In its judgment of 24 January 2024 in Case T-537/22, the General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Delta Sport Handelskontor, rejecting its application for a declaration of invalidity of the Community design relating to the LEGO brick.

EU Court of Justice rules on use of trademarks on non-OEM spare parts

The Italian Supreme Court recently overturned the well-known decision taken by the Court of Rome concerning the online reputation assessment system 'Mevaluate'.

The Italian Institute of Advertising Self-Regulation Jury has ruled on the lawfulness of a recent Vodafone commercial dedicated to the purchase of smartphones in installments, in relation to the role of minors in advertising.

A recent ruling by the Court of Cassation in December 2023 (no. 36021/2023) recognised how the de-indexing of content on the web represents, more often than not, finding the delicate balance between the right to privacy and the right to information.

The Court of Appeal (CoA) of the UPC stated that, in proceedings that do not involve technical issues, the Court of Appeal can decide without technically qualified judges.

In a ruling on 21 December 2023, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) declared certain rules in the Statutes of FIFA and UEFA to be contrary to EU law.

The Authority for Communications Guarantees (AGCOM), published the new guidelines for influencers, as a result of the public consultation initiated by Resolution No. 178/23/CONS. The guidelines were aimed at ensuring that the provisions of the Consolidated Audiovisual Media Services Act (Legislative Decree No. 208 dated 8 November 2021, no. 208) were complied with and the measures necessary to ensure their uniform and consistent application. There was particular reference to compliance with the principles of transparency and accuracy of information, the application of the regulations for the protection of minors and fundamental personal rights, and provisions on commercial communications and product placement aimed at making any promotional purposes, transparent to the public.

The Italian Antitrust Authority fined the companies Fenice S.r.l. and TBS Crew S.r.l., which manage the trademarks and rights relating to the personality and personal identity of Chiara Ferragni, and Balocco S.p.A., for the combined violation of their duty of professional diligence and unfair commercial practice, characterised by elements of deceptiveness.

The court elaborated on when two parties are to be considered the “same parties” under Article 33 UPCA, based on which, if an action for infringement between the same parties relating to the same patent has been brought before a local or a regional division, the revocation action may only be brought before the same local or regional division.

The Italian National Olympic Committee's Sports Guarantee Board recently issued an arbitration award concerning a dispute that arose between a sports agent and one of his former clients

In agreement with the Cancellation Division, the BoA considered that the contested trademark was registered in breach of Art. 7(1)(e)(ii) of EU Regulation no. 207/2009 as it consists exclusively of a shape that is necessary in order to obtain a technical result.

The Italian Patent and Trademark Office upheld Lindt's opposition against the registration of the ETNA EXCELLENCE trademark for chocolate and similar products, in light of Lindt's prior rights to the EXCELLENCE trademark.

After a 36 hours marathon, on 8 December the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act, better known as the AI Act, the world's first regulation on artificial intelligence

The Court granted copyright protection but concluded that the shape of the Vespa might not be entitled to 3D trademark protection as it would be a “shape that gives substantial value to the product “. The next day, the EU General Court annulled the EUIPO BoA decision which had declared the same trademark null and void due to a lack of distinctive character.

On 27 October 2023, EU Regulation 2023/2411 on the "protection of Geographical Indications for craft and industrial products" was published, which harmonises the different national regulations previously issued by Member States.

The defendant’s deadlines for the submission of its preliminary objection and statement of claim shall be calculated from the date when the annexes to the statement of claim were made available to the defendants, and not from the earlier date in which the statement of claim – without those annexes – was served on the defendants.

The applicant stated that he was interested to see how the claim division was framed, particularly since it was filed in parallel with cases in other divisions, and that he believes there is broader public interest in this information being made available for public scrutiny and discussion.

The LD ordered that the language of the proceedings (Dutch) be changed to English, i.e. the language of the patent, to avoid considerable translation time and costs for the defendant.

The CD ordered the claimant in a revocation action to pay a security of € 300,000 for the defendant’s legal costs, based on its financial position and the alleged difficulties in enforcing a cost decision in the UK.