NIPC Law

Jane Lambert

In Geographical IndicationsI quoted the WIPO definition of a geographical indication ("GI") as  "a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin".   I also stated that the UK has an international obligation to protect such signs under art 22 (2) of the TRIPS Agreement which is annexed to the WTO Agreement as Annex 1C. In Geographical Indications after Brexit6 Oct 2018 NIPC Branding I noted that this country had discharged that obligation through EU legislation and that the UK will need to establish its own GI regime in order to comply with art 22 (2) TRIPS whether it leaves the EU with or without a withdrawal agreement.  On 5 Fev 2019 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ("DEFRA") published Protecting food and drink names if there's no Brexit dealstating what food and drink producers with GI protection need to know if the UK leaves the EU …

Jane Lambert

Patents Court (HH Judge Hacon) Regen Lab SA v Estar Medical Ltd and others [2019] EWHC 63 (Pat) (18 Jan  2019)

This was a claim by Regen Lab SA ("Regen") against the Israeli company, Estar Technologies Ltd., and the British companies, Medira Ltd, and Lavender Medical Ltd. for patent infringement.  The defendants counterclaimed for revocation of the patent alleged to have been infringed on grounds of anticipation, obviousness and insufficiency.

The Patent
The patent alleged to have been infringed was for a method for the preparation of platelet-rich plasma ("PRP") for unprocessed use and combination thereof with skin and bone cells. It was granted by the European Patent Ofice under publication number EP2073862. Judge Hacon described the invention at paragraph [13] of his judgment:

"The patented method involves taking blood from a patient and transferring it to a tube containing a thixotropic gel and an anticoagulant. The blood and gel are centrifuge…

Jane Lambert

On 16 Dec 2015 the President of the European Parliament and the President of the European Council signed Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2015 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (Text with EEA relevance) OJ L 336, 23.12.2015, p. 1–26 ("the directive"). Art 55 of the directive repeals Directive 2008/95/EC with effect from 15 Jan 2019 while art 54 requires member states including the UK to transpose arts 3 to 6, 8 to 14, 16, 17 and 18, 22 to 39, 41 and 43 to 50 into their laws by 14 January 2019.

The legislation that implements art 54 in the United Kingdom is a statutory instrument, namely The Trade Marks Regulations 2018 (SI 2018 No 825). These regulations were made on 9 July 2018 and come into force on 14 Jan 2019. There are 54 of them arranged in 5 Parts:
Part 1 (reg 1) General: Citation, commencement and interpretation; Part 2 (regs 2 to 33) Amendments to the Trade Marks Act …

Jane Lambert

Chancery Division (Daniel Alexander QC) Freshasia Foods Ltd v Jing Lu [2018] EWHC 3644 (Ch)

The first intellectual property judgment of the New Year is Mr Daniel Alexander QC's decision in Freshasia Foods Ltd v Jing Lu [2018] EWHC 3644 (Ch) (4 Jan 2019).  The learned deputy judge seems to have made his order on 19 Dec 2018 after a hearing that had taken place the previous day but he delivered the reasons for his order on 4 Jan 2019.

The Dispute
Mr Alexander described Freshasia Foods Ltd. ("Freshasia") as "a UK registered company which supplies food products, particularly dumplings and sliced meats, to Chinese retail shops and restaurants." He added that it has between 100 and 200 employees, a turnover in the millions of pounds and about 500 customers in total in the UK and the EU. He noted that there are only a few employers in the industry, which is a very specialist market of frozen and packaged food sold mainly to international student customers.

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Jane Lambert

Chancery Division (Mrs Justice Rose) Jaguar Land Rover Ltd, v Twisted Automotive Ltd,[2018] EWHC 3536 (Ch)

This was an appeal by Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. against Louise White's decision in Re LR, Twisted Automotive Lt.d. v Jaguar Land Rover Ltd.BL O/289/18  15 May 2018 to refuse that company's application to register the letters "LR" as a trade mark for various goods in class 12.  The application was filed on 23 Aug 2016 under trade mark number UK3191949.

The Opposition
By that application Jaguar Land Rover. applied to register those Letters for the following goods:

"Motor land vehicles; parts and fittings for vehicles; engines for motor land vehicles; wheels for vehicles; alloy wheels; wheel trims; wheel rims; hub caps for wheels; hub centre caps; wheel covers; wheel sprockets; arm rests for vehicle seats; luggage bags specially adapted for fitting in the boot of vehicles; car interior organizer bags, nets and trays specially adapted for fitting in veh…

Jane Lambert

Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (Recorder Amanda Michaels) KBF Enterprises Ltd v Gladiator Nutrition 3.0Ltd and Others[2018] EWHC 3041 (IPEC)

This was an action for trade mark infringement and passing off.  There was also a counterclaim for a declaration that the trade marks were invalid and for a finding that the claimant was passing itself off as connected with the third defendant, Mr Daniel Singh.

The Dispute
The claimant carried on business as Bodybuilding Warehouse.  It claims to be "the number one bodybuilding supplements website and manufacturer in the UK" and has registered the following word marks:
WARRIOR SUPPLEMENTSWARRIOR BLAZEWARRIOR FAT BURNER, andWARRIOR. All of those marks were registered for food supplements and some for foods or other goods.  Bodybuilding Warehouse complained that Mr Singh, Mr John Paul Gardner, the fifth defendant, and the companies that they controlled had infringed those trade marks by marketing and selling food suppleme…