Legal perspectives: Europe, Middle East & Africa

Croatia
Croatia gets its IP regime in order as EU membership looms

Croatia’s negotiations to join the European Union are helping to propel this fast-growing economy into the frontline of developed nations. The chapter on intellectual property, Chapter VII, is now complete, meaning that the Croatian IP system is fully harmonised with that of the European Union. Croatian citizens and companies are becoming increasingly aware of the usefulness and importance of intellectual property. Despite this, the majority of applications for IP protection are still filed by foreign companies and individuals, although this can largely be attributed to the costs involved in pursuing this kind of protection. View PDF

Czech Republic
Know your IP rights: protecting your business in the Czech Republic

Since 2000, when the Czech Republic began the last stage of the process to join the European Union, every year has seen changes in the field of IP rights. However, after close to a decade of often radical legislative change, there is little IP news to report for 2009 and no major legislative changes are planned for 2010. This is good news not only for lawyers, who can finally put away their textbooks, but also – and most importantly – for those most interested in the IP regime: the companies and individuals seeking to protect their intellectual property. The Czech Republic, which has always had comprehensive IP protection, has now been brought into line with the rest of Europe. Therefore, if a company has experience with an IP regime in one EU member state, the situation in the Czech Republic is likely to be very similar. View PDF

France
How to build an IP rights infringement case

In civil proceedings the burden of proof requires the plaintiff to provide the judge with the relevant documents or information in support of its claim. Therefore, in principle, the plaintiff must prove each element of the claim in order to convince the judge of its merits. View PDF

Germany
And the Academy Award for best IP venue goes to...

Consider the following situation. A new technology emerges that takes the film viewing experience to a previously unknown level. The enthusiastic reception that greets this new technology worldwide confirms that this is a game changer – the film industry will never be the same again. View PDF

Greece
EU directive provides little help to Greek patent owners

In Greek legal theory and practice, IP rights comprise copyright and industrial property rights, as defined in Article 8(18) of Law 2557/199. However, when the EU IP Rights Enforcement Directive (2004/48/EC) was implemented into Greek law, the legislature adopted a much more restrictive view of IP rights than that taken in the directive. As a result, Law 3524/2007, which was supposed to harmonise Greek law with the directive, has so far amended only the Copyright Law (2121/1993). Although the EU directive refers to every form of intel lectual property, the Greek implementing law has not yet had any effect or application on trademark or patent law. Even if, as is generally expected, the directive is incorporated into a forthcoming amendment of the Trademark Law, there has been no discussion about whether the new law will modify the Patent Law (1733/87). View PDF

Israel
The only road to enforcement: patent infringement lawsuits

In Israel, there is only one possible avenue for patentees seeking to enforce their rights against infringers: a lawsuit for patent infringement. Under the Patent Law, the district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over patent infringement cases. However, in 1998 the Supreme Court of Israel held that in cases where an invention has not been registered as a patent, there may be circumstances in which a remedy can be granted under the Unjust Enrichment Act. View PDF

Italy
A year in intellectual property – and a look to the future

In recent years some key changes have been made to the Italian IP legislation, including:
• the introduction in 2003 of 12 specialised IP courts, which have exclusive competence in IP matters;
• the enactment in 2005 of the IP Code, which collected all the relevant IP laws into a single code and introduced some major improvements; and
• the implementation of the EU IP Rights Enforcement Directive (2004/48/EC) in 2006, which amended both the Copyright Law and the new IP Code. View PDF

Norway
Courts lead the way in IP rights enforcement

In 2008 and 2009 the Norwegian courts ruled on a fair number of IP cases. The recent trend of increasing numbers of patent cases reaching the courts has continued: the Supreme Court heard one patent case in 2008 and two in 2009. This represents a considerable increase compared to previous years. View PDF

Poland
Practical know-how on supplementary protection certificates

Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) became legal in Poland when it acceded to the European Union on May 1 2004. EU Regulation 1768/92, which regulates SPCs for medicinal products, has been in force in Poland since that date View PDF

Romania
Protecting utility models: a useful Protecting utility models: a useful

Since March 13 2008 it has been possible to protect ‘small inventions’ in Romania. The legal provisions lay down a framework harmonised with the international conventions, treaties and agreements to which Romania is a signatory, offering inventors a useful alternative for protecting their interests in Romania. The applicable national laws are:
• the Law on Utility Models (350/2007); and
• Decision 1457 approving the regulation for the application of the Law on Utility Models. View PDF

Russia
Recent IP developments: hot topics and key court decisions

Part IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation came into effect on January 1 2008, bringing together all the rules governing intellectual property that had previously been included in a variety of laws. Part IV of the Civil Code is really an intellectual property code, containing general provisions applicable to all spheres of intellectual property and provisions regulating specific areas, such as copyright, trademarks and inventions. New case law is also taking shape on the basis of the new IP legislation. View PDF

South Africa
Impairment testing of acquired intellectual property in developing economies

When they were first implemented, International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 3 and International Accounting Standard (IAS) 38, requiring acquired goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite useful lives to be tested annually for impairment, caused some surprise in the investment community. View PDF

Spain
New challenges in the ever-expanding IP field

In recent years the Spanish industrial property regulations have been modernised, thus raising them to a level equivalent to the laws of other EU member states regarding trademarks (in 2002), designs (2003) and competition (2007). The patent regulations were modernised in 1986 and then updated to include rules for unfair competition (1991), biotechnological inventions (2002) and the Bolar clause (2006). Further, in 2006 all the industrial property laws were brought into line with the EU IP Rights Enforcement Directive. View PDF

Sweden
Online rights and piracy fight make for a busy year

Over the last year, Swedish IP law has been much characterised by internet-related matters, in particular by the implementation of the EU IP Enforcement Directive and the judgment in the Pirate Bay Case. Further developments include proposed amendments to existing law as well as other interesting judgments – for instance, regarding copyright protection for works of applied art. View PDF

United Kingdom
Recent developments in patent law

The past year has seen some key legal developments in the patent field. In the first-ever UK decision on this issue, the High Court ruled on the employee compensation scheme for patented inventions under the Patents Act 1977, resulting in a successful claim by two employees against their former employer. The House of Lords (replaced since October 1 2009 by the Supreme Court) clarified the applicable law as to insufficiency, the subject of its earlier ruling in Biogen. Finally, the Court of Appeal considered the criteria to apply to a commercial success defence when dealing with an attack based on obviousness. View PDF