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Showing posts from March, 2022

Italian Supreme Court says that the quotation exception in copyright law only applies to partial reproductions of works, never to works in their entirety

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Kat- quotation There is little doubt that one of the most (if not the most) significant exceptions in copyright law is the one relating to quotation, criticism or review. Despite it being admittedly a ‘right to quote’ from the perspective of Article 10(1) of the  Berne Convention , under EU law quotation is one of the  traditionally  optional exceptions found inter alia in Article 5 of the  InfoSoc Directive , specifically Article 5(3)(d). This is a provision which, according to the CJEU ( Painer ), has the same material scope of its Berne counterpart. While  not all Member States  took advantage of the possibility under Article 5(3)(d) of the InfoSoc Directive, with the transposition of Article 17 of the  DSM Directive  into national laws, all Member States shall be required to introduce exceptions allowing quotation, criticism and review, at least insofar as Article 17-related activities are concerned. All this is testimony to the importance of ...

How do you protect an iconic handbag? Milan court considers IP rights vesting in Longchamp’s Le Pliage

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The IPKat's favourite  Le Pliage When you have a handbag design bestseller with over 54 million copies sold around the world since its creation in 1993, the question concerning the IP rights vesting in it is not just an academic one. All this was at the centre of a recent decision of the Milan Court of First Instance ( decision 10280/2021 ). The case concerned Longchamp’s  Le Pliage  “cult” bag . The Milan court accepted to enforce Longchamp’s 3D EU trade marks (EUTMs) protecting the shape of  Le Pliage , but  refused  to acknowledge that copyright protection could also vest in such a design. Background In 2019, Longchamp initiated proceedings for trade mark and copyright infringement, as well as unfair competition, against a company making and selling a bag design closely resembling that of  Le Pliage , specifically  Le Pliage 1623 Nylon . The characterizing elements of  Le Pliage , according to Longchamp, would be the original combination o...