Advocate General (EU) Concludes Hyperlinking To Unauthorized Content Does Not Constitute Copyright

The ongoing commercial rivalry between fast-fashion giants Shein and Temu has evolved into one of the most significant intellectual property disputes in the e-commerce sector. This landmark case examines critical questions about copyright ownership, platform liability, and the legal responsibilities of online marketplaces in the digital age.

The High Court has awarded the Swatch Group US$11.6 million in negotiation damages against Samsung for trade mark infringements involving watch face apps on the Galaxy App store. Rejecting both parties' extreme valuations of US$170 million and US$301, the court established important principles for assessing damages when brand owners don't license their marks and no comparable market royalties exist.

Getty Images, the photographic agency, has recently settled a copyright infringement dispute concerning the unauthorised use of one of its images.

The EPO's guidelines clarify patentability for machine learning (ML) and AI inventions. ML algorithms are considered mathematical methods, typically not patentable unless tied to a specific technical effect. Context, such as application within hardware or specific data, enhances patent eligibility.

The UK Patents Court has upheld Novartis' patent and SPC protecting Entresto, its blockbuster heart failure treatment combining valsartan and sacubitril, rejecting all validity challenges from generic manufacturer Accord Healthcare. The judgment provides crucial guidance on plausibility requirements where experimental data have been generated but not fully disclosed in the patent specification, clarifying when qualitative disclosure of positive results suffices without detailed numerical data.

The High Court examined whether an events company's use of prestigious brand names like VANITY FAIR and GQ on its website constituted trade mark infringement and passing off. The case centered on whether promotional references to exclusive invitation-only events crossed the line from legitimate identification to misleading consumers about a commercial connection with the trade mark owner.

东南亚和香港地区的知识产权实务在不断发展变化之中，在此地区开展业务的所有企业都需要时刻关注商标实务领域的最新进展。

Since the Unified Patent Court opened on 1 June 2023, one of the more interesting legal questions which has been considered is the matter of jurisdictional competence. Following on from our comparison of the EPO and UPC’s approaches to inventive step (available here) and as the dust begins to settle on some of the early decisions, it is a good time to reflect on the early decisions of the UPC in relation to jurisdiction and to compare the UPC with the EPO in this regard.

The UK Intellectual Property Office has released new statutory guidance following the Supreme Court's landmark Emotional Perception AI judgment, fundamentally changing how patent examiners assess excluded subject matter. This guidance clarifies the treatment of artificial neural networks, quantum computers, and other emerging technologies under patent law, while aligning UK examination procedures more closely with European Patent Office practices.

On 26 March 2009 the Administrative Council of the European Patent Office (EPO) voted to introduce a time limit to restrict the filing of divisional European patent applications.