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UFC-QUE CHOISIR v. Valve: to the consecration of a second-hand market for dematerialized video game? (TGI Paris, September 17, 2019, RG 16/01008)
On September 17, 2019, the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris (first degree civil jurisdiction) ruled against VALVE, following a lawsuit initiated in 2015 by the consumer association “UFC-Que Choisir”.
The Court judged that several clauses in the terms and conditions of the Stream platform......
The industrial property contributions of the Pacte Law
The Pacte Law adopted on May 22th, 2019 amends the French Intellectual Property Code on various points. The Government's primary objective in this area was to significantly increase the number of patent applications filed by SMEs. In fact, in 2017, requests made by SMEs accounted for only 19.5% of......
Publication of Law n° 2018-670 related to the protection of trade secrets
Following the adoption of the Directive (EU) 2016/943 of 8 June 2016 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure, EU Member States are now putting in place reforms aiming to establish a legal protection......
The French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) approves the geographical indication "Porcelaine de Limoges"
A Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) is an official sign of origin and quality implemented by European regulation in 1992 and now governed by the Regulation n°1151/2012 of 21 November 2012. Originally limited to specific food products that bore geographical names and linked to their......
Every slogan is not a trademark
To be eligible as a trademark, a slogan, as any other sign, shall bear a distinctive character, meaning it shall serve as an indication of origin for the covered products and services and not be limited to a promotional function. ...
CJEU: The Pirate Bay infringes author's rights
The Pirate Bay is a BitTorrent online sharing platform which provides to internet users indexed links in order to localise protected works and to download them, without any hosted files on the platform. Thus, the exchange of files is realized directly between the internet users and not through the......
Plain packaging: the French administrative supreme court dismisses request brought by tobacco companies
As Australia and the United-Kingdom previously did, France adopted a regulation enforcing plain packaging. Therefore, since 1 January 2017, only plain packages can be stored on the tobacconist shelves.
By its decision dated 23 December 2016, the French administrative supreme court (Conseil d’Etat)......
The Paris Civil Court refuses the protection of a Jimi Hendrix’s photo by copyright.
In a decision dated May 21, 2015, the Paris Civil Court refused to admit the existence of a forgery of Jimi Hendrix’s photo on the grounds that the originality of the work had not been proved.
In this case, an electronic cigarette sales company had reproduced a Jimi Hendrix’s photo smoking an......
The "Les Républicains" trademarks are legal.
In a decision dated May 6, 2015, the Paris First Instance Court, ruling in emergency, held that neither manifestly unlawful disturbance nor eminent harm could be characterized by the use, by a political party, of the term “Les Républicains” as a denomination and as a trademark.
The Political......
Decree n°2015-511 of May, 7th, 2015: the INPI silence is not considered as an acceptance
The Decree n°2015-511 of May 7th, 2015 introduces exceptions concerning the principle "silence is considered as an acceptance".
In the relationship between the citizens and the Administration, the principle is: "if the administrative authority failed to respond within two......
