Lego Mark Wars: Toy Giant Snaps Together Two Favorable 3D Trademark Rulings...
On June 16, 2015, Lego Juris A/S obtained two favorable decisions from the General Court of the European Union which will afford protection to famous Lego “minifigure” as a three-dimensional (3D)...
View ArticleThe Right to be Forgotten: Another Scuffle between Google and The French Data...
On 13 May 2014 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a judgment which Google called a “landmark ruling” (Google v. Costeja Gonzalez case, C-131/12). The court held, based on the...
View ArticleGoogle and the Right to be Forgotten: The French Data Protection Authority...
On June 12, 2015 the French Data Protection Authority (Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés – CNIL) issued a notice ordering Google to draw all the consequences of the CJEU May 13,...
View ArticleThe European Court of Justice Invalidates Safe Harbor
The European Court of Justice has just issued a decision (ECJ 6 October 2015 Case C-362/14, Maximillian Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner) that invalidates the so-called US-EU “Safe Harbor”...
View ArticleFrench Trademark Office Will Not Register “PRAY FOR PARIS” Or “JE SUIS PARIS”
After the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, the French Trademark Office received so many applications for “JE SUIS CHARLIE” that the Office issued a statement in which it warned that...
View ArticleNo Break In Fight Over Kit Kat Three-Dimensional Trademark
The story begins in the UK in 1935, when a worker at Rowntree’s York factory put an idea in the suggestion box for a snack that “a man could take to work in his pack.” This idea ?led to the famous...
View ArticleEuropean Union Agrees On a New Data Protection Framework Tol Replace the...
On 15 December 2015, the three main European institutions, the Commission, the Parliament and the Council, agreed on the final text of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which has been on...
View ArticleDate Me, Snog Me But Don’t Meet Me in the European Trademark Office
“Be creative!” is an important piece of advice which you often hear from European trademark lawyers. Today, more than ever, this recommendation should be taken seriously. The reason is very simple: the...
View ArticleEU Commission and United States agree on new framework for transatlantic data...
What follows below is the EU’s press release regarding the agreement on a replacement for the EU-US Safe Harbor. We are working to get details and will schedule a webinar on the new framework...
View ArticleFebruary 3, 2016 Statement of the Article 29 Working Party on the...
In response to the announcement of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the Article 29 Working Party issued its own statement, the key elements of which are as follows......By: Catherine Muyl
View ArticleDetails of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework Unveiled
The content of the Privacy Shield was made public yesterday and today. The new framework dedicated to the EU / US flow of personal data is in fact a combination of several documents issued by the US...
View ArticleThe Coca-Cola Bottle In Europe: No Fluting, No Distinctiveness
Three-dimensional trademarks have given rise to some interesting European Community decisions in the last several months (see, for example, our comments on the Kit Kat and Lego decisions). A decision...
View ArticleCARRERA’s Trademark Reputation: “Luxury, High Tech, High Performance and...
The German carmaker, Porsche AG, which designed the iconic 911 Carrera sports car, owns the European Union and German “CARRERA” word mark, registered for “automobiles” in class 12. How far beyond...
View ArticleEU General Data Protection Regulation Adopted
After years of intense discussions, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was finally adopted on 14 April 2016. The GDRP sets out uniform new rules in the field of data protection across the...
View ArticleEU-US Privacy Shield: Working Party Urges European Commission to Improve...
After the invalidation of the Safe Harbor by the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) last November in the Schrems case, negotiations between the European Commission and US authorities led to a new...
View ArticleJimi Hendrix Portrait Denied Copyright Protection For Lack of Originality
France is often presented as a country which is quite protective of IP owners, especially in the field of trademarks and copyright.? However, a recent decision rendered by the Paris District Court in...
View ArticleUpdate on EU-US Transfer of Data and the Proposed Privacy Shield
On 29 February the European Commission released its draft adequacy decision about the proposed Privacy Shield, which is intended to replace the invalidated EU-US Safe Harbor. While Microsoft stated on...
View ArticleEU-US Data Transfers?: An update on actions taken by European DPAs
After the European Court of Justice invalidated Safe Harbor on October 6, ?2015, the Article 29 Working Party announced in an October 16, 2015 statement that US companies that were Safe Harbor...
View ArticleBrexit: Potential Consequences For European Union Trademarks
In a few hours, citizens of the United Kingdom will have to answer Yes or No to the question: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?” A lot has...
View ArticleA Brexit Primer for Trademark Owners
On June 23, the citizens of the UK voted Yes to the question “Should the UK leave the European Union?” Here are some answers to questions that we are hearing from trademark owners....By: Catherine Muyl
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