Latest News
This space is dedicated to the latest and most relevant news stories in the world of intellectual property.
The US Department of Defense revokes the license to use Army trademarks to a manufacturer of faith-based military dog tags
Shields of Strength, a Texan company that manufactures faith-themed military products, is suing the US Department of Defense (DoD) after the latter required to stop the manufacturing of military dog tags with messages from the Christian Bible. Such products have been...
Google pays 500-million-euro fine for copyright dispute in France
Google paid the 500 million Eur fine imposed by the French competition authority for failing to negotiate in “good faith” with media companies the use of their content under European copyright laws. Indeed, the French minister in charge of digital affairs, Cedric O,...
Pepsi will have to change the name of one of his products after losing the lawsuit with Rise Brewing
A federal court in Manhattan has ruled that PepsiCo shall resign the “Mtn Dew Rise Energy” trademark designation for a drink launched last March (and, of course renounce naming any other product with a name similar to those of other companies), following the outcome...
Nikola’s lawsuit against Tesla for design patent infringement is still pending
Tesla, the famous company founded by Elon Musk, is facing a two-billion-dollar lawsuit filed by Nikola, a hydrogen trucking startup, for infringement of design patents. The dispute was initiated in 2018, with reference to Tesla’s “Tesla Semi” product, which allegedly...
Ericsson sues Apple for patents related to 5G technologies
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson is suing Apple in the Texas Federal Court, demanding to determine that the royalties offered to Apple to license its 5G wireless patents are fair and reasonable. The dispute revolves around the fees Apple should pay Ericsson for 5G...
Two thousand artists ask the Government for protection on streaming rights
More than two thousand artists have recently sent to the Presidents of the Chambers, Casellati and Fico, as well as to the Minister of Culture Franceschini, an appeal for an increase in fees for the use of music broadcast by streaming platforms. The digital music...
Chinese authorities stops illegal use of athletes’ names as trademarks
Chinese authorities rejected 109 trademarks applications from businesses that used names of Olympians from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games without their permission. Soon after the Olympics, some companies started using several Chinese gold medalists names to sell any...
Crocs accuses 21 brands of copying its “iconic design”
Crocs Inc. has filed lawsuits against 21 companies, including the multinational retail corporation Walmart, alleging infringement of the foam clogs’ “distinctively quirky design.” According to the complaints, Crocs asserts that it maintains an array of “valuable...
Huawei and Verizon settle pending patent disputes
Huawei and Verizon have decided to agree to settle two legal disputes pending among them for infringement of patented technologies. The trials, whose celebration was scheduled for this year, had been filed by Huawei against Verizon, the largest mobile telephone...
YouTube is not liable for its users’ copyright infringement
The European Court of Justice has recently established, with its own decision, the general principle according to which – under certain conditions – YouTube and other online platforms are not liable for their users’ uploading of copyright-protected content. The...