On June 1, 2023, the European patent with unitary effect came into effect. The new system entered into force after the ratification of the International Agreement on the Unified Patent Court (UPC), 20 years after the first proposal of the European Commission to create a “community patent”. How the unitary patent works The unitary patent […]
Is it possible to register an emoji as a trademark? The EUIPO decision
The EUIPO Board of Appeals, in the decision given on June 1st 2023 in case R2305/2022-2, excluded the registrability as a European trademark of the sign constituted by an emoji representing a hand gesture, thus confirming the decision of the examiner of the European Office. Emoji and distinctive character of a EU trademark The registration […]
Trademark of the “stripe” tag: valid but not counterfeited
The specialized section on corporate matters of the Court of Appeal of Milan recently decided on a controversy between two well-known fashion companies, Diesel and Calvin Klein, having as object the “stripe” tag. Background The company Diesel has been manufacturing and marketing casual clothing items, including blue jeans, for years. Such products are characterized by […]
The Court of Miami exonerates Cattelan’s Banana
By ruling of June 9th 2023, the District Court of Florida stated that the work of art “Comedian” by Cattelan -representing the famous banana taped on a wall – does not infringe the copyright on Joe Morford’s work Banana and Orange. The case: Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian accused of copyright infringement In 2001 the US conceptual […]