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New developments in the Cayman Islands Intellectual Property Legal Framework

The Cayman Islands had an outdated IP legislation in force, but waves of change are in progress. With the new Cayman Islands Intellectual Property Office (CIIPO), the Cayman Islands Government fully intends to revolutionize the organization and application of new Intellectual Property laws. The local government is reinforcing CIIPO with a brand new set of IP legislation, starting with the new l...

September 30, 2016

Joel David Rodrigues

Opinion Mozambique Patent Industrial Design Trademark

"Mozambique: A new-look legal system"

"Mozambique: A new-look legal sytem" an article written by João Cabral from Inventa International for the prestigious magazine World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR). This article addresses the new Industrial Property Code (IPC) that has been in force in Mozambique since March 31, 2016. It was approved on December 31, 2015 by the Council of Ministers and publi...

September 30, 2016

João Pereira Cabral

Opinion European Union Copyright

EU Court rules that hyperlinking can infringe copyright

The case reports back October 2011 when GS Media provided hyperlinks from its website Geenstijl.nl to external websites that hosted unpublished photographs of Dutch TV celebrity and hostess that were due in the next issue of the Playboy magazine. Sanoma Media Netherlands BV was the publisher of Playboy in the Netherlands. Sanoma requested GS Media to remove the link to the infringing content th...

September 28, 2016

João Francisco Sá

Opinion United States of America Trademark Rights Defense Industrial Design Trademark

Louis Vuitton vs My Other Bag (MOB)

Louis Vuitton, the world’s most valuable fashion house based in Paris, filed an infringement lawsuit, back in June 2014, against My Other Bag (MOB), a small company based in Los Angeles, United States, claiming among others, that MOB is infringing on their registered trademarks and designs, but also diluting its famous trademark. Louis Vuitton also claims that MOB completely ignored the s...

September 23, 2016

Ricardo Esteves Fernandes

Opinion United Kingdom Trademark Application Trademark Rights Defense Trademark

iWatch trademark application in the UK is refused

Before announcing the Apple Watch, Apple, inc. tried to register the trademark iWatch in several jurisdictions, with trademarks applications dated from 2013 and 2014. In some jurisdictions the application was successful and the trademark was registered and ready for use. In other cases, Apple wasn't so lucky. The most famous case is the trademark application of the iWatch filed at the United K...

September 22, 2016

Joel David Rodrigues

Announcement Saudi Arabia Trademark Application

SAUDI ARABIA: Increase in official fees

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Trademark Law has the primary objective of unifying the trademark registration systems and procedure of all member states of the GCC: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and United Arab Emirates. This unification, however, does not create a centralized filing procedure nor does it replace the national filing. Approved by the GCC Supreme Council during i...

September 15, 2016

Joel David Rodrigues

Opinion United States of America Trademark Law

The transnational effect of US Trademarks

A case that is currently attracting a lot of media attention has been the case of Pirate Joe vs Trader Joe’s. The first is a Canadian retailer, located in Vancouver, who resells products belonging to the second party at a 30 to 40% increased price, without any authorization to use the similar trademark; the second party is a large company based on Monrovia, California, United States, who sel...

August 28, 2016

Ricardo Esteves Fernandes

Announcement Mexico Trademark

Mexico: trademark opposition system comes into force

Past August 30, 2016, a trademark opposition system has come into effect in Mexico. The amendment to the Mexican IP Law was published in the Official Gazette June 1, 2016 and a new opposition has come alive, where before there was none. While the opposition system is most certainly welcome, taking into account that it will make it easier – and cheaper – for opponents to oppose publishe...

August 27, 2016

João Francisco Sá

Announcement Brazil Hague Convention

Brazil: Apostille Convention comes into effect

The Hague Convention that abolishes the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, has entered into force past August 14st, 2016. Before, foreign documents had to be authenticated at a Notary Public and legalized up to Brazilian Consulate, but now the process is simpler and less bureaucratic. Documents that had to be filed at the National I...

August 24, 2016

João Francisco Sá

Announcement WIPO

Cook Islands join WIPO

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Cook Islands has notified that they have deposited the instrument of accession of the Convention Establishing the Word Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), signed at Stockholm in 1967. The deposit occurred past July 2th, 2016 and will enter into force October 27th, 2016. The Cook Islands are an island country in the South Pacific Ocean with close...

August 20, 2016

João Francisco Sá

Opinion United States of America Patent Patent Rights Defense

Software Patents and Pokémon Go

In the last few years we have seen the rise in popularity of multiple software applications, with the latest and biggest example being “Pokémon Go” developed by NIANTIC, Inc. However, where there is a rise in popularity of a product, there is always an increase on the amount of copycats and counterfeits. While in Europe there is a larger restriction for software patents, in t...

August 17, 2016

Ricardo Esteves Fernandes

Announcement Thailand Trademark

Thailand: Changes to the Trademark Act

Aiming at making the protection of intellectual property a more efficient process, Thailand has amended its Trademarks Act of B.E. 2534 (1991). The amendments were published in the Royal Gazette on April 29, 2016 and become effective on July 28, 90 days after the publication date. Significant changes were introduced which we may summarize as follows. Extension to the definition of trad...

July 28, 2016

Vera Albino

Jurisdiction