THE SUPREME COURT CONFIRMED THAT RUSSIAN USERS MAY FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST AN AMERICAN SOCIAL NETWORK TO A RUSSIAN COURT The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation reviewed a case initiated by a number of Internet users against the American social network Facebook Inc. The Russian users filed a lawsuit against Facebook Inc. based on … Continue Reading
On 27 May 2020 WIPO launched new online business service, WIPO PROOF1, that provides tamper-proof evidence of the existence at a point in time of any digital file, including data sets, in any format. The WIPO PROOF service generates tamper-proof evidence proving that a digital file existed at a specific point in time, and that … Continue Reading
Although in Greece, in principle, no permit is required for filming in public open-air spaces, there are few exceptions to the above rule that could make the situation a little bit complex. These exceptions are mostly linked with the venue where the filming is going to take place, regardless of whether we are talking about … Continue Reading
Nowadays the sphere of healthcare is becoming one of the mostly discussed because of a mass spread of the coronavirus pandemic (also COVID-19). Confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world have passed more than a 2.4 million. As the disease is continuing to surge the World Health Organization is warning that there are no specific … Continue Reading
At the end of 2019, Federal Law No. 405-FZ1 entered into force. This act has significantly increased administrative liability for violations of the requirements on the localization of databases containing personal data of Russian nationals. We already wrote about this amendment earlier. The new provisions have significantly increased the amount of fines for violation of requirements for … Continue Reading
THE GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS AS THE NEW INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ITEM According to the Federal Law “On the Introduction of Amendments to Part Four of the Civil code of the Russian Federation” that shall come into force on the 27th of June 2020, a new civil law institute – the geographical indication is appearing in the Civil … Continue Reading
The field of collective management of music authors’ rights in Greece is currently experiencing a series of ongoing developments regarding the establishment and operation of collecting societies representing music authors in the country, with the situation still remaining uncertain as to how the landscape will look like in a few months’ time. It is noted … Continue Reading
Within a year after the 1787 Edinburgh edition of his poems, American editions…were published in both Philadelphia and New York. Ever since we [Americans] have adopted the beauty, the humor and the wisdom of Robert Burns as part of our own culture and our own idiom—-often, even usually, without knowing the source in Scotland’s ploughman poet. … Continue Reading
In a recent judgment from The Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) in case C-688/17, the CJEU had the chance to provide an interpretation of adequate compensation contained in article 9(7) of Directive 2004/48 (the “enforcement directive”) and whether article 9(7) precludes a national legislation that provides that a party should not … Continue Reading
A recent decision of the Three-Member Court of Appeals of Komotini (Felonies Department), dated 19/11/2019, has been intensely debated by the national media as resulting to the first “real” prison sentence that has ever been imposed in our country to a website owner for illegally distributing copyright-protected content. Although the judgement has not been published … Continue Reading
In the framework of its efforts against online copyright piracy, the Hellenic Copyright Organization (“HCO”, Greek Acronym “OPI”) launched, on August 1st 2019, a new web portal, under the domain name “theLegalBay.gr”. The new website aims to be the place where online users can easily find web platforms available either solely in Greece or worldwide … Continue Reading
At the end of June a mechanism providing for temporary protection of industrial designs was introduced into the Russian legal system. In short it requires somebody who uses an industrial design during the period of its patenting to pay compensation to the future holder of the patent. Previously, this type of protection was available only … Continue Reading
While in some jurisdictions the concept of a “patent attorney” or also a “patent judge”, referring to persons who not only have knowledge of patent law but also acquire technical expertise in relation to patents, is common, this is not the case in Greece. Of course, there are lawyers with high-level expertise in patent law, … Continue Reading
Under the Federal Law “On drugs circulation” (Law), information on state registration of drugs in Russia shall be publicly available. Pursuant to Art. 37(1) of the Law, MoH-s obligation is to disclose information regarding all filed applications for drug registration on its official website. For a long period, MoH used to turn a blind eye to … Continue Reading
The descendants of a well-known Danish scientist could not prevent the commercial use of the name ØRSTED as a trademark, domain and company name by the Ørsted Group (former Dong Energy A/S). The parties to the dispute Before going into the details of the dispute, the parties are briefly presented in the following. H.C. Ørsted … Continue Reading
As outlined in art. 1247 of the Russian Civil Code, any applicant may choose one of the options how to be represented before Rospatent: directly, or by a Russian patent attorney, or by another representative (e.g., attorney-at-law) The list is significantly shortened for foreign applicants: under art. 1247 (2) of the Civil Code, foreign citizens … Continue Reading
Are apples different from pears? Or are they both just fruit? Or, as cockney rhyming slang would have it, are they stairs? These are the questions (excepting the last one) that the distinguished judges of the Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEU) have been gr-apple-ing with in the recent case of Pear Technologies … Continue Reading
On 26 February 2019, the Hellenic Copyright Organization (Greek acronym: “OPI”) launched a new online service for “electronic timestamping” of all types of works. The service, which can be accessed at www.timestamp.gr/en , claims to offer the opportunity to creators, both amateurs and professionals, to easily get certified proof of existence of their work at … Continue Reading
in PDF format CATEGORY: Trademarks CASE: Sony vs. PAG DETAILS: Resolution of the Constitutional Court No. 8-P dated 13 February 2018 SUMMARY: Unlike the counterfeit, the original (grey) product cannot be destroyed under the court judgment (unless it endangers human health, the environment or cultural heritage) and it is impossible to recover a large compensation… Continue Reading
I don’t care what you say anymore this is my life Go ahead with your own life leave me alone. —Billy Joel, My Life People often do quite well financially selling their life story. But stop and think for a minute what that statement means — “selling their life story.” The complex personal investment each … Continue Reading
On 24 April 2018 the Intellectual Property Court published its Decision in case A41 85807/2016 between Swiss-based Novartis AG and local generic Nativa LLC. The IP Court’s position in this case may result in an extra defense granted for patent holders against unfair practice of registration of generics drugs until patent expiry. Under the auspices of the … Continue Reading
The relationship of wine, beer, and spirits has often proved complicated and confusing for the tippler, regardless of country. There are old saws that many repeat, and report on, that say things like “Beer Before Liquor, Never Sicker; Liquor Before Beer, You’re In The Clear” and “Wine Before Beer Leaves You Queer, But Beer Before … Continue Reading
INTRODUCTION The present article constitutes an amendment of my article “The New Legal Framework in Greece about Cash Rebates for the Production of Audiovisual Works” dated 16.04.2018 (available here), which provided a brief and general outline of the legal framework in Greece about the state aid scheme for the production of audiovisual works in Greece … Continue Reading
On 4 July 2018, Russian IP Court rendered a landmark judgment in case No. A40-132026/2017. Under the merits of the case, LLC Azbuka Vkusa (trademark holder) sued LLC Registrator R01 (prominent domain registrar) seeking to cease delegation of the disputed domain name. It was apparent that the claimant’s trademark AZBUKA VKUSA was infringed in the domain … Continue Reading
