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1 minute Martini Manna
The Court of Milan protects the Ralph Lauren “Polo Player” trademark
On 5 November, the Court of Milan (Business Court “A”) issued a judgment on a dispute concerning the famous “Polo Player” trademark of the Ralph Lauren group, representing a polo player hitting a ball. In fact, the plaintiff The Polo/Lauren Company (“Ralph Lauren”), proprietor of a series of figurative National and Community trademarks concerning the “Polo Player”, requested the court to declare the invalidity of two trademarks registered in Italy by the defendant R&D of Hong Kong, allegedly including a sign almost undistinguishable from the Polo Player.
The CJEU on the cross-class protection of the trademark “Ballon d’Or”
By decision of 20 November in joined cases C-581/13 P and C-582/13 P, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled on the cross-class protection of well-known trademarks in relation to Intra-press’ sign “Ballon d’Or”, i.e. the name of the famous football award that is registered as a Community Trademark (“CTM”).
AdWords and third party trademarks: the Enterprise Matters Section of the Milan Court rules in the wake of the ECJ’s case-law
The use of third party trademarks as “ad-words” in order to gain advantageous referencing in Internet searches does not necessarily constitute trademark infringement, the Enterprises Section of the Milan Court ruled on appeal against a summary judgment, in a decision that is filled with references to the EU Court of Justice case-law.
The Milan Business Court rules on the amount of damages resulting from a design infringement
By judgment of 14 November in proceedings with docket no. 76679/08, the Milan Business Court “A” ruled on the amount of damages suffered by the plaintiff due to the commercialisation of products infringing one of its registered designs.
The disciplinary use of a public employee’s sex life data: the Italian Supreme Court’s ruling no. 21107/2014
In 2011 a local administration, following an anonymous tip-off, searched the Web and found that one of its employees was offering sexual services on specialised public websites.
The EMA adopts a new policy on the publication of clinical data: are IP rights at risk?
On 2 October, the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”) adopted its new policy on the publication of clinical data for medicinal products for human use.
Newsletters and advertising emails: two different activities, according to the Italian Data Protection Authority
With decision no. 427 of 25 September, the Italian Data Protection Authority specified some important principles on the processing of personal data, clarifying some useful aspects for companies that deal with direct marketing activities.
Is a mere distributor entitled to file a patent infringement lawsuit? The Italian Supreme Court says yes
Even the mere distributor of a patented product is entitled to file a lawsuit for infringement of the relevant patent in a competent court: so it was ruled by the Italian Court of Cassation, thus taking a stance in a very controversial matter, in judgment no. 15350/2014.
The Internet of Things, Personal Data and the Article 29 Working Party: no Extraordinary Revelations, but a Useful Summary
The adoption of an Opinion on the Internet of Things and personal data protection in the EU by the Article 29 Working Party (WP) last September had a certain resonance.
The Chanel campaign “Latin Lover” does not infringe the trademark “Latin Lover”, says the Court of Milan
The Court of Milan Business Chamber “A” recently issued a decision in a case in which Chanel was sued in relation to its “Latin Lover” advertising campaign of 2010 (decision no. 11375/2014 of 29 September 2014).
ISP Liability: Yahoo! Wins the Rematch against R.T.I.
After (almost) exactly three years since a well-known Milan IP Court ruling settled a litigation between Yahoo! Italia and R.T.I.—the TV arm of the Mediaset group—in favour of the latter, the same Court, ruling on a new copyright infringement litigation between the same parties, issued a reverse decision, awarding the victory to Yahoo!
Distinctive Packaging, Unfair Competition and Damages: a Milan IP Court Ruling
The IP Court of Milan recently issued a ruling of some interest in the matter of distinctive packaging, unfair competition and related damages claims (ruling no. 11010/14 of 17/09/2014).
EU Court of Justice: the Stokke children’s chair cannot be registered as a 3D trademark
By judgment of 18 September (C-205/13), the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) has returned to the subject.
The Court of Milan in Sanofi v. Teva “repeats” the CJEU judgment in Actavis
By judgment No. 9855/14 published on 1 August, the Business Chamber “A” of the Court of Milan has decided the lawsuit filed by Sanofi against Teva for the infringement of supplementary protection certificate no. UB99P653 (“SPC ‘653”), which was owned by Sanofi for its CoAproval medicine (irbesartan + hydrochlorothiazide) and allegedly infringed by the relevant generic drug from Teva.
The Court of Justice of the EU rules on the right of libraries to digitise books
In its judgment of 11 September in case C-117/13, the Court of Justice of the European Union declared that Member States may authorise libraries to digitise, even without permission from right holders, books they hold in their collection in order to make them available at electronic reading points.
The French antitrust authority decides on the capsules compatible with Nespresso machines
On 4 September, the French antitrust authority issued its decision in the proceedings initiated against Nespresso, for allegedly exclusionary practices implemented by Nespresso against competitors producing capsules compatible with its coffee machines.
New risks for design works (and Italy)
The copyright protection of industrial design works in Italy seems to be at risk again. This is because of a rule introduced in the so-called “Sblocca Italia” (“Unblock Italy”) decree due to be published shortly, which would change for the umpteenth time art. 239 of Legislative Decree no. 30/2005 (Intellectual Property Code, “IPC”), already schizophrenically amended countless times in the past: see our post about it here, here, here and here.
The protection of shape trademarks: Ferrero obtains a partial victory before the Milan IP Court
An IP Judge of the Milan District Court partially granted an application for preliminary seizure and injunction filed by the well-known confectionery company Ferrero against one of its competitors, which claimed, among other things, an infringement of shape trademarks (Order of 08.11.2014, Docket No. 19325/2014, Judge S. Giani).
Can improper use of Facebook and the Internet get you fired in Italy? Definitively yes, according to the Court of Milan
By order of 1 August 2014, the Labour Court of Milan rejected the motion of an employee who was fired by his company on grounds related to the use of Facebook and the Internet in the workplace (Labour Court of Milan, Docket no. 6847/2014, Judge Colosimo).
The concept of “parody” and its limits: the recent interpretation from the European Court of Justice
The ECJ, asked for a preliminary ruling by the Belgian Court of Appeal, has recently delivered an interesting judgment concerning nature, meaning and the limits of the concept of “parody” as an exception of the exclusive reproduction right, right of communication to the public and right of making protected works available to the public.