The IPKat BLOG – Page 8

In: The IPKat BLOG

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
In: The IPKat BLOG

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
In: The IPKat BLOG

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
In: The IPKat BLOG

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
In: The IPKat BLOG

One copyright to rule them all?

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/one-copyright-to-rule-them-all.html All intellectual property rights have a limited territorial scope. This can make it difficult to determine if an IP right is infringed, particularly when the contested use takes place online. The German Supreme Court recently dealt with the question of the commercial effect of two websites which were primarily... Continue reading
In: The IPKat BLOG

[Guest post] ‘Ghiblification’ and the Moral Wrongs of U.S. Copyright Law

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/guest-post-ghiblification-and-moral.html The IPKat has received and is pleased to host the following guest contribution by Katfriend Angela Chung (Berkeley Law) reflecting on the flaws and grey areas for artistic protection through the moral rights of the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) in the era of AI, and discussing the controversies... Continue reading
In: The IPKat BLOG

[Guest post] Who will run the world – Beyoncé or quasi-Beyoncé?

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/04/guest-post-who-will-run-world-beyonce.html The IPKat has received and is pleased to host the following guest contribution by former PermaKat Nicola Searle (Goldsmiths, University of London), drawing some parallels between the current copyright debates and those of the 2010s, and discussing the substitutability of copyright works. Here is what Nicola writes: Who will... Continue reading
In: The IPKat BLOG

Never Too Late: If you missed the IPKat last week!

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/03/never-too-late-if-you-missed-ipkat-last_31.html IPKat’s Weekly Catch-Up: Stay Informed! (Created using Imagen 3) Copyright Katfriend Peter Teunissen reports on Advocate General Szpunar’s opinion in the legal battle between Lego and Delta Sport. Designs Anastasiia Kyrylenko informs readers of the CJEU’s upcoming decision on the compatibility of national exhaustion with EU law. Patents Rose Hughes analyzes the application of EPO... Continue reading