Bristows

This Practice Note sets out the intellectual property and competition law issues which may arise in connection with character merchandising (ie the practice of licensing the name or likeness of a character for use in the marketing of goods or services, which will usually require the licensing of trade marks and/or copyright). It considers issues which may arise pursuant to Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (or in the UK, Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998), as well as possible block exemptions or individual exemptions that might apply. It also considers the interaction between competition law and the tort of passing off.

Comparative advertising is any advertising which explicitly or by implication identifies a competitor or goods or services offered by a competitor. This Practice Note considers the conditions which must be satisfied in order for comparative advertising to be lawful, and discusses the interplay between comparative advertising and trade mark infringement. It also includes a checklist of key factors that an advertiser should consider when using comparative claims relating to competitors in an advertising campaign.

This Practice Note examines competition law in relation to copyright exploitation. It covers exhaustion of rights and parallel trade within the EEA including an examination of Article 101 TFEU and copyright licensing. Vertical agreements and exclusive licences are considered covering absolute territorial protection, geo-blocking, tying and bundling, as are horizontal agreements covering collective licensing and joint selling. The relationship between copyright exploitation and Article 102 TFEU is also considered.

This Practice Note considers film and television copyright issues relating to the underlying works encountered during the making of a film. It covers literary works such as scripts, biographies, characters, set design and location, photographs, the right to privacy of certain photographs or films, music, and performances. The note also covers copyright permitted acts or exceptions that may apply when various works are included in a film including fair dealing exceptions, incidental inclusion, reporting court proceedings, filming in a public place, and public interest.

This Practice Note considers copyright issues relating to film and television. It reviews key legislation covering: the definition of film, the definition of the author of a film, qualifying requirements, the term of protection, the Term Directive, soundtracks, broadcast right and moral rights in relation to films.

This Practice Note sets out some of the key intellectual property (IP) issues that should be considered when setting up a joint venture (JV). This Practice Note considers the scenario where two organisations (parent companies) set up a JV which is a separate legal entity (eg a company or a limited liability partnership), which they jointly own. It does not consider the IP issues that arise in contractual collaborations (where there is no separate legal entity).

This Practice Note considers the intellectual property (IP or IPR) issues that can arise in an outsourcing arrangement. It describes the difference between background and foreground intellectual property rights and explains how to deal with rights that are owned or licensed by third parties. It also looks at IPR warranties and indemnities in outsourcing agreements.

The Internet of Things is the term given to everyday objects, smart devices and connected devices connected to the internet. This Practice Note provides context and an explanation of the Internet of Things or IoT, providing an introduction to the technology, current and future implementations and key legal issues related to its implementation.

This Practice Note deals with the manner in which copyright and other intellectual property (IP) rights apply in the context of linking on the web, with specific regard to the perspective of a website operator. It covers linking terminology such as hyperlinking, deep linking, embedded linking, inline linking, and framing. It also deals with linking in relation to the communication to the public right, technical access restrictions on a website, hyperlinking without the authorisation of the rightholder, website terms of use which restrict or limit linking, copyright protection for hyperlinks, website operator liability for infringement, linking and other IP rights, linking to defamatory material and linking and contractual restrictions on websites.

This Practice Note deals with orphan works and covers the background and implementation of orphan works legislation and licensing arrangements in the UK including coverage of the EU Orphan Works Directive, Directive 2012/28/EU, which was implemented in the UK by the Copyright and Rights in Performances (Licensing of Orphan Works) Regulations 2014 and the Copyright and Rights in Performances (Certain Permitted Uses of Orphan Works) Regulations 2014. The Practice Note covers: applying for a licence, making a diligent search, moral rights, appeals, use of revenues from orphan works and the impact of IP completion day on cultural heritage institutions and the UK Orphan Works Licensing Scheme.

This Practice Note examines the two different types of second medical use claims (purpose limited process ‘Swiss-form’ claims and purpose limited product ‘EPC 2000’ claims), the differences between them and their enforcement in England and Wales. It also discusses the impact of the Supreme Court judgment in Warner-Lambert v Generics (UK) and Actavis.

This Practice Note addresses the role played by standard essential patents (SEPs) and fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing in patent litigation before the Courts of England and Wales (the English Courts). In particular, this Practice Note considers the legal landscape following the UK Supreme Court decision handed down on 26 August 2020 in the conjoined Unwired Planet and Conversant appeals and the practical implications of this decision.

This Practice Note examines the two principal research exemptions to patent infringement available under UK law, namely, the general experimental use exemption (sometime referred to as the experimental use defence) and the specific ‘Bolar-type’ exemption. It discusses what is required in order to benefit from these exceptions to infringement under section 60(5) and (6) of the Patents Act 1977 (PA 1977), relevant case law such as Meter-Tech v British Gas and practical considerations, eg how to deal with suppliers in contracts and research tools. This Practice Note also discusses the supplementary protection certificate (SPC) manufacturing waiver and the European Commission’s 2017 impact assessment in relation to possible legislative proposals aimed at improving the EU’s industrial property legal framework in relation to patent research exemptions.

This Practice Note explains the manner in which intellectual property and certain other rights, as well as data protection obligations, apply in the context of web crawling, indexing, caching and scraping on the web, with specific regard to the perspective of a website operator. It explains each of the key terms of crawling, indexing, caching, and scraping. It examines legal issues relating to copyright infringement, database right infringement, website terms of use, compliance with the Robot Exclusion Protocol and instructions in metatags, the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and data protection issues.

This is a Precedent notice and takedown letter (or NTD letter) for use when an internet service provider (ISP) or online platform is hosting or providing access to a third party’s trade mark infringing activity. It is intended to be sent to an ISP or host in circumstances where a trade mark owner wishes to provide the ISP or host with notice of trade mark infringing activity as a precursor to obtaining a website blocking order or other injunction. This notice provides the intermediary with ‘actual knowledge’ of its service being used to infringe a trade mark so that the rights holder may apply for an injunction requiring that it terminates access to the infringing website, in accordance with the principles established in Cartier International AG & others v British Sky Broadcasting Limited & others [2016] EWCA Civ 658.

This is a precedent outsourcing agreement under which the customer appoints a supplier as an outsourced services provider of a particular business function of the customer. It is a short form outsourcing agreement generally drafted on a pro-customer basis and is suitable for use in both IT and non-IT related outsourcing transactions. For more complex transactions, the long form outsourcing agreement should be used.

This is a precedent set of prize promotion terms and conditions suitable for a simple prize competition or a free prize draw. The terms and conditions will assist in complying with the rules governing prize promotion advertising under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR 2008) and the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code).