Intellectual Property
Use it or lose it: Madrid Provincial Appellate Court confirms the partial revocation of the Spanish Olympic Committee’s trademarks for non-use
The Madrid Court confirms the partial revocation of several trademarks of the Spanish Olympic Committee due to non-use. The judgment underscores that neither reputation nor sector-specific protection can replace genuine use: without actual commercial use a trademark is lost.Roncato: When a coexistence agreement redefines the rules of a trademark conflict
The Spanish Supreme Court has brought to an end the trademark dispute between the two branches of the Italian Roncato family, a leading name in the luggage sector. The companies, Valigeria Roncato and Baulificio Italiano, will continue to use the surname “Roncato” in their respective trademarks, in accordance with the coexistence agreement signed in 1996.Supplementary protection certificates in Europe: towards a unified system and the extension of biotech protection
The European regime on supplementary protection certificates could undergo a huge transformation. The EU has proposed measures such as introducing a centralized examination procedure at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), creating a unitary supplementary protection certificate or extending protection by a further 12 months for some medicines developed using biotech processes and for advanced therapies.The Mafia no longer has a seat at the table: the OEPM follows in the EGC’s footsteps and invalidates the Spanish trademark
The Spanish Patents and Trademarks Office (OEPM) has declared the trademark “La Mafia se sienta a la mesa” invalid, deeming it contrary to public policy and accepted principles of morality based on the same criteria that led the European General Court (EGC) to invalidate the European trademark in 2018.“The show must go on”… but with a license: the scope of musical synchronization
The Provincial Court of Madrid, in its judgment of May 16, 2025, confirmed a highly relevant criterion for the audiovisual sector: what should be understood as the synchronization of a musical work in an audiovisual production and why this act requires the specific authorization of the rights holder.AI and copyright: from ‘machine-readable’ to ‘machine-actionable’ in the opt-out from TDM: a question of vocabulary or technical governance?
The debate regarding reservation of rights (opt-out) for AI training has shifted from principles to infrastructure. The German decision in the LAION case rekindles the key issue: how to turn ‘machine-readable’ into a ‘machine-actionable’ mechanism that is interoperable and proportional.The Supreme Court judgment on the Mezquita de Córdoba clarifies the scope of trademark ius prohibendi against prior domain names
The recent ruling on the domain name “mezquitadecordoba.org” confirms a key idea for any business: a domain name – no matter how old – does not prevail over a registered trademark. The decision highlights the importance of having a solid strategy in place for protecting digital assets at a time when the online world carries increasing weight.The CJEU’s Mio/Konektra ruling on the copyright protection of works of applied art: interpreting the interpreter
In a case concerning the copyright protection of furniture designs, the Court revisits its settled case law on the originality requirement for the protection of utilitarian objects, while further delineating the relationship between copyright and design law under EU law.Keys to the Supreme Court judgment that recognizes the authorship by the Japanese artist Negishi, of artworks signed by the Spaniard De Felipe
Following the recent Supreme Court decision that recognizes Fumiko Negishi as co-author of 221 artworks signed by the Spanish artist Antonio de Felipe, we take a look at the judgment to analyze why the high court considered that Negishi’s personal execution of these works “gives rise to the embodiment of an original work eligible for protection”.