Durán-Corretjer SLP

Our managing-director Luis-Alfonso Durán participated in the 40th meeting of the 3 most important Patent Offices in the world that was held on November 8 and 9 in the United States.

Mr. Durán participated in this meeting in his capacity as a European expert representing the business organization BusinessEurope.

Between September 10 and 13, the annual meeting of the AIPPI (International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property) was held in the city of San Francisco, attended by Christian Durán on behalf of Durán-Corretjer.

Also, between October 15 and 18, the annual meeting of the APAA (Asian Patent Attorneys Association) was held in the city of Busan (South Korea), attended by Luís Durán on behalf of Durán-Corretjer.

During the conference various current issues in the world of Industrial Property related to trademarks, patents and copyrights were discussed.

The Court of Justice of the European Union decided in 2005 that a cheese cannot be designated with the protected designation of origin (PDO) "feta" unless it is produced in Greece in compliance with the specific conditions for this type of product.

The Danish Government proceeded to authorize Danish cheese producers to produce cheese with the denomination "feta" to countries outside the European Union.

The Court of Justice of the European Union, at the request of the European Commission, Greece and Cyprus, has recently decided that such authorization is contrary to European Union law.

Therefore, this decision confirms that unauthorized use of a protected designation of origin cannot be made, whether the product is sold in the European Union or exported to third countries.

A recent decision of the General Court of the European Union has declared the revocation due to lack of use of the famous trade mark of the North American company Apple Inc.:
 

THINK DIFFERENT

This slogan was the subject of a famous advertising campaign by Apple Inc. started in 1997.

In 2016, the Swiss company Swatch AG requested the revocation due to lack of use of Apple Inc.

Despite the fact that Apple Inc., during the proceedings, provided evidence that it continued to use the THINK DIFFERENT trade mark on some packaging, the Court considered this insufficient due to the fact that the phrase THINK DIFFERENT was represented next to the technical specifications of Apple Inc. products, and just below the barcode in a very small size, so it would not catch the attention of consumers and therefore it will be insufficient to be considered as indicative of the business origin of the goods.

This decision illustrates the great difficulty in protecting trade marks that were once well known but whose exploitation has ceased, making them vulnerable to revocation actions, even though they remain vivid in the minds of consumers.

This, however, does not prevent that the use by a third party of a famous trade mark that has expired due to non-use could be considered illegal under other rules such as unfair competition.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has decided to extend all the time limits for those parties having their residence or represented Office in Ukraine due to the existing war.

All the time limits of Ukrainian parties expiring between 2 June 2022 and 1 September 2022 are automatically extended until 2 September 2022.

Luis-Alfonso Durán, former President of the Spanish Group of AIPPI, former Rapporteur General and member of the Board of AIPPI and Member of Honor of AIPPI participated in the celebration of the 125th Anniversary of AIPPI in Brussels where it was discussed the topic  “IP and Common Welfare”, focused on Health and Environment.  The members presented an interesting debate about the importance of IP for the progress of society and for the benefits of the welfare of the world population.

We are proud to announce that Luis-Alfonso Durán and Christian Durán have been nominated under the category of leaders in Spain in the prosecution of Trademarks and Designs in the 2021 edition of the Leaders League, a directory that recognizes the best professionals in the sector in the world.

On April 4 and 6, 2022, Chile and Cape Verde deposited their instruments of accession to the Madrid Protocol, respectively, with WIPO.

These Protocols will enter into force on July 4, 2022 for Chile and July 6, 2022 for Cape Verde. As of these dates, it will be possible for companies and trademark owners who decide to export their products and provide services in Chile and Cape Verde to apply for the protection of their trademarks through the international registration system.

On March 24 and 25, 2022 took place in Barcelona the XXXVII Study Sessions on Industrial and Intellectual Property in which different topics related to distinctive signs, inventions and designs were discussed.

Among the different sessions that were organized, it is worth highlighting, on the one hand, the one related to the Round Table on the limits of geographical marks, in which Christian Durán participated as moderator and, on the other, the session on the European patent with unitary effect and the Unified Patent Court: entry into force and provisional phase in which Luis-Alfonso Durán participated as a speaker.

The Russian Government has approved a decree establishing that when the Government considers that it is extremely necessary to use Russian patents or designs to protect the defense and security of the State, to protect the life and health of citizens, said use may be made without financial compensation from their holders, when patentees are nationals of certain countries, among which are the countries of the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia among others.

In addition, the Russian Government has also adopted another law that allows the Government to decide the list of specific products in respect of which Industrial Property rights can be waived. Such measures could constitute a violation of the TRIPS Agreements at WTO to which Russia is part of.