NIPC News Roundup - 27 Oct 2017
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| Author Hydragyrum Reproduced with kind permission of the Author |
Jane Lambert
Since my last News Roundup on 12 Oct 2017 I have written about copyright in photographs and television gameshow formats. the construction of patent licence terms and the English courts' jurisdiction to hear applications for declarations of non-infringement. I have also discussed the second reading of the Data Protection Bill in the House of Lords and the Irish High Court's referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union of the question of whether standard contract terms for the transfer of data overseas comply with EU law. I have continued to monitor the Brexit negotiations and discussed a joint letter from the British government and the Commission on our future relationship with the World Trade Organization. I attended the annual meeting of the WIPO domain name dispute resolution panellists and wrote about it in NIPC Branding. I discussed an IPO consultation on how to encourage inventors to do more commercialization and collaboration. I mentioned Manchester's first biotech lab, Bristol and Bath's Venturefest and the Business and Property Courts in Birmingham.
Copyright
In Bump 21 Oct 2017 NIPC Law, I discussed Mr Justice Snowden's judgment in Banner Universal Motion Pictures Ltd v Endemol Shine Group Ltd and Another [2017] EWHC 2600 (Ch) (19 Oct 2017) where he acknowledged the possibility of copyright's subsisting in a game show format though he dismissed the claim before him on the ground that the description of the was far too vague. He also considered the equivalence of Swedish trade secrecy law and the English law of confidence when deciding whether the dismissal of a claim under the Swedish trade secrets statute precluded an action for breach of confidence in England.
My case note on Judge Hacon's decision in Pablo Star Media Ltd v Bowen [2017] EWHC 2541 (IPEC) 15 Oct 2017 NIPC Law appeared immediately after I had given a talk in Liverpool on copyright in photographs (see Copyright in Photographs: Presentation and Photographers' Resources 13 Oct 2017 IP North West). In that talk, I had warned that damages for copyright infringement can be heavy and I referred to cases in which £10,000 and £6,000 had been awarded. In Pablo Star, the district judge had awarded a net sum of £88.90 to the owner of the copyright in Dylan Thomas's wedding photo which had been copied without consent and Judge Hacon refused to increase that award.
Data Protection
The Data Protection Bill, which will implement Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision between the 6 May 2018 and Brexit and will continue to implement the main provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation after Brexit, had its second reading in the House of Lords on 10 Oct 2017. I commented on the debate in Data Protection Bill: Second Reading 17 Oct 2017 NIPC Data Protection.
The other big news in data protection has been the Irish High Court's decision to refer to the Court of Justice of the European Union three decisions by the Commission providing standard contract terms for the transfer of data to, and its processing in, the USA. I have discussed that case in Transfer of Data to the USA: Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook and another 23 Oct 2017 NIPC Data Protection.
Domain Names
Every autumn, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre invited its panel of neutrals to a day-long training session at its head office in Geneva. I am a member of that panel and I have attended that event every year since 2005. This year was particularly important because the WIPO has recently published the 3rd edition of its Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions and most of the talks addressed those questions. The Overview is essential reading not just for panellists but also for parties' representatives. I described the event in WIPO Domain Name Panellists' Meeting 2017 26 Oct 2017 NIPC Branding,
Industrial Strategy
In "What can we do to encourage innovators to do more collaboration and commercialisation, to stimulate knowledge exchange and promote follow-on innovation?" Answers on an Email to the IPO by 15 Nov 2017 13 Oct 2017 NIPC Inventors Club I discussed a consultation carried out by the Intellectual Property Office on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to look for targeted, nonregulatory interventions that the IPO could make, which would maximize the incentives provided by our IP system.
Jurisdiction
In Parainen Pearl Shipping Ltd and Others v Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi AS and Others [2017] EWHC 2570 (Pat) (18 Oct 2017), Mr Justice Arnold had to decide whether the English courts had jurisdiction to entertain an application for a declaration of non-infringement in relation to the British, Finish and Swedish designations of a European patent held by a Norwegian company. He held that he could decide the issue in relation to the British designation by virtue of art 5 (3) of the Lugano Convention but not the Finnish and Swedish designations. I discussed the case in Jurisdiction Disputes - a Portent of Problems to come? Parainen Pearl Shipping Ltd v Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi AS 27 Oct 2017 NIPC Law. I observed that we will no longer be able to rely on that Convention after 29 March 2019 unless Her Majesty's government negotiates something like the agreement that Denmark has concluded with Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the rest of the EU.
Copyright
In Bump 21 Oct 2017 NIPC Law, I discussed Mr Justice Snowden's judgment in Banner Universal Motion Pictures Ltd v Endemol Shine Group Ltd and Another [2017] EWHC 2600 (Ch) (19 Oct 2017) where he acknowledged the possibility of copyright's subsisting in a game show format though he dismissed the claim before him on the ground that the description of the was far too vague. He also considered the equivalence of Swedish trade secrecy law and the English law of confidence when deciding whether the dismissal of a claim under the Swedish trade secrets statute precluded an action for breach of confidence in England.
My case note on Judge Hacon's decision in Pablo Star Media Ltd v Bowen [2017] EWHC 2541 (IPEC) 15 Oct 2017 NIPC Law appeared immediately after I had given a talk in Liverpool on copyright in photographs (see Copyright in Photographs: Presentation and Photographers' Resources 13 Oct 2017 IP North West). In that talk, I had warned that damages for copyright infringement can be heavy and I referred to cases in which £10,000 and £6,000 had been awarded. In Pablo Star, the district judge had awarded a net sum of £88.90 to the owner of the copyright in Dylan Thomas's wedding photo which had been copied without consent and Judge Hacon refused to increase that award.
Data Protection
The Data Protection Bill, which will implement Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision between the 6 May 2018 and Brexit and will continue to implement the main provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation after Brexit, had its second reading in the House of Lords on 10 Oct 2017. I commented on the debate in Data Protection Bill: Second Reading 17 Oct 2017 NIPC Data Protection.
The other big news in data protection has been the Irish High Court's decision to refer to the Court of Justice of the European Union three decisions by the Commission providing standard contract terms for the transfer of data to, and its processing in, the USA. I have discussed that case in Transfer of Data to the USA: Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook and another 23 Oct 2017 NIPC Data Protection.
Domain Names
Every autumn, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre invited its panel of neutrals to a day-long training session at its head office in Geneva. I am a member of that panel and I have attended that event every year since 2005. This year was particularly important because the WIPO has recently published the 3rd edition of its Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions and most of the talks addressed those questions. The Overview is essential reading not just for panellists but also for parties' representatives. I described the event in WIPO Domain Name Panellists' Meeting 2017 26 Oct 2017 NIPC Branding,
Industrial Strategy
In "What can we do to encourage innovators to do more collaboration and commercialisation, to stimulate knowledge exchange and promote follow-on innovation?" Answers on an Email to the IPO by 15 Nov 2017 13 Oct 2017 NIPC Inventors Club I discussed a consultation carried out by the Intellectual Property Office on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to look for targeted, nonregulatory interventions that the IPO could make, which would maximize the incentives provided by our IP system.
Jurisdiction
In Parainen Pearl Shipping Ltd and Others v Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi AS and Others [2017] EWHC 2570 (Pat) (18 Oct 2017), Mr Justice Arnold had to decide whether the English courts had jurisdiction to entertain an application for a declaration of non-infringement in relation to the British, Finish and Swedish designations of a European patent held by a Norwegian company. He held that he could decide the issue in relation to the British designation by virtue of art 5 (3) of the Lugano Convention but not the Finnish and Swedish designations. I discussed the case in Jurisdiction Disputes - a Portent of Problems to come? Parainen Pearl Shipping Ltd v Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi AS 27 Oct 2017 NIPC Law. I observed that we will no longer be able to rely on that Convention after 29 March 2019 unless Her Majesty's government negotiates something like the agreement that Denmark has concluded with Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the rest of the EU.
Licensing
in Construction of Terms in Cross-Licensing Agreements: Koninklijke Philips N.V. v Asustek Computer Incorporation and Others 13 Oct 2017 NIPC Law, I explained how the Court of Appeal reviewed Mr Justice Arnold's construction of a cross-licensing agreement between Qualcomm Inc and Koninklijke Philips N.V. to determine whether Qualcomm's licensee fell within the scope of the agreement. This was an interesting case not least because the contract had to be construed in accordance with the law of California.
Regional News
I discussed the Birmingham Business and Property Courts in The Business and Property Courts in Birmingham 18 Oct 2017 NIPC West Midlands, Manchester's first biotech lab in Northern Powerhouse IP Update #1 - Manchester's First BioTech Lab 14 Oct 2017 IP Northwest and the Bristol and Bath Venturefest in Venturefest Bristol and Bath 17 Oct 2017 NIPC Severn.
World Trade Organization
As the UK will operate as a member of the World Trade Organization independently after it leaves the EU, the permanent representatives of the British government and the EU have set out their intentions as to how they will collaborate with other WTO member states and with each other after Brexit in a joint letter dated 11 Oct 2017. I have commented on that letter in UK's Future Relationship with the World Trade Organization 16 Oct 2017 NIPC Brexit.
User Guide
As this and all the other blogs connected to it operate as one large website I have uploaded a User Guide to assist navigation.
Further Information
Should anyone wish to discuss any of the articles mentioned in this post he or she should call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.
Regional News
I discussed the Birmingham Business and Property Courts in The Business and Property Courts in Birmingham 18 Oct 2017 NIPC West Midlands, Manchester's first biotech lab in Northern Powerhouse IP Update #1 - Manchester's First BioTech Lab 14 Oct 2017 IP Northwest and the Bristol and Bath Venturefest in Venturefest Bristol and Bath 17 Oct 2017 NIPC Severn.
World Trade Organization
As the UK will operate as a member of the World Trade Organization independently after it leaves the EU, the permanent representatives of the British government and the EU have set out their intentions as to how they will collaborate with other WTO member states and with each other after Brexit in a joint letter dated 11 Oct 2017. I have commented on that letter in UK's Future Relationship with the World Trade Organization 16 Oct 2017 NIPC Brexit.
User Guide
As this and all the other blogs connected to it operate as one large website I have uploaded a User Guide to assist navigation.
Further Information
Should anyone wish to discuss any of the articles mentioned in this post he or she should call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.
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