In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Registered Community Design (RCD), the EUIPO has launched a new RCD easy filing form. While this new form eases the administrative aspect of filing the RCD, it does not change the filing requirements.

A working group started in January 2022 with the aim to establish a common understanding of terms and to outline a common practice among EPC contracting and extension states and the EPO. Several aspects are playing a role in the very fast expansion of AI that we see today. For example, processing power has increased significantly and better AI models are available as a tool. Combine that with big data, cloud computing, 5G, etc. and AI can solve technical problems in almost any technical domain. This resulted in the past years in a significant rise of the number of AI-related patent applications.

The route to registration for a sign is made up of several steps including an application to register it as a trademark. And within this application, and in order for it to be registered as a trademark, it must comply with a number of statutory rules.

If the most frequently occurring trademarks are “traditional” words, figurative and figurative marks with word elements, then a sign used in trade to identify the origin of products or services (the basic definition of a trademark) can also consist of non-traditional marks.

Without being too exhaustive, a list of “non-traditional” trademarks will include color marks, shape trademarks, sound marks, pattern marks, position marks, motion marks, multimedia marks or even hologram marks. In this article, we will focus on color and follow it with a series of articles on the other forms of non-conventional trademarks.

The abortion pill belongs to the category of medicines insofar as it is subject to marketing authorization, at least in Europe and the United States, and must be prescribed by a doctor. The two main active ingredients in the abortion pill are mifepristone, launched on the European market in 1982, and misoprostol.

The issue addressed here is the patentability of the abortion pill itself. Indeed, most patent laws provide for exceptions to patentability, including inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to ordre public and morality, as well as therapeutic treatment methods applied to the human body.

The advertising of tobacco and tobacco products has been prohibited in Belgium (Benelux?), at least with a few exceptions since 1999 and since 2021 altogether. Nonetheless, smoker or not, the public is quite familiar with the Marlboro brand which includes the “red rooftop” that is omnipresent on its packaging. And since the Marlboro-marks have a reputation, third parties should think twice before applying these on a product, whether these are cigarettes or something different entirely.

Indeed, a reputed trademark grants protection for identical and similar goods or services, but also for dissimilar goods or services. Provided that the signs are identical or similar, the earlier mark enjoys a reputation, and the use of the trademark applied for takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimental to, the distinctive character or reputation of the reputed mark without due cause. In this case, the owner of such a trademark can take actions, as shown below…

The research exemption for patents has long been a vital mechanism in striking a balance between protecting inventors’ rights and promoting scientific exploration. Within Europe, Belgium historically provided a notoriously broad exemption relating to research. However, on the 1st of June this year, the Unified Patent Court will start. One of the aims of the new patent court is harmonization and Belgium and other countries that will join the system have aligned their patent law. The changes that have been introduced in the Belgian law will have an immediate impact on companies, universities and institutes and concern general research as well as research and development for medicines specifically.