©-LAW

Can an injunction be sought against an access provider that would require this to block access not to a website  [as per the standard scenario]  but rather streaming servers giving unauthorised access to copyright content? Can such an injunction consist of a 'live' blocking, ie a block limited to when the relevant content is being streamed?  An application of this kind was recently and  successfully  made - for the first time as far as the UK is concerned - by the Football Association Premier League (FAPL, supported by other rightholders) against 6 main retail internet service providers (ISPs). In yesterday's decision in  FAPL v BT  [2017] EWHC 480 Ch  Arnold J concluded that the High Court has jurisdiction to make an order of the kind sought by FAPL. The law Arnold J noted at the outset how the law on copyright blocking injunctions under  s97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA)   [by which the UK transp...

Is there gift more memorable than a blocking injunction? What has been the most significant IP development in the UK this year?  From a policy standpoint (and in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum) the answer is probably the decision of UK Government to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement  [ here ] .  From a practical perspective, however, also considering the increasing number of IP infringements occurring online  [this is a general trend: see  here , at p 33]  the most significant domestic development in my opinion has been the  judgment  of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in  Cartier   [ here ,  here ,  here ] , which upheld the 2014  decision  of Arnold J  [ here  and  here ] , and confirmed that  owners of IP rights other than copyright can seek injunctions against intermediaries to block access to website where counterfeits are available. The UK frame...

Bertie's favourite summer sport Can the unauthorised reproduction and making available of clips  of cricket  matches  lasting up to 8 seconds amount to an infringement of copyright in works lasting several  days   hours  minutes about this exciting and fast-paced sport? Unsurprisingly, the answer is yes. Last Friday Arnold J issued his 174-paragraph  judgment  in  England And Wales Cricket Board Ltd & Anor v Tixdaq Ltd & Anor  [2016] EWHC 575 (Ch). Background The claimants in this case own the copyrights in TV broadcasts (and films incorporated therein) of most cricket matches  played by the England men's and women's cricket teams.  The defendants operate a website,  www.fanatix.com  and various apps, in particular the fanatix app for iPhone/iPad  [of all the things, this  Vine -inspired app was at the centre of the dispute, and was advertised as follows on the AppStore:  "Capture, Cap...

The shape of discord Can the shape of the KitKat chocolate bar be registered as a trade mark on grounds that it  has acquired distinctiveness through use?  What is required to prove that a trade mark has acquired distinctiveness through use?  As IPKat readers will remember, these were some of the very issues that Arnold J had to address in the context of litigation between Nestlé and Cadbury over the shape of the (in)famous chocolate bar that the former had already  attempted  in vain to register as a UK trade mark in Class 30.  The sign for which registration was sought corresponded to to the shape of Nestlé's four-finger KitKat product except that it lacked the KitKat logo embossed onto each of the fingers of the actual product. Following a reference for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)  [ here ] , the case got back to the High Court of England and Wales with the learned judge having to apply a...