On 2 April 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) delivered its judgment in Coty Germany v Amazon (Case C‑567/18), in which the CJEU considered whether Amazon was liable for trade mark infringement for storing goods that infringed EU trade marks.
Continue Reading The Court of Justice of the European Union Provides Some Clarification on Third Party Liability of Marketplaces in Trade Mark Infringement Disputes
On 18 March 2020, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (“DPMA”) has announced the extensions for all time limits granted by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office regarding all pending IP procedures. This extension shall be granted ex officio until 4 May 2020. Until then, no decision shall be made due to the expiration of any time limit.
Continue Reading German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) Extends Deadlines and Cancels Scheduled Hearings
On 1 October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on a number of questions which, inter alia, relate to the validity of consent to cookies “by way of a pre-checked checkbox” (Case C 673/17). Although the questions referred to the CJEU primarily related to provisions of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive (2002/58/EG), the CJEU stated that the questions must be answered also in regard to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Continue Reading Court of Justice of the EU: A “Pre-Checked Checkbox” Is Not Valid Consent to Cookies under the GDPR
After the EU Copyright Directive was passed by the EU Parliament last month (see our original blog post for further details), it was formally approved by the Council of the European Union on April 15, 2019. Nineteen EU member states, including Germany, France and the UK, voted in favor. Six member states – namely Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden – voted against the Directive, while three countries abstained from the vote.
Continue Reading Council of the EU Formally Adopts EU Copyright Directive
After several months of delay and heated political discussion among all German parties about the scope of protection regarding journalists, whistleblowers and employees, the German parliament adopted the Federal Government’s draft Trade Secrets Act on 21 March 2019. This act implements Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure into national German law with the aim of establishing a homogenous protection of trade secrets.
Continue Reading Germany Introduces New Trade Secrets Act Which Imposes Extensive Preventive Measures on Companies
On 26 March 2019, following a lengthy process, the European Parliament has given final approval to the Copyright Directive, aimed at the modernization of the EU copyright regime. Members of parliament voted 348 in favor of the law and 274 against. Before voting on the reform proposal, a vote was held on whether or not to address proposed amendments – notably the exclusion of the law’s most debated clause, Article 13 or the “upload filter.” Members of parliament opposed a decision on the proposed amendments, in a close vote with 312 in favor but 317 against addressing any amendments.
Continue Reading European Parliament Approves New Copyright Rules for the Internet, Including So-Called ‘Link Tax’ and ‘Upload Filters’
On 20 December 2018, the German Federal Court of Justice confirmed that photographs of public domain paintings are, in principle, protected by a copyright-related right in section 72 of the German Copyright Act (Case No. I ZR 104/17). The case involved a request to take down several pictures hosted on Wikimedia Commons—an online database of works distributed under Creative Commons licenses—as public domain images. All pictures featured art on display at the Reiss Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim, Germany.
Continue Reading German Federal Court of Justice Confirms Copyright in Photographs of Public Domain Paintings
On 13 November 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the taste of a food product could not be classified as a ”work” within the meaning of Directive 2001/29/EC and that national member state legislation could not be interpreted differently (Case C-310/17). While the CJEU did not deny the copyrightability of tastes in principle, it
Continue Reading Court of Justice of the EU: No Copyright Protection for the Taste of Food – For Now
On 12 June 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Christian Louboutin’s red sole trademark was valid (Case C-163/16). The decision comes after years of litigation between Louboutin and Dutch footwear company Van Haren over the scope and validity of Louboutin’s trademark.
Continue Reading Court of Justice of the EU: Louboutin’s Red Sole Trademark Is Valid
Christian Wulff, a former German Federal President who resigned in February 2012, caught the attention of the public in May 2015 with his announcement that he was back together with his ex-wife Bettina Wulff. Following this, the press published a photograph of him pushing a cart at the parking lot of a supermarket next to his wife, Bettina Wulff. Mr. Wulff felt hurt in his right to privacy. He filed a lawsuit aiming to prohibit the publication of this private photo. In first and second instance Mr. Wulff was successful; the German Federal Court now overruled the previous decisions and decided that Mr. Wulff’s right to privacy were not infringed by the publication of the photo.
Continue Reading The Right to Privacy of a Former Federal President