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Trade Marks - Babek International Ltd v Iceland Foods Ltd

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Jane Lambert Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (His Honour Judge Hacon) Babek International Ltd v Iceland Foods Ltd [2025] EWHC 547 (IPEC) (11 March 2025) This was an application by Iceland Foods Ltd ("Iceland") for summary judgment on its counterclaim for the revocation of registered trade mark number  907527963  held by Babek International Ltd. ("Babek") for meat, fish, poultry and game, meat extracts, preserved, frozen, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables, jellies, jams, competes, eggs, milk and milk products edible oils and fats in class 29 and scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto, industrial analysis and research services design and development of computer hardware and software in class 42.  In this action Babek sued Iceland for infringing its trade mark by selling goods with a sign identical to the mark in respect of which the mark had been registered.   His Honour Judge Hacon heard the application on 26 F...
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RAND - Alcatel v Amazon

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Alcatel-Lucent SA's Head Office in Boulogne-Bilancourt Author AnaBé   Licence CC BY-SA 3.0   Source Wikimedia Commons Jane Lambert Court of Appeal (Lords Justices Newey, Arnold and Snowden)  Alcatel Lucent SAS v Amazon Digital UK Ltd and other s [2025] EWCA Civ 43 (28 Jan 2025) This was the second of three cases in which the Court of Appeal had to consider whether a willing licensor of a portfolio of patents declared essential to one or more standards (" standard-essential patents" or "SEPs" ) would grant an implementer of those standards who has undertaken to take a licence to that portfolio on the terms to be determined by the Patents Court to be fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory ("FRAND") an interim licence pending that determination.  The other cases were  Panasonic Holdings Corporation v Xiaomi Technology UK Ltd and others [2024] EWCA Civ 1143 (3 Oct 2024) which I discussed in  FRAND - Panasonic Holdings Corporation v Xiaomi Technology UK ...
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FRAND - Lenovo v Ericsson

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Great Hall, Royal Courts of Justice Author Aurelien Guichard   Licence CC BY-SA 2.0   Source Wikimedia Commons Jane Lambert Court of Appeal (Lords Justices Newey and Arnold and Lady Justice Falk)  Lenovo Group Ltd and others v Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (PUBL) and another [2025] EWCA Civ 182 (28 Feb 2025 ) This was an appeal against Mr Justice Richards's refusal to grant a declaration that a willing licensor and a willing licensee in the situation of the parties to this litigation would agree to, and actually enter into, a short-term cross-licence that would expire once either an English court or the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina fixes the terms of a FRAND cross-licence (see  Lenovo Group Ltd and others v Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) and another [2024] EWHC 2941 (Pat) (19 Nov 2024)). The appeal was heard by Lords Justices Newey and Arnold and Lady Justice Falk on 25 Feb 2025 and judgment was handed down on...
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Patents - Prevayl Innovations Ltd v Whoop Inc.

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Jane Lambert   Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (HH Judge Hacon)  P revayl Innovations Ltd v Whoop Inc [2025] EWHC 399 (IPEC) (27 Feb 2025) This was a claim by Prevayl Innovations Ltd ("Prevayl") against Whoop Inc ("Whoop") for the infringement of UK patent  GB 2 589 947 ('the patent'). and a counterclaim by Whoop for a declaration of invalidity of the patent on the grounds of  anticipation and obviousness.  The action and counterclaim were tried by HH Judge Hacon on 20-21 Jan 2025.  By para [95] of his judgment in P revayl Innovations Ltd v Whoop Inc [2025] EWHC 399 (IPEC) which he delivered on 27 Feb 2025, the learned judge held the patent was invalid for lack of an inventive step.  He added that had it been valid it would have been infringed. The Invention The invention for which the patent was granted was a "bra garment and method,"  Judge Hacon described it as a type of bra which incorporates technology that measures biosigna...
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Trade Secrets - Illiquidx Ltd v Altana Wealth Ltd.

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  Jane Lambert Chancery Division (Mr Justice Rajah)   Illiquidx Ltd v Altana Wealth Ltd and others [2025] EWHC 299 (Ch) (13 Feb 2025) This was a claim for breach of contract and confidence and trade secrets and copyright infringement,    The Parties The claimant was Illiquidx Ltd, ("IX")  a company that describes itself as "an innovative independent financial services boutique specialised in illiquid markets, which caters to institutional, professional and high net worth investors."  Its activities focus on sales, trading and advice,  One of the markets in which it claims expertise is the sovereign debt of Venezuela , a country that has laboured under international sanctions for many years and has recently defaulted on its debt. The first and second defendants are Altana Wealth Ltd ("Altana") and Lee Robinson ("Mr Robinson") Altana's founder, controlling shareholder and chief investment officer. According to its website, Altana seeks uni...
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