Category: Designs
EU Design legislation under scrutiny: is a new Directive in sight?
The European Commission has published a report evaluating EU legislation on design protection, which assesses the overall functioning of the design protection system both at EU and national level, in what may be the first step towards a new Directive. By way of a quick reminder, designs protect the appearance of the product itself and/or […]
During lockdown applications for utility models to stop viruses grew in Spain
During the state of emergency, at least 110 applications for utility models were filed for products related to the fight against the pandemic. For individuals and small and medium-sized companies, utility models are an attractive way of protecting rights given the speed at which such applications are processed. The COVID-19 crisis led Spain to declare […]
How do you protect a website?
Nowadays it seems that if you don’t appear on the Internet, you don’t exist. For this reason, many companies invest a great deal of money and effort in creating an attractive website that grabs users’ attention and which has good usability features. The investment made in achieving those objectives is substantial and it is therefore […]
My product was copied and I haven’t registered it.. .. Is there anything I can do?
The Unfair Competition Law establishes the possibility of taking action against copying or imitation in specific circumstances, namely, when the creations are covered by an exclusive right, when there is risk of association, or if they would be taking unfair advantage of a third party’s reputation or efforts, when this is avoidable. These days, when […]
‘Squeezamals’ case: At long last the CJEU will have to interpret the meaning of ‘disclosure’ of an unregistered design
The CJEU is due to answer a long-standing debate in connection with unregistered designs: What happens when the disclosure occurs outside the European Union? Does this prevent protection of the design because it lacks novelty? The protection of unregistered Community designs (UCD) in the European Union is a very useful industrial property right which is […]
Limits on industrial designs protecting packaging: for the General Court of the European Union the external appearance is crucial
The European Court of Justice has issued an important decision for the packaging industry which helps to better define the scope of protection that is granted to packaging and with it, the strategy that should be followed both when preparing the application as well as when assessing the likelihood of success in a case of […]