Intellectual Property

Newsletter RSS

ETSI leadership election challenged over tech giants’ influence

Creative Designer sketches graphic drawing on graphic laptop and Color swatch samples

UK design overhaul puts protection ahead of simplification

Video streaming

Streaming groups urge global action over alleged video patent licensing abuses

Insight View More

Muji operator loses Chinese trademark appeal over online-product branding November 06, 2026 | MLex Staff

Japan’s Ryohin Keikaku cannot rely on its service trademark to justify using “Wuyin Liangpin,” the Chinese characters used for its Muji brand, as product branding on goods covered by another company’s registered trademarks...(read more)

Japan's mascot feud fails to undo unwritten copyright deal November 06, 2026 | Toko Sekiguchi

Japan’s Intellectual Property High Court rejected a copyright owner’s attempt to stop the commercial use of a lookalike mascot, finding that its earlier cooperation had given permission it could not simply withdraw.

Pepsi tells US Supreme Court inherent trademark strength is question for judges November 05, 2026 | Steve Scherer

PepsiCo asked the US Supreme Court to treat trademarks’ inherent strength as a legal question for judges, saying it helps define owners’ rights to restrict similar branding. It argued its win against Rise Brewing should st...(read more)

IP licensing and business: Oct. 23-Nov. 5 November 05, 2026 | Steve Scherer

Drugmakers secured experimental treatments, expanded biosimilar portfolios and renegotiated royalty obligations, while life-sciences companies acquired technology and resolved patent disputes. Elsewhere, licensing provided...(read more)

This week at the UPC: Oct. 30-Nov. 5 November 05, 2026 | Giorgi Dvalishvili and Inbar Preiss

This week, the Unified Patent Court refused to suspend Netflix’s injunction despite the European Patent Office’s subsequent revocation of the patent at issue. Hamburg departed from other divisions by requiring each party t...(read more)

Bosch wins litigation costs as Shanghai court upholds malicious-lawsuit finding November 05, 2026 | MLex Staff

A Shanghai court ruling involving German engineering company Bosch shows how companies can recover costs from abusive intellectual property litigation through counterclaims, outlining criteria for identifying malicious law...(read more)

BMW blocks ‘BMV’ trademark over risk of unfair advantage November 05, 2026 | Inbar Preiss

BMW has defeated a battery-monitor maker’s bid to register “BMV” as an EU trademark. Judges found the name could benefit unfairly from the carmaker’s reputation, showing how famous brands can secure protection beyond their...(read more)

Incyte wins Indian patent injunction just weeks before expiration November 05, 2026 | Freny Patel

US biopharma major Incyte secured an Indian injunction against Melody Healthcare just 11 weeks before its ruxolitinib patent’s expiration. The Delhi High Court ruling highlights the availability of interim protection again...(read more)

Comment View More

ETSI leadership election challenged over tech giants’ influence November 05, 2026 | Melissa Ritti and Inbar Preiss

Cyberprime, a Polish cybersecurity manufacturer, is challenging the appointment of ETSI’s sole chair nominee by consensus. The company cites concerns about outsized influence by major patent holders and US technology gian...(read more)

UK design overhaul puts protection ahead of simplification November 04, 2026 | Melissa Ritti

The UK government will not abolish its unregistered design right, it said Wednesday, opting instead to preserve existing protections while pursuing targeted registration checks and cheaper civil enforcement. The next phase...(read more)

Sisvel executive says EU's renewed SEP push could fracture global licensing November 03, 2026 | Steve Scherer

A renewed EU effort to regulate standard-essential patent licensing risks splintering global markets and harming smaller innovators and patent pool administrators, Sisvel's executive head of government affairs, Matteo Saba...(read more)

Impact of UPC's intermediary liability questions could reach beyond patent court November 03, 2026 | Inbar Preiss

The Unified Patent Court is developing rules on when intermediaries can face injunctions for helping others bring allegedly infringing products to market. UPC Court of Appeal President Klaus Grabinski said questions referr...(read more)

USPTO Meishan decision adds hurdles for PTAB petitioners with foreign govt ties November 03, 2026 | Nick Robertson

The recent denial of Meishan CRRC Fastening System Co’s petition for inter partes review before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board expands upon how the US Patent and Trademark Office will apply its new standards for identif...(read more)

OpenAI, Microsoft amici clash over creativity, competition in US copyright fight November 02, 2026 | Emma Whitford, Melissa Ritti and Chris May

Double-digit amicus briefs filed in coordinated lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft in New York federal court show two camps championing human creativity — each accusing the other of undermining the statutory purpose of ...(read more)

Appeal risks temper funders’ appetite for huge trade secret claims November 02, 2026 | Nick Robertson

Long appeal timelines, appellate reversals for large-dollar verdicts and scrutiny over apportionment and causation make going to trial in trade secret litigation less appealing to third-party funders, a panel of litigation...(read more)

Trade secret trial against former Headlands quant gets underway in US November 02, 2026 | Melissa Ritti

For quantitative trading firms, proprietary source code and algorithms are the business. A three-week criminal trial in New York against Cheuk Fung Richard Ho, scheduled to begin Monday, could offer a rare glimpse at how e...(read more)