It’s the first anniversary of the Garrigues IP Blog. An orbit around the sun full of new developments, trends and reflections on intellectual property, with the analysis of our professional experts on the subject. During this period we have been able to count on the unwavering support of our readers and subscribers to our date every Tuesday – which we have never missed – with over 25,000 visits.
Influencers, bullfighting, Banksy, deepfakes, artificial intelligence, biopics…, the IP aspects we have addressed in our blog over these last 12 months have been extremely varied, always topical and with the added value of the knowledge of specialists in all the angles of this practice area: copyright, trademarks, audiovisual rights, designs, patents, trade secrets, advertising, plant varieties, etc.
We take a look at our Top10 most-read posts in this first year of the IP Blog:
Autocontrol and Asociación Española de Anunciantes (Spanish Advertisers’ Association or AEA) agree on the ethical standards that should be applied to advertising by influencers from January 1, 2021. It clarifies doubts about ‘safe’ labels such as “ad” or “sponsored by”, when they should be used and the contractual obligations that members should follow.
For many, bullfighting is an art, but this does not necessarily mean that a bullfight is a work in which the bullfighter holds a copyright. Out post addressed the questions that the Supreme Court must answer when deciding whether a bullfight can be an original work and therefore protectable by copyright. The Supreme Court published its judgment number 82/2021 on February 16, 2021, shortly after this post, holding that bullfights could not be protected due to their uncertainty and the difficulty in fixation. There will be a sequel!
The EUIPO has cancelled street artist Banksy’s trademark for the well-known artwork ‘Flower Bomber” on the grounds that it was filed in bad faith. The EUIPO ruled that at the time the application was filed, the artist had no intention of using the sign as a trademark and that he only used it subsequently to avoid it being cancelled for nonuse – in the words of Banksy himself.
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 important to know how it can be protected, in order to safeguard, whenever possible, our exclusive rights in the website that represents us on the Internet. The best way of protecting the site must be analyzed case-by-case, but it is important to be familiar with all the methods available.
We have been hearing the word ‘deepfake’ a great deal over the last few months, thanks to an ad by a well-known beer producer which has brought back to life the much-missed artist Lola Flores. In this post we will be looking at the cases in which this technology can be used and the legal aspects that must be borne in mind.
The practical application of artificial intelligence in fields such as artistic creation or innovation poses a whole range of brand new challenges for IP. The article analyzes the main milestones in this matter and the response that is being offered by several institutions so far.
After almost a decade of lawsuits throughout the length and breadth of Spain, the CJEU has ruled for the first time on the limits of the rights enjoyed by the holders of plant varieties. The decision had such an impact, that Garrigues received the Impact Case of the year award in Spain, from the prestigious magazine Managing IP.
Following the debate that has arisen with the famous series The Crown, the British culture secretary has proposed that a warning be added to clarify that it is a fictional series based on historic events. This poses a few interesting questions: Is it necessary to obtain consent from the people involved to make a series based on real events? To what extent can reality be made fictional in a film or series?
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.
Although the use of a third party’s trademarks for advertising purposes involves certain risks, legislation allows it provided that it is in the context of fair play and bearing in mind certain limitations for which it is always advisable to obtain sound legal advice.
We will continue to keep you informed of the lasted legislative and case law developments. Catch up with us every Tuesday on our IP Blog.
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