Our international tax, corporate and intellectual property partners will hold seminars in Hong Kong (3 Sept.), Shanghai (4 Sept.) and Beijing (5 Sept.), with lively discussion on the monetization of your intellectual property (IP) in the context of M&A transactions. While IP makes up a high percentage of Enterprise Value (if not the majority in some industries!), it
Tag Archives: Germany
Standard essential patents in the automotive industry – Webinar recording
Earlier this month we held the third in our LimeGreen Live webinar series, in conjunction with Hogan Lovells Automotive and Mobility Industry Sector Group This webinar explored recent SEP case developments in three key jurisdictions—the U.S., Germany, and China. The speakers were three members of our global patent team handling automotive patent litigation and SEP disputes: Katie Feng (China), Joe Raffetto
Scottish glens, German whisky and the question: Are you befuddled?
Court of Justice of the European Union, judgment of 7 June 2018, C-44/17 Glen is a Gaelic word with a wonderful lyrical sound to it and reminiscent of idyllic remote Scottish valleys with the mists from the last rain perpetually lingering over their green slopes. Also, it happens that 31 out of 116 Scottish distilleries
Standard essential patents in the automotive industry – LimeGreen Live webinar 21/26 June
Join us on 21 or 26 June for the third in our LimeGreen Live webinar series, in conjunction with Hogan Lovells Automotive and Mobility Industry Sector Group This webinar will explore recent SEP case developments in three key jurisdictions—the U.S., Germany, and China. The presenters include three members of our global patent team handling automotive patent litigation and SEP disputes:
Covering up doesn’t get you off the hook – criminal liability for the import of counterfeit branded clothing
German Federal Court of Justice, ref. no. 5 StR 554/17 Counterfeiters typically make tremendous efforts to cover up their identity and the details of their actions. By doing so, they aim to both prevent trademark owners from bringing civil law claims as well as to avoid criminal prosecution through law enforcement authorities. The German Federal Court
“BLACK FRIDAY”: Not a trademark, just a day for special shopping deals
Decision of the German Patent and Trademark Office of 27 March 2018 (ref. no. 30 2013 057 574 – S 33/17/Lösch) The German PTO has seen the light in the dark of the “Black Friday” battles: The term has been declared free for all to use in commerce, signaling the end of a trademark monopoly
Germany: Making an impact – enforcing patents at trade fairs
Trade fairs offer patent proprietors particular opportunities to take action against infringements of their IP rights. However, successfully enforcing patent rights requires careful planning and expert implementation to avoid pitfalls. Exhibitors who fear being sued for patent infringement at a trade fair must also be well prepared. Trade fairs are one of the key marketing
Germany: Innovating Protection – Protecting Innovation, IP Lounge event, 8 March
Virtual realities don’t just offer a fascinating experience for the user, they also give rise to a large number of legal issues: What is the best way to protect technical inventions? Should patent applications be filed or is it better to keep inventions secret? What stumbling blocks may be encountered when cooperating with other companies
Germany: Hogan Lovells at Forum seminar on new EU ‘trade secrets’ directive
EU Directive 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure must be implemented in the EU Member States by June 2018. The Directive seeks to address the increasing importance of trade secrets, the growing threat to classified information and how to effectively combat industrial espionage and protect secrets.
German Supreme Court remains claimant-friendly on cease and desist orders
BGH, October 10, 2017 – I ZB 96/16, published on February 6, 2018 Another milestone for cease and desist orders has been reached in Germany. The German Federal Supreme Court has clarified in a number of decisions that defendants in cease and desist orders not only have to cease the infringing use but also have to
Germany: HL awarded JUVE “IP Law Firm of the Year”
We are very pleased to announce our award for Law Firm of the Year for IP at the JUVE Awards last night! After four nominations in recent years, in which JUVE certified that we are “the Go-To-firm for difficult IP cases” and emphasised both the international and the precedence-setting nature of our German practice’s work, we are
Europe: Blockchain – The virtual currency Bitcoin
In this series of blog posts, we take a look at the current state of play regarding blockchain technology as well as the legal setting with a European and German focus. Whoever thinks of blockchain also has inevitably bitcoins in mind. The Internet currency is largely based on the blockchain technology and it is therefore one of the most obvious
UPC and Germany: Status update – Constitutional complaint, ratification timeline and more
Background The constitutional complaint against the UPC ratification that was lodged with the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany earlier this year has received a lot of attention over the past few months as it could have the potential to considerably delay the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA). Pursuant
Life Sciences: Spotlight interview on false advertising claims in Europe
Life sciences businesses dedicate huge resources to advertising material in a fiercely competitive market. Partner Tanja Eisenblätter discusses false advertising in this sector and why it is important for clients looking to launch new products. Preliminary injunctions in Germany Tanja presents a typical business case in which a client’s global advertising and its competitors’ advertising are assessed for misleading or unlawful content. In
Germany: Federal Network Agency imposes record fine for cold call advertising
The German Federal Network Agency for Energy, Telecommunications, Post and Railway, has issued a record fine of €300,000 against an electricity supplier for systematic cold call advertising. Violations of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG) generally involve the risk of competitors seeking cease and desist orders, or consumers claiming compensation. The violation of Sec. 7 UWG
German tax treatment of royalties regarding software license and database licenses
– Draft guidance of German Federal Ministry of Finance released for discussion purposes Yesterday the German Federal Ministry of Finance (Bundesfinanzministerium) released a draft circular on the German tax treatment of royalties paid for software and database licenses granted by non-resident licensors (the draft can be found here). The draft is highly important to clients
BEPS Update – Germany on the way to limit the tax deductibility of royalties
A new legislative approach of the German tax authorities, which had been leaked in December 2016 (see our earlier report), was passed on Thursday, 27 April 2017, as one of the very last laws of the current Bundestag prior to the elections in September this year. On Friday, 2nd June 2017 the Bundesrat gave its
Germany: New rules on recovery of criminal proceeds affect enforcement of IP rights
On 23 March 2017, the German Parliament passed new rules on criminal law measures for recovery of criminal proceeds. In the future, enforcement of financial claims against criminal offenders will be widely handled by the public prosecution. Whilst the new rules may facilitate access to compensation for private parties affected by crimes, intellectual property right
BEPS – Germany on the way to limit the tax deductibility of royalties
A new legislative approach of the German tax authorities leaked last December 19 and approved by the German government on January 25, 2017 (see German language text here) will have a significant impact on the tax deductibility of royalties owed to related persons being subject to a preferential back end tax regime for IP not
Germany’s highest court rules on apps and weather
Mobile apps are generally worthy of title rights protection, said the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) in a ruling last week. However, these unregistered rights must cross a certain threshold of distinctiveness to qualify for protection – just like their big brothers, registered trademarks. The claimant’s app and domain name “wetter.de” was held not to
Germany: Adblock Plus – Third court ruling rejects claims against Eyeo
On 29 September, the District Court of Cologne became the third court in Germany to issue a decision in relation to the trilogy of actions launched by large publishers against adblocking software Adblock Plus. The court rejected publisher Axel Springer’s action against Eyeo GmbH, the German company behind AdBlock Plus. In doing so, the Cologne court agreed with
RCD, Germany & Italy: Designs prosecution and invalidity
New content on LimeGreen IP Knowhow Hogan Lovells’ LimeGreen IP now includes content on the laws governing design prosecution and requests for invalidation of designs in Europe (RCD) Germany and Italy. Guidelines for more jurisdictions will follow in due course. The new design prosecution section on LimeGreen IP covers how extent or length of protection and requirements of
Germany: BGH rules on Blue – Market recognition and survey tuning for single colour marks
The German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) handed down its ruling last week on an invalidity action brought against a blue colour mark of German beauty care giant Beiersdorf. Beiersdorf uses its blue colour (Pantone 280 C, to be precise) for its well-known NIVEA skin-care products, on packaging and in advertising. The mark had been registered
EU: Does money grow on plant-varieties? CJEU to rule on applicability of supplemental (punitive) damages for infringements of intellectual property rights
Court of Appeal, Düsseldorf (Germany), order dated 16 October 2014 (file no. I-15 U 21/14) Currently, most EU member states, including Germany, do not recognize lump sum supplemental damages aiming to punish and deter the infringer. In October 2014 the Court of Appeal of Düsseldorf made a reference for a preliminary ruling to the Court