Category Europe

Waiting For Customs And Trademark Reforms, EU Rights Owners Get “Proactive” Against Fakes

Alicante, Spain – The impact of counterfeit goods on the economy, public health, and the bottom line was a central theme during a private-sector symposium on trademarks here this week. For European rights owners, the border is where counterfeiters are at their weakest and therefore the best place to act. But as stronger legislation regarding infringement of intellectual property rights on goods in transit is unlikely for now, the private sector is seeking alternative ways to take on a growing business threat.

European Unitary Patent And Court Becomes Reality

A years'-long struggle ended Tuesday when the European Parliament overwhelmingly backed the creation of a unitary EU patent and patent litigation court system. The vote followed Monday's approval by the Council of Ministers. But hard feelings over a last-minute government compromise, and continuing concerns about whether the new regime will make patenting in Europe cheaper and more accessible to smaller enterprises, continued to rankle. The European Court of Justice (ECJ), meanwhile, appears headed toward rejection of a legal challenge by Italy and Spain, who have refused to join the unitary patent system.

Single European Patent Dominates IP Summit As European Parliament Vote Nears

Brussels, Belgium - As the value of intellectual property reaches unprecedented heights, policymakers, business leaders, and legal experts discussed the need for international patent harmonisation during a two-day patent conference in Brussels last week. With the vote on the European unitary patent and common litigation system just days away from parliamentary vote, participants focussed on what the new system may mean to business.

Libraries, NGOs Warn EU Commissioners Against Restrictive Copyright Licensing

A diverse group of more than two dozen groups representing libraries, digital civil liberties, free software and an open, user-friendly internet has called on European commissioners to refrain from overly restrictive copyright licensing policies and to consider flexibilities to copyright to encourage knowledge access. The commissioners were expected to meet today to discuss possible changes to EU copyright law.

Survey On IP: Policymakers Believe Junk Statistics; North-South Divide Dissolving

Preliminary findings of a survey aimed at mapping the current prevailing ideas on intellectual property confirmed recognised trends that academics and intergovernmental IP professionals look more favourably on weaker IP protection, and traditional North-South differences toward IP rights are becoming less clear cut. It also found that policymakers tend to rely heavily on statistics from industry to help them with their decisions, whether reliable or not.

Special Report Russia’s Enforcement Against Online Copyright Infringement

During the joint news conference held in Paris on 27 November by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Medvedev was asked a question of legislative scrutiny with regard to internet regulation in Russia. In his reply, the Russian prime minister admitted that the current legislation regulating the internet is “imperfect” and called upon the international community to “consider parameters to regulate the operation of the internet on the national or international level.”

EU Parliament To Vote On Measure Against Biopiracy; Focus On UN Protocol

European Union lawmakers will vote soon on a non-binding measure aimed at protecting genetic resources and fighting biopiracy, or misappropriation. Despite the critical importance of these issues, efforts to draw the European Parliament's attention to the resolution have been difficult and its outcome is less than clear, its author says.

Event This Week: The Creation Of Unitary Patent Protection In The European Union

The Creation of Unitary Patent Protection in the European Union
Paris, 29-30 November 2012
Maison de la Recherche
54, rue de Varenne
75007 Paris
Find here (http://bit.ly/Vbb2CB) more information about the conference.

After more than 30 years of negotiations, 25 of 27 Member States reached a conclusion on the future Unitary Patent System. The central aim of the two draft Regulations on the creation of unitary patent protection and on the applicable translation arrangements is to reduce the costs of patent protection and translation fees in the EU. The European Council on 28-29 June 2012 agreed to split the seat of the EU Patent Court between Paris, London and Munich. The Council’s suggestion to delete Articles 6-8 of the draft Regulation on the creation of the unitary patent provoked strong criticism in the European Parliament which postponed the vote on the proposal scheduled for 4 July 2012. A conference organised by the Academy of European Law (ERA) in cooperation with Queen Mary University of London in Paris on 29-30 November 2012 will offer a platform for discussion on the latest proposals which are now being discussed within the European Parliament.