On 1 March 2022, the European Commission launched a public consultation inviting stakeholders to comment on a revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations on Research & Development and Specialisation (HBERs) draft, as well...more
4/7/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Art ,
Comment Period ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
FRAND ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Section 101 ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
While European intellectual property (IP) regimes have slowly digested the Brexit shock, brand owners are vacillating between optimism and apprehension in 2022 as they navigate continuous developments in IP law. At the...more
KEY TAKEAWAYS AND OUTLOOK FOR 2022 -
Tracking with this era’s continuation and uncertainty trends―global supply chain disruption, innovation outpacing legislation, the unstoppable internet of [all the] things (IoT)―2022 is...more
2/18/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Final Written Decisions ,
FRAND ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Section 101 ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
USPTO ,
Venue
Following public consultation rounds on the regulation of standard-essential patents (SEPs) in the United States and the United Kingdom, the European Union followed suit and published a “Call for Evidence” concerning an...more
The regulation of standard-essential patents (SEPs) has increasingly attracted the attention of policymakers in recent years. This includes the European Commission, which institutes multiple projects to profoundly review the...more
On January 18, 2022, after recently joining the protocol on a European Unified Patent Court (UPC) on provisional application (PPA) as the decisive 13th EU Member State, Austria deposited its instrument of accession to the...more
Austria became the 13th country to join the protocol on a European Unified Patent Court (UPC) on provisional application (PPA) when the second chamber of the Austrian parliament (Bundesrat) approved the PPA unanimously on...more
The German parliament recently passed the Approval Act (the Act) regarding the planned European Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the protocol on a UPC on provisional application (PPA). The Act was passed after Germany’s Federal...more
On July 9, 2021, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court rejected a pair of applications for a preliminary injunction directed against the German Approval Act on the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC) (decision of June...more
In a case referred by German authorities, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) resolved a dispute between a visual arts copyright collecting society and a cultural heritage foundation involving a digital library...more
The advent of 5G promises a new era of speed, throughput and bandwidth for cellular networks, however the world of telecommunications and licensing faces several challenges in preparation for its arrival. Although wireless...more
2/23/2021
/ 5G Network ,
Innovation ,
Internet of Things ,
Licenses ,
Mobile Broadband Services ,
Popular ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Technology ,
Telecommunications ,
Transparency ,
Wireless Technology
From a German perspective, 2020 saw highly interesting developments that may well have an impact even beyond the borders of Germany. For example, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) in Sisvel v. Haier handed down...more
1/26/2021
/ Digital Services ,
EU ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Foreign Trademark ,
FRAND ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Germany ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
New Legislation ,
Trademark Application ,
UK ,
Unified Patent Court
The 21st Civil Chamber of the Munich I District Court has referred a question on the availability of preliminary injunctions against patent infringements to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg...more
The German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) has issued its decision in a landmark case regarding standard essential patents (SEPs) and fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) licensing of SEPs. The judgment, dated 5 May...more
In 2019, Nokia filed a series of patent infringement complaints against Daimler before several German courts. Nokia alleged that connected cars made by Daimler infringed Nokia’s patents. Nokia considered the relevant patents...more
On May 5, 2020, an oral hearing in Germany’s most recent landmark case on standard-essential patents (SEPs) and fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing (Sisvel v. Haier, docket no. KZR 36/17) took place...more
The last year of the 2010s has been prolific in terms of important new pieces of legislation and case law within the European Union, and in France and Germany in particular. Indeed, the European Parliament and the EU Council...more
2/12/2020
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Digital Single Market ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
European Parliament ,
France ,
FRAND ,
Germany ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP Litigation ,
Patents ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
Unified Patent Court
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recently handed down its judgment in a case concerning the circumstances under which an intellectual property (IP) right holder is liable for damages caused by a preliminary...more
12/4/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Damages ,
EU ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Preliminary Injunctions
On 11 July 2019, the Munich I District Court (Landgericht) issued an anti-suit injunction in patent litigation, preventing an automotive company from further pursuing proceedings in the United States. The Munich decision...more
8/2/2019
/ Anti-Suit Injunctions ,
Automotive Industry ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Ex Parte ,
FRAND ,
Germany ,
Nokia ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Standard Essential Patents
Newly issued EU Regulation 2019/933 provides supplementary protection certificate exemptions for exporting and stockpiling active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicinal products if certain anti-abuse requirements are met....more
7/12/2019
/ Anti-Abuse Rule ,
Biotechnology ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labeling ,
Life Sciences ,
Manufacturers ,
Member State ,
New Regulations ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Supplementary Protection Certificate ,
Third Country Entities (TCEs)
In two recent decisions, the German Federal Constitutional Court declared preliminary injunctions (PIs) unconstitutional if they are granted without hearing or advance notice to the defendant. Case Nos. 1 BvR 1783/17, 1 BvR...more
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rendered a landmark decision extending patent term extensions for certain medicinal products in litigation relating to supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) for the...more
Germany recently introduced a new act that will substantially change the way trade secrets are protected. As the term is used in Germany, “trade secrets” include both technical know-how (such as construction drawings,...more
Germany will soon introduce a new act on the protection of trade secrets, which will bring substantial change to the way trade secrets are protected in Germany. Some of these changes are already relevant today, and...more