IP News to Peruse
As a common law country New Zealand's trade mark legislation favours use over registration. However, the privileges available for unregistered marks appear vulnerable to non-use due to circumstances outside the control of the owner.
Read moreIn Olaf Sööt Design LLC v Daktronics Inc 2020-1009, 2020-1034 one of the Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Judges expressed concern about the misuse of the doctrine of equivalents and sought to reaffirm the primacy of the claims in determining the scope of a patent’s monopoly.
Read moreIn the recent Board of Appeal decision Max Kiene GmbH v Frito-Lay Trading Co GmbH R 204/2020-4 delays during the opposition period have subsequently resulted in the appeal against the successful opposition being allowed due to intervening changes in the legislative landscape brought about by Brexit.
Read moreIn Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH [2020] NZIPOPAT 7, the IPONZ Patent Hearing Office had its first opportunity, since the passing of New Zealand’s Patents Act 2013, to consider s 11, which excludes from patentability “computer programs as such”.
Read moreIn Waterwipes Unlimited Co v Church & Dwight Co Inc 2021 NZIPOTM 2 the Assistant Commissioner held that Waterwipes Unlimited (WU) has not discharged its onus of demonstrating that its stylised application for WaterWipes is either inherently or factually distinctive for wipes consisting mainly of water.
Read more