The IPKat BLOG – Page 16

In: The IPKat BLOG

Mercedes’s off-road vehicle illustration insufficiently distinctive for EU trade mark registration

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/mercedess-off-road-vehicle-illustration.html On 19 March 2025, the EU General Court rendered a decision regarding the distinctiveness of a figurative sign for which Mercedes-Benz Group AG (applicant) had sought registration as an EU trade mark. The Court upheld the Fifth Board of Appeal (BoA) finding that the sign should be refused registration... Continue reading
In: The IPKat BLOG

Beware of boilerplate: Practical lessons for patent drafting from G1/24 (Claim interpretation)

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/beware-of-boilerplate-practical-lessons.html Following the high profile hearing last month, we are now waiting for the written decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) in G 1/24. IPKat readers can catch-up on the full background to the case here. There is also still plenty to discuss while we wait. G 1/24... Continue reading
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Sunday Surprises

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/sunday-surprises.html The IPKat proudly presents the Kat news of the past week. Courses 30 June – 18 July 2025: Licensing Transactions in Intellectual Property Interested in how to navigate technologies and negotiate transactions relating to AI, blockchain, biotechnology and other emerging technology? Then join an intense, practice-oriented 3-week summer program... Continue reading
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AG Campos advises CJEU to rule that joint ownership of copyright remains within the remit of national law, not EU law. But is that (still) right?

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/ag-campos-advises-cjeu-to-rule-that.html Claude Chabrol, director of inter alia Le Beau Serge Joint ownership of IP rights: is it an area governed by national or rather EU law? More specifically, when there is more than one copyright owner, does EU law have anything to say regarding how each of them can exercise... Continue reading
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Driscoll’s strawberry plant patent infringement claim finally squashed

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/driscolls-strawberry-plant-patent.html The long-running claim about infringement of Driscoll’s strawberry plant patents seems to have come to an end. Last month’s judgment from the US District Court for the Eastern D. California was unsealed on Monday, finding that Driscoll’s failed to provide enough evidence to continue their case against California Berry Cultivars, LLC. ... Continue reading
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Too broad, too early? AI platform for cell analysis found to lack technical character and sufficiency (T 0660/22, Cell analysis/NIKON)

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/too-broad-too-early-ai-platform-for.html The decision in T 0660/22 combines two of PatKat’s favourite things, AI and cells! The patent application at issue related to a method for analysing image data about cells growing in culture. Unfortunately for the applicant, the Board of Appeal found the claims to either lack technical character or to relate... Continue reading
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No retroactive protections for well-known trade marks against GIs for wines, says Advocate-General

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/no-retroactive-protections-for-well.html Last week, Advocate-General Campos Sánchez-Bordona delivered his opinion in Case C‑341/24 Duca di Salaparuta. As this Kat previously reported here, the Italian Supreme Court referred questions to the CJEU on conflicts between geographical indications and trade marks for wines. The AG took the view that more recent provisions which protect trade... Continue reading
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Retromark 2025: Event Report (Part 2 – an interview with you – the audience)

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/retromark-2025-event-report-part-2.html Hot on the heels of my Event Report [here], Katfriend Darren Meale of Simmons & Simmons reports on the outcome of his “survey” of last week’s event’s audience: At the sixth annual Retromark: the conference last week, more than 180 of you showed up to experience an afternoon of... Continue reading
In: The IPKat BLOG

Retromark 2025: Event Report (Part 1 – the write-up)

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/retromark-2025-event-report-part-1.html The good and the great from the trade mark world, at least insofar as it includes people who were in London on 3 April, descended on the offices of Simmons & Simmons for this year’s excellent Retromark, in association with the IPKat. Formed of two panel sessions and a... Continue reading
In: The IPKat BLOG

Use versus process patents: Implications for novelty and scope (T 1913/21)

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/use-versus-process-patents-implications.html The recent decision T 1913/21 highlights a crucial differentiation between second non-medical use claims and process claims. The Board of Appeal found that, according to the established case law, claims in which the technical effect of the invention occurs only as part of a process for producing a product,... Continue reading