternet.com Membership The membership application form may also be found on the LES B&I website: www.les-bi.org newsXchange™ Editor: Mary Elson Tel: newsXchange™ is circulated as a service to members of the Society. Editorial contributions are welcome and should be addressed in the first instance to the Editor. Unless otherwise agreed, acceptance of any submission for publication in newsXchange is on the understanding that the author also consents to publication in the same or edited form on the Society’s website at www.les-bi.org. NewsXchange and the newsXchange™ logo are trade marks of the Licensing Executives Society (Britain & Ireland) Ltd. |
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