We regularly publish articles on topics relating to intellectual property law.
The articles in this blog do not substitute professional legal advice by patent attorneys and attorneys at law.
The articles only provide an introduction to the topics of intellectual property law. Professional legal advice always requires considering the individual circumstances of a case.
Legal advice
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BGH, Urteil vom 13. 07.2021, X ZR 81/19, Diskontinuierliche Funkverbindung In connection with invalidity proceedings in the mobile communications sector (“Discontinuous Radio Link”), the issue was, among other things, an electronic document stored on an...
EuG, Urt. v. 7.7.2021, T 668/19 – „Geräuschmarke für Getränke“ If a feature of a trademark is perceived by the relevant public as having primarily technical and functional significance, it is unlikely to be perceived as an indication of the commercial origin...
EuG, Urt. v. 7.7.2021, T 668/19 – „Verlängerter Prioritätszeitraum“ The priority period for EU designs is now 12 months instead of the (usual) 6 months priority period if the applications invokes a priority of a PCT patent application. The ECJ (newly) stated...
The claiming of a priority right is not effective if the subject matter of the later application can only be derived from the content of the earlier application on the basis of independent considerations of the person skilled in the art. In this respect it is...
Trademark Protection in China A new trademark law has been in force in China since December 2019 to strengthen the position of trademark owners. The changes relate in particular to the use of a trademark, higher claims for damages in the event of trademark...
OLG, Urt. v. 03.05.2021, Frankfurt 6 W 31/21 – Asconi If the trademark proprietor makes extensive use of his unused trademark for the purpose of legal prosecution, it may be possible to infer from this a primary intention to generate income by means of...
BGH, Urteil vom 20. 04.2021, X ZR 40/19, Zahnimplantat In the case of the patent in dispute (dental implant), which was declared invalid in patent revocation proceedings, one of the issues was whether the publication of a registered design can be considered as a...
Sound brands: Sound as part of the brand strategy In the course of the Trademark Modernization Act in Germany (January 2019), new trademark forms were included. Since then, sound marks, motion marks, hologram marks and multimedia marks can also be registered in...
For the question of equivalent use of features of a patented object, a distinction must be made in principle between such features which, from the point of view of the person skilled in the art, are “representative” of a certain technical principle of...
World IP DAY Why do small and medium-sized enterprises play a special role in intellectual property? Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of our economy. Well over 90 % of all companies in Germany are small and medium-sized enterprises. Each...