Clifford Chance
Global Intellectual Property Newsletter –28th Edition – IP Topics from around the Globe
14 December 2020
Welcome to the 28th edition of the Clifford Chance Global IP Newsletter.
To begin with, we would like to introduce to you our new colleague Ronny Amirsehhi who joined the Düsseldorf IP team as a patent attorney on November 1. Ronny has a Bioengineering technical background and brings more than 16 years of experience with prosecuting and litigating patents before the European Patent Office (EPO), United States Patent Office (USPTO), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and European national courts – welcome to our Global IP Team, Ronny!
With Holiday season just around the corner, we would like to shed some light on a variety of recent IP-related topics one more time in this eventful and – for all of us – clearly challenging year 2020.
We will start with the discussion of a recent decision of the Barcelona Court of Appeal in the field of trademark law, dealing with dinosaur-shaped lookalike foodstuffs (Who doesn’t like dinosaurs?) following-up on case law discussed in the 22nd Global IP Newsletter. Keeping your secrets safe, we continue with case law on how German courts interpret and apply the 2019 German Trade Secrets Act with respect to the trade secrets definition in a public law-context, the range of protectable subject matters and the nature of appropriate secrecy measures.
Staying in the realm of trade secrets protection, our Hong Kong team looks into the Chinese Supreme Court's recent issuance of various judicial interpretation such as the "Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Cases of Trade Secrets Infringement" as well as other IP topics such as the update of the "Catalogue of technologies prohibited and restricted from export".
Back in Europe, our Milan colleagues report from WIPO's virtual exhibition on artificial intelligence ("AI") and IP which took place on 18 September 2020. One of the topics discussed was the phenomenon of "deep-fake" technology, i.e. the manipulation of audio, photos and videos with the aid of AI applications, which is at the centre of an ongoing heated debate on copyright, data protection and security issues.
Further, Clifford Chance had the opportunity to be part of the national working group for the 2020 Study Question for copyright given by the AIPPI regarding "IP Rights in Data?", while our Spanish team analyses a decision of the Barcelona Court of Appeal on the compatibility of copyright and industrial design protection. Our German IP team presents a "tasty" topic: IP protection of food creations in Germany under the German Copyright Act, German Law on Unfair Competition and Patent Law.
Turning to patent litigation, our French colleagues shed light on a current decision by the Paris Court in the case of Eli Lilly vs. Fresenius which is of particular importance for patent owners faced with infringers who make small changes to their products in order to attempt to avoid infringement in France. Finally, we would like to provide you with an overview regarding typical legal issues arising from advertising, promoting and endorsing products/services in the field of influencer marketing from a UK Law perspective.
As always, we hope you enjoy reading this latest edition of the Global IP Newsletter and look forward to receiving your feedback.
With the approaching end of the challenging year 2020 in which the Corona Pandemic has affected us all, we wish you all the best for 2021 and hope that you stay healthy.
Your Global CC IP Team
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