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Online oral proceedings: are they here to stay?

Back in February 2021, the Swedish Association of Patent Attorneys (SPOF), representing private practice patent, trademark and design attorneys in Sweden, arranged a seminar with the Swedish Intellectual Property Office (PRV) on the topic “Oral proceedings online”. It was clear that if both parties agreed, oral proceedings could be held online. However, a question from the audience remained unanswered: What happens if one party wants to be online, and the other attends physically? How to ensure that both parties receive an equal assessment in the dispute? The question has now finally been answered by the Svea Court of Appeal, case No. T 7158-20.

Maria Zamkova of Fenix Legal explain the new Swedish praxis of arbitration in the pandemic, in the World IP Review Annual 2022 Jurisdiction Report. Read the full article:

Is your trademark aligned for
Only One Earth?

We have "Only One Earth”, and the young generation is actively
looking for goods and services
whose trademarks give a clear signal that they are climatefriendly and thereby ready for the next generation. Petter Rindforth describes the Swedish industry's patents and trademarks that are focused on climate friendly products.

See the full The Trademark Lawyer article here:

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Prior Art: Unlocking the secrets of the past

A collaboration between the Swedish Intellectual Property Office (PRV) and Uppsala University has recently resulted in a new searchable database, the “Historical Swedish patents”, that was inaugurated on May 20, 2022.

In the World Intellectual Property Review 2 / 2022, Maria Zamkova of Fenix Legal explains what is unique with the database, and how to search today for yesterday’s patents, in order to find a way to create the technical solutions for tomorrow.

Halloumi vs Falloumi:

Firmer protection needed for Cypriot cheese

Do you produce a specific cheese, in a certain country/area, with specified ingredients and identified by a specific name, and want to avoid parasites?

In the World Intellectual Property Review of April 24, 2022, Petter Rinforth reports on the dispute between the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi vs Swedish company Msuvakci AB (owner of Falloumi), and what to learn from that when it comes to collective trademarks and/or geographical indications and traditional specialties.

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Prior Art: Unlocking the secrets of the past

Will Sweden ever take the lead as the most innovative European country?

Sweden has once again taken the second place in the Global Innovation Index (GII) and has the largest number of the European patent applications per capita of the European countries in 2020, according to the European Patent Office (EPO).

In the WIPR 3 – 2021, Vanessa Bélec of Fenix Legal compare Sweden with the top ranked index leader, Switzerland, and analyses what needs to be done in order to achieve a top position in the coming years.

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"SWEDEN" - A TRADEMARK SUFFERING FROM THE CORONA-EFFECT

Sweden is a well-known trademark with good reputation both for Swedish companies and the country as such, but also for foreign companies all over the world that like to give their goods and services a “Swedish touch”. But what is the corona-effect on this kind of marks, and how to deal with it?

Petter Rindforth explains further in the latest edition of The Trademark Lawyer

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EUIPO's CF Similarity tool: Useful or confusing?

All Lawyers, independent or representing the trademark owner or a claimed infringing party, has to deal with the question of similarity of goods or services related to a specific trademark.

One opportunity is to seek assistance from the EUIPO collaborative filtering similarity tool.

Petter Rindforth describes the risks and possibilities in WIPR Issue 1/2021:

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SWEDEN - THE BEST PLACE FOR LIFE SCIENCE INNOVATION

The life science industry in Sweden is very active and innovative. Maria Zamkova of Fenix Legal presents the mechanisms for this success in an article published in the March/April 2019 Patent Lawyer magazine.

Geographical indications:

the history of the Swedish horse and knife

Since 1992 a special type of protection for wines, spirit drinks and other agricultural products and foodstuffs such as cheese has been available in the European Union. It is called geographical indications (GI).

On May 24, 2023, EU ambassadors confirmed an agreement reached between the Council Presidency and the European Parliament representatives on the proposal for a Regulation on geographical indication protection also for craft and industrial products. The new system aims to promote and protect cultural heritage and traditional know-how in Europe and is expected to cover as many as 800 jewellery, textile, lace, natural stone, cutlery, glass and porcelain products.

In the World IP Review, No 1 / 2023, Petter Rindforth of Fenix Legal describes the new system and how two well-known Swedish examples - the Dala Horse and the Mora Knife may or may register for this new protection.

ALTERNATIVE

DISPUTE RESOLTION

Not an "alternative", but rather the main way to act.

Fenix Legal continues to activate in the international work with new ways to solve intellectual property disuptes and to update the present dispute resolution systems.

Petter Rindforth, Managing Partner of Fenix Legal, has been appointment as Member of the Standing Committee on ADR – Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), for a period of three years.

Petter has also been appointed as the representative of Fédération Internationale des Conseils en Propriété Intellectuelle (FICPI) at the Alternative Dispute Resolution Stakeholders Advisory Board (ADR-SAB) of EUIPO, the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

Prior Art: Unlocking the secrets of the past

When you realize that someone is
trying to infringe your protected
patents it is necessary to act quickly
to minimize the damages. But when is the right time to act, and what is needed to reach quick decisions from the court? The Swedish Patent
and Market Court of Appeal have made a coupleof indicative rulings that may assist in planning the court actions.

In the September/October 2022 issue of The Patent Lawyer Magazine, Maria Zamkova of Fenix Legal evaluates two recent cases to offer advice for claiming preliminary and ex parte injunction for successfully protecting a patent even before the patent is granted.

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Petter Rindforth new member of

ECTA Supervisory Board

The European Communities Trademark Association (ECTA) promotes the knowledge and professionalism of the intellectual property law community in the fields of trademarks, designs, copyright and other intellectual property rights, within the European Union.

ECTA’s long-standing work has established it as the go-to expert body for EU and national decision-makers, European Council Presidencies, and the European Courts of Justice and international intellectual property organisations.

At the Annual General Meeting on June 16, 2022, Petter Rindforth of Fenix Legal was elected as a member of the ECTA Supervisory Board to represent Sweden for 2022-2024

Degeneration, negative secondary meaning, and regeneration of trademarks – how to act?

Petter Rindforth, explains the possible lifecycles of a trademark and the importance of creating a generic descriptive word to protect your trademark over time, in the Trademark Lawyer, Issue 5/2021

One opportunity is to seek assistance from the EUIPO collaborative filtering similarity tool.

Petter Rindforth describes the risks and possibilities in WIPR Issue 1/2021:

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BREXIT: British companies are coming to settle in Sweden

The presence of British companies registered in Sweden becomes more and more apparent for each day. There are many speculations trying to justify the reason for such a presence in Sweden. A probable reason seems to be that in sight of a non-deal Brexit, British companies are trying to avoid being placed in the same category as a “third country” and as such avoid being subject to national rules of each EU-country which may lead to huge disadvantages in a number of aspects.

Vanessa Bélec, Patent Attorney at Fenix Legal, explains what to expect – with examples from Swedish law and court decisions - in the latest edition of The Patent Lawyer.

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Despite COVID-19 - PRV maintains its international training programs

The Swedish Intellectual Property Office (PRV) has for nearly 30 years co-operated with the Swedish government agency for development cooperation – Sida.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has closed the doors for international travel and physical meetings, the pandemic also shows that it may be even more important than ever to keep up the development and protection of intellectual property rights, in order to find solutions to medical problems, develop the general industry and improving living conditions.

Maria Zamkova reports in WIPR Issue 2/2021 on the ongoing International Training Programs, and how we all can learn from that in order to secure a healthy future based on well-used intellectual properties.

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THE INNOVATION QUARTET CHANGING THE WORLD

The Hanseatic League of Science (HALOS), is a new EU project in the union’s Öresund-Kattegatt-Skagerak (ÖKS) inter-regional cooperation programme, which started February 1, 2019. HALOS is a centre for integrated, world-leading life science innovation and research, led by the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University, Sweden.

Maria Zamkova tells more about HALOS, and why the result of life science innovation and research is necessary and long-awaited for all final consumers and patients worldwide, together with patent and similar IP protection as a guarantee that the product is reliable, in her article in the World IP Review of May/june 2019.

Mediation – the natural first step to solve a dispute

Sweden, together with the other Scandinavian countries Denmark, Finland and Norway, has a long history of solving legal disputes out of court by negotiations.

Petter Rindforth describes why, and reports also on the ongoing work within the EUIPO’s Boards of Appeal’s ADR Stakeholders Advisory Board (SAB) in order to advise and support the Office in the development of its activities in mediation.

See the full Newton Media’s country report here:

Mr. and Ms. AI – Sweden prepares for inventors that are Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI), the area of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that work and reacts like humans, has for a long time been an interesting topic for both writers and scientists, with Talos of Crete, and Pygmalion, in the Greek mythology, to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and the first working AI program in 1951 – Ferranti Mark 1 for checkers playing.

The modern AI is, however, no science fiction, or only for entertainment.

Maria Zamkova discusses the future of patenting AI in Sweden and the likelihood of AI being named inventor in future patent applications, in the Sept/Oct 2021 Patent Lawyer Magazine.

News archive / Nyhetsarkiv

WILL YOUR COMMUNITY DESIGN BE VALID IN UK THIS YEAR?

Vanessa Bélec, Patent Attorney at Fenix Legal, with a Master of Laws from the Southampton Solent University in UK, guides you through the necessary steps.

After the Transition Period that ended 31 December 2020, all Registered Community Designs (RCD) that are registered and published before that date are automatically re-registered under the UK registered design right (UK RDR) at no cost. However, pending RCD-applications will have to be re-filed within nine months in order to maintain e.g. filing date of the previous application.

If your design is not registered but enjoys an unregistered Community Design right protection, then you need to check if you really need UK-design protection and even consider registering if possible. Depending on where the design was first disclosed or first marketed, the type of design, who you are or if you need a long lasting protection period, there are different types of unregistered design rights available to suit everyone.

KOMMER DIN EU-DESIGN FORTFARANDE GÄLLA I STORBRITANNIEN I ÅR (2021)?

Vanessa Bélec, Patent Attorney på Fenix Legal, med en Master of Laws från brittiska Southampton Solent University, guidar dig genom de olika stegen.

Efter övergångsperioden som slutade den 31 december 2020, alla registrerade EU-design (RCD) som är registrerade och publicerade före detta datum blir utan avgifter automatiskt återregistrerade under den brittiska designrätten, ”UK registered design right (UK RDR). Dock, pågående RCD-ansökningar måste återregisteras inom nio månader för att bibehålla tex. det ursprunliga ansökningsdatumet. Om din design inte är registrerad men skyddas av en oregistrerad EU-rätt, då behöver du titta lite närmare om du verkligen behöver brittiskt designskydd och även fundera om eventuell registrering av din design. Beroende på var din design visades första gången eller var den var först marknadsförd, typen av design, vem du är eller om du behöver ett längre skydd så finns det olika typer av oregistrerad designrätt tillgängliga för att anpassa alla.

Läs mer genom att klicka på länken ovan.

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"Stockholm – the Capital of Scandinavia®

Names of cities around the world are working well as trademarks for the cities and related regions/countries.

Helsinki, Finland, is using a number of different colourful symbols, instead of a traditional trademark as “an image of Helsinki is created wherever people experience the city”.

Oslo, Norway, has created the “Oslo Brand Toolbox”, with general guidelines on how to market Oslo, with the position identified as “Oslo – the young, pioneering city”.

However, the city trademark that indeed is the most well-known and discussed in international media is “Stockholm – the Capital of Scandinavia”

Read the full article, published in the Trademark Lawyer, Issue 3, 2018, written by Petter Rindforth, Head of Trademark & Legal Department of Fenix Legal:

IKEA – A trademark you love or hate

(with a smile)

IKEA, the Swedish trademark for ready-to-assemble furniture, founded in 1943 by the then 17 year old Mr Feodor Ingvar Kamprad, from Elmtaryd, Agunneryd, in Sweden, is ranked as No 1 in several trademark searches.

The fans of IKEA around the world points to the Scandinavian design at affordable prices, the bold modernist patterns, and blond wood aesthetics. The fact that you can eat “Swedish meatballs” in the restaurants, and buy Swedish hard cheese, crisp bread (“knäckebröd”), and pickled herring for Christmas is of course also marked as a positive detail for customers around the world – not only Scandinavians living abroad.

IKEA may have a marketing budget, as all companies, however the best marketing is in fact made by the physical consumers. Many Swedish movies and humour programs includes a scene with a person – normally a “handy” man – having difficulties to unpack a furniture from IKEA from the flat package and screw the parts together into a functional furniture. In social media around the world, the labyrinthine lay-out at the IKEA shops, the “flat-pack misery” to deal with once home, Allen keys, metal bolts, and baffling instructions are discussed, however in the majority of samples with a humoristic touch.

As the founder Ingvar Kamprad once summarized: ”Maintaining a strong IKEA culture is one of the most crucial factors behind the continued success of the IKEA Concept”.

Petter Rindforth tells the story of IKEA trademark, including trademark disputes and marketing policy in the Trademark Lawyer Annual 2019.

"THE WINNER TRADEMARKS IT ALL"

Both ABBA and SAAB are well-known Swedish trademarks around the world. However, not everybody knows that in Sweden there are in fact two ABBA / Abba, as well as two SAAB / SAAB trademarks - somewhat connected with each other but still separate marks for different goods/services. Petter Rindforth of Fenix Legal explains the difference and tells the history in the WIPR September/October 2019 jurisdiction report.

TRIALOGUE BETWEEN IP OWNERS, SHOPS ONLINE, PLATFORMS

FICPI, The International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys, hold its 18^th Open Forum in Vienna, Austria, on October 9 – 12, 2019.

Petter Rindforth from Fenix Legal moderated a special session related to Internet: Infringing on-line trademark use can be challenging to deal with as it crosses territorial boundaries. What take-down proceedings are in place? Are they effective for IP owners? How does the GDPR affect one’s ability to find contact information? Is there a gradual evolution towards agreement on a common practice?

FENIX LEGAL AT THE 2019 AIPPI WORLD CONGRESS IN LONDON

The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) had its 2019 World Congress in London, United Kingdom, September 15 – 18, 2019. AIPPI is the world’s leading international organization dedicated to the development and improvement of legal regimes for the protection of intellectual property (IP), and Fenix Legal was represented by Maria Zamkova and Petter Rindforth.

Among the topics presented and discussed at the Congress was: Trade Secrets in EU, forming portfolios for FRAND licensing (a topic that Fenix Legal has written several news articles about), MOCK – design on trial, post-grant amendments, and – of course – an update on BREXIT and IP.

The Congress also included a special Pharma Day, including presentations on recent developments in SPC’s and patent term extensions, discussions on international perspective on Patent Linkage, as well as praxis regarding antibodies and epitope/competitive claims

38th ECTA Annual Conference:

“New Horizons through the Highland Haze”.

The European Communities Trade Mark Association (ECTA) had its 38^th Annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 26 – 29, 2019. Fenix Legal was represented by CEO Maria Zamkova, and Managing Partner Petter Rindforth.

The conference included a number of important workshops and presentations, including topics such as:

"Constructing evidence based on disclosure on the Internet", "Strategies for enforcing unregistered / no examined rights", "New IT tools and useful statistics from WIPO and EUIPO", "EU Case-Law", and of course: "Brexit" as well as "ICANN/WHOIS update and discussion”.

In other words: the same topics that Fenix Legal also works directly on to solve in working groups of ICANN and INTA. Updates on these topics will follow through this site and .fenixnewS

The New Swedish Trademark Legislation

On January 1, 2019, several important changes to the Swedish trademark law and related constitutions came into effect. Among the most important changes is that it is now possible to register trademarks that can be attached as sound files, motion pictures or multimedia files. Other news:

Opositions: owners of a newly registered trademark can, in some cases, demand that an opponent prove that the opposing trademark has been in use.
Criteria for what is considered a valid trademark application: In order to get an application date, the applicant needs to i) stated intent to register the trademark, ii) provide full and clear information on who is the applicant, iii) provide a clear representation of the trademark, and iv) provide a clear list of goods and services for the trademark.
The exclusive trademark right is extended to include transit and similar customs measures. The purpose is to make it easier for the Customs Office to intervene against piracy and counterfeit goods.
Registrations based on applications submitted before or on December 31, 2018 will still be valid from the date of application and for 10 years from the registration date. Registrations based on applications submitted after or on January 1, 2019 will be valid for 10 years from the application date.

However, some traditional Swedish praxis will remain, such as the ex officio examination of relative grounds, as well as the possibility to file oppositions on absolute grounds.

Together with the new trademark legislation, a new Company Name Act (“Lag om företagsnamn”), replacing the Trade Names Act from 1974, has come into force. The main news here is the simplified and modernised language, as well as some practical procedural additions.

(INTAs Prersident, Mr David Lossignol in duscussion with Fenix Legal's CEO Maria Zamkova)

"INTA - the place to foster conumer trust, economic growth, and innovation".

INTA Annual Meeting 2019: Fenix legal a Gold Sponsor

The International Trademark Association (INTA) had its 141th Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, May 18 – 2, 2019. Fenix Legal was of course again Gold Sponsor for this event where more than 10 000 Brand Owners, In-house Counsels, Government Officials, Academics and IP professionals from all over the world came together for seminars, working group meetings and meetings with IP experts. And all participants got the new version of the traditional Fenix Legal pen!

Maria Zamkova, CEO, Petter Rindforth, Managing Partner, and Fabricio Belgrano, Head of our Gothenburg Office, participated on behalf of Fenix Legal.

Our Fenix Legal team is actively involved in several working groups and committees, such as the Adjunct Professors, the Future of the Internet Subcommittee of the Internet Committee, the team of Trademark Mediators, and the INTA Europe Global Advisory Council.

The INTA Annual Meeting is the largest and most influential gathering of brand owners and intellectual property (IP) professionals from around the world and from across industries.

INTA was founded in 1878 by 17 merchants and manufacturers who saw a need for an organization “to protect and promote the rights of trademark owners, to secure useful legislation and to give aid and encouragement to all efforts for the advancement and observance of trademark rights”.

Today, INTA’s members are more than 7200 organizations from 191 countries.

THE CLIENT CHOICE AWARDS 2019 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, TO:

THE BEST SWEDISH PATENT EXPERT & THE BEST EUROPEAN UNION TRADEMARK EXPERT

For the third year in a row, Fenix Legal has received Client Choice Awards:

Maria Zamkova has been awarded as the best expert of Intellectual Property: Patent in Sweden, and Petter Rindforth as the best expert of Intellectual Property: Trademarks in the European Union.

The "Client Choice Awards", by the International Law Office and Lexology (ILO), are based on over 2,000 interviews with leading senior in-house lawyers/counsels worldwide, recognising those lawyers around the world that stand apart for the excellent client service they provide.

The criteria for the awards focus on the ability to add real value to clients’ business above and beyond other players in the market.

The winners were recognized at the Client Choice gala dinner at One Great George Street in London’s historic Westminster, on February 7, 2019.

FENIX LEGAL AT ICANN63

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held its 63rd public meeting in Barcelona, Spain, October 20 – 25, 2018. It was not only ICANN’s Annual General meeting, but also its 20 Years Anniversary. ICANN was formed and incorporated in California on September 30, 1998.

Fenix Legal participated in several working groups and discussions, such as: The Review of all Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) in all gTLDs PDP Working Group, that is now preparing questions for public comments on the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS). Another intensive topic was on the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), that come into effect on May 25, 2018, and its impact on WHOIS Data Access. ICANN adopted on May 17, 2018 a “Temporary Specification” for gTLD Registration Data, in order to allow ICANN and gTLD registry operators and registrars to continue to comply with existing ICANN contractual requirements and community-developed policies in light of the GDPR. Users with a “legitimate and proportionate purpose” for accessing the non-public Personal Data are able to request such access through Registrars and Registry Operators. Users also maintain the ability to contact the Registrant or Administrative and Technical contacts through an anonymized email or web form. The problem is however how to identify “legitimate and proportionate purpose”. In many infringement cases so far, registry operators and registrars have refused to inform of the identification of the domain holder. An ICANN GDPR and WHOIS Users Survey, presented October 2018, shows that: When requesting reveal of redacted data, 79% had either been denied requests for access out-of-hand (51%), or they had been asked to obtain a court order (28%). A possible solution is that ICANN adopt a policy developed through ICANN multistakeholder processes, governing (a) who would have access to personal data in WHOIS records; (b) the purposes for which such access would be permitted; (c) jurisdictional concerns/controls; and (d) the safeguards applicable to such access. Upon receipt of a properly verified access request, ICANN would arrange for responsive data to be made available to the relevant third party for specified uses consistent with applicable data protection laws, including GDPR, and the policy/code/rules, through a mechanism to be determined.

INTA Leadership Meeting

The International Trademark Association (INTA), a global association of brand owners and professionals dedicated to supporting trademarks and related intellectual property to foster consumer trust, economic growth, and innovation, had its Leadership Meeting November 6-9, 2018 in New Orleans, Lousiana, USA.

Fenix Legal, represented by Petter Rindforth and Maria Zamkova, participated in sessions about Brand Communication, Virtual Reality, AI, and Mobile Applications, as well as in committee meetings: The Europe Global Advisory Council, Internet Committee, Future of IP on the Internet Subcommittee, and the Panel of Trademark Mediators.

The true value of a brand

“You cannot just make and sell a product—you need to step in to your customers’ minds and become an ordinary and welcome part of their daily life”.

Maria Zamkova explains in the World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR Jan-Feb 2018) how to keep the high impact of your trademark and to keep customers satisfied.

Read the full article here

Sweden – the natural base for “Internet of Things”

The most active technology for patent protection in Sweden is digital communication (representing 30% of the applications), followed by transportation, medical technology, telecommunication and civil engineering. Swedish focus of IoT - Internet of Things - is the reason why more and more Swedish industrial companies choose to take home their production from abroad.

In the Patent Lawyer Magazine March/April 2018, Fenix Legal’s CEO Maria Zamkova gives examples of the hottest areas for Swedish patent applications right now: IoT, telecom and self-driving vehicles.

Don’t “copy wrong” in Sweden - Copyright!

New legislative amendments came into force in Sweden on July 1, 2019, introducing two new criminal denominations: gross copyright infringement and gross trademark infringement.

Failing one of the new crimes can be sentenced to imprisonment for six months up to six years.

As stated by Ms Heléne Fritzon, Deputy Minister of justice, "Today there is an organized online piracy that has major consequences for the whole community.

Therefore, it is good that the rate of punishment for these crimes have been reviewed as the sanction should be proportional to the seriousness of the crime".

In an article of The Copyright Lawyer Magazine, Petter Rindforth, investigates Swedish copyright laws by considering some of the major judgments and law.

The scourge of fake trademark renewals

The problem of fake invoices is a widespread illegal business that focuses on sending invoices close to holidays, to small and medium-sized companies and individual applicants. The international and national PTO’s handle this problem in different ways.

The Swedish Court of Appeal in Stockholm (Svea Hovrätt) recently convicted a main actor for fraud in 355 cases. He was sentenced to imprisonment for 4 years and 8 months, giving a clear signal to others that plan to earn money from fake registration or renewal invoices.

Read more of this and how to protect yourself against being tricked in Maria Zamkova’s Jurisdiction Report published in WIPR May/June 2018.

Fenix Legal & Maria Zamkova: Among the The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2018

IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2018, a unique guide that identifies the top patent professionals in key jurisdictions around the globe, is now published. The extensive research process for this guide was conducted over several months by a team of full-time analysts, and involved more than 1,700 interviews with patent specialists across the globe.

Both Fenix Legal KB (as firm) and Maria Zamkova (as individual) are recognized and listed.

As explained by Nicholas Richardson, research editor for the IAM Patent 1000: “In the world of commerce, patents have become pivotal in driving corporate value and profitability…IAM Patent 1000 is pinpointing the best of the best in prosecution, litigation and licensing".

ECTA 37th Annual Conference in Athens, Greece. June 13 – 16, 2018

The European Communities Trade Mark Association (ECTA) recently hold its 37th Annual conference in Athens, Greece.

Petter Rindforth and Maria Zamkova from Fenix Legal participated actively in the program, including interesting presentations and discussion topics such as: the EU Copyright Reform; Goods in Transit – Two years into the new law; Different countries, different names? How are pharmaceutical trade marks selected and cleared?; New IT tools & Useful Statistics; and Status of implementation of the Trade Mark Directive (EU) No. 2015/2436 – The most significant changes in national laws.

INTA Annual Meeting 2018:

“The Must-Attend Event for IP Stakeholders”

The International Trademark Association (INTA) had its 140th Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington, USA, May 19 – 23, 2018. Fenix Legal was of course again Gold Sponsor for this event where 11 000 participants from all over the world came together for seminars, working group meetings and meetings with IP experts.

Maria Zamkova and Petter Rindforth participated on behalf of Fenix Legal in several working groups, such as the Adjunct Professors, the Internet Committee, the team of Trademark Mediators, and the INTA Europe Global Advisory Council.

Zamkova met with Ms Tish Berard, President of INTA, discussing the future development of INTA as the global network.

Rindforth moderated a table topic session on the theme:

“The Do’s And Don’ts of Using Trademarks in Social Networking”, as well as a panel discussion on GDPR and updates on URS procedure.

Universities: A hub of innovation

As noted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, public research plays an extremely important role in innovation systems by ensuring the provision of new knowledge.

One example of searchable patent policies is LU Innovation from Lund University in Sweden. Founded in 1666, Lund University is one of the most innovative universities in Sweden.

Read more about this successful hub for Swedish inventors, as well as how the Swedish government plans to strengthen the protection of research results, in the article written by Fenix Legal’s CEO Maria Zamkova, and published in the World Intellectual Property Review Sept/Oct 2017.

The Global Broadcasting Copyright Treaty:

Latest news and how to deal with online copyright infringement.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has circulated a new draft text on definitions in the global

broadcasting copyright treaty. Read more of this as well as how to deal with copyright infringement online, and mediation in an article of Petter Rindforth, published in the Lawyer Monthly Magazine.

FICPI Open Forum in Venice

Maria Zamkova at FICPI/Venice

Maria Zamkova

and Petter Rindforth from Fenix Legal participated in the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) 17th Open Forum, October 25 – 28, 2017 in Venice, Italy.

The working programme was focused on practical topics that IP-attorneys around the world are dealing with in our daily practice, and included a mock IP mediation session; priority – as a key aspect of patent law – and consequences of a loss of priority; how to stop counterfeit and pirated goods entering the market in the first place; prior art – when is a disclosure enabling (and when is it not); enforcement of trade marks in a global marketplace; how patentees and their representatives should adapt their practices to deal with the impact of 3D printing; distinctive practice related to non-traditional trademarks; “self-collision” in patent applications; practical tips on global protection of IP rights; patent prosecution, and validation of trademarks.

FICPI Open Forum i Venedig

Maria Zamkova och Petter Rindforth från Fenix Legal deltog i International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) 17:e Open Forum, som hölls den 25-28 oktober 2017 i Venedig, Italien.

Medling i patenttvist

Arbetsprogrammet var inriktat på högaktuella praktiska ämnen som IP-ombud runt om i världen hanterar dagligen, och inkluderade bl a en session med exempel på hur medling kan lösa immaterialrättsliga tvister - något som Fenix Legal's auktoriserade medlare har stor erfarenhet av.

Övriga ämnen var: prioritet – en nyckelaspekt inom patenträtten – och konsekvenserna av prioritetsförlust; hur man identifierar och stoppar piratkopierade produkter redan vid gränsen; känd teknik – särskilt gråzonen när du som uppfinnare på olika sätt visar din produkt; hur man skyddar varumärken på den globala marknaden; senaste praxis när det gäller 3D-printing, patentintrångstvister, och värdering av varumärken.

Blocking copyright infringement online

On February 13, 2017 the new Swedish Patent and Market Court of Appeal issued a decision that internet service provider(ISP) Bredbandsbolaget has to implement technical blocking measures for three years to prevent its subscribers from accessing file-sharing sites The Pirate Bay and SweFilmer. In addition to that, the Swedish government recently decided to order an investigation on ‘Penalty scales for certain serious infringements of intellectual property’. As stated by the Swedish Minister for Justice and Migration: “Let me be very clear: we believe that theft is theft, even if it is about intellectual property rights.”

Petter Rindforth / Fenix Legal reports on the current work in Sweden to stop online infringement of IP rights.

Read the full article, published in the May/June 2017 World Intellectual Property Review:

Sweden is now the second in the world (and the best in Europe)

of the most innovative economies!

Sweden has climbed to No 2 of the world's most innovative economies, according to the US based financial software, data, and media company Bloomberg L.P.'s "2017 Bloomberg Innovation Index", published on January 17, 2017. Maria Zamkova, CEO of Fenix Legal, explains how intangible assets increases the value of both companies and countries, reveals what led to this status and gives recommendations on what more needs to be done. Read the article published in The Patent Lawyer magazine

“The best way to protect your trademark in EU - All what you need to know!”

This was the topic for the recent FICPI Sweden full day seminar in Malmö, Sweden, on September 14, 2017.

Petter Rindforth from Fenix Legal made a presentation on .EU domain name disputes, and what to think of in using the Alternative Dispute Resolution for .EU Domain name Disputes, compared to the traditional UDRP.

Other speakers were Marc Van Wesemael (CEO of EURid) talking about watching services related to domain names vs trademarks, Toni Polson Ashton with new ideas on the trademark classification system, Ulla Wennermark on news in relation to the EU trademark and the Community Design, and Magnus Ahlgren (Swedish PTO) gave a Swedish view of the Nice Classification System.

“The experts at Fenix Legal

are doing a brilliant job"

The globally leading IP business media platform, Intellectual Asset Management (IAM), has now presented the result of the research for "IAM Patent 100:The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2017".

Fenix Legal is again higly ranked:

“The experts at Fenix Legal are doing a brilliant job. Their reports and feedback are exceptionally clear, quick and of a high quality.” Clients continue to lavish praise upon this “technically updated, fast, informative and service-minded” one-stop shop, which shines especially brightly on emerging technology and pharmaceutical briefs."

Maria Zamkova, Fenix Legal's CEO and head of the patent and design department, is appreciated as "an outstanding expert in IP protection and development”, Zamkova “is always 100% updated on the status of every case and has the spirit of an entrepreneur, constantly providing useful, business-focused guidance”.