On 8 May, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, Advocate General Szpunar delivered his long-awaited opinion in joined cases Mio/konektra (C-580/23 and C-795/23). The two cases were referred by the Svea Court of Appeal, Patent and Commercial Court of Appeal in Stockholm and the German Federal Court of Justice in cases…
The ongoing public discourse on Sustainability – meant here not in its plain-language meaning but rather in its evolving definition in law- and policy-making (see e.g. Verschuuen) – pivots, to a significant extent, on the need to promote better models of consumption and production. This need to optimize the exploitation of natural resources and reduce…
In a decision of 20 February 2025 the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) denied copyright protection as a work of applied art for two sandal designs. The ruling clarifies the scope of protection under German and EU law for works of applied art. According to the BGH, works of applied art enjoy protection if they…
Yesterday, the European Copyright Society (ECS) published its Opinion on the CJEU MIO/konektra cases C- 580/23 and C-795/23 (originality and infringement test of works of applied art). The Executive Summary is reproduced below and the full Opinion is available here: ecs-opinion-mio-konektra.pdf Executive summary Background. In Cofemel, the CJEU recognized that (i) the standard test…
Earlier this year, the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) issued an order (Cass., ord. no.11413/2024) in a case concerning the protection by copyright of a lamp design. Part I of this post outlined the decisions issued as the case made its way through the Italian court system. Part II will now turn to the…
With an order (Cass., ord. no.11413/2024) that suprisingly triggered little attention, at the end of last April the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) proffered yet once more its original approach and reading of the principles inspiring the EU copyright harmonization – and particularly of those developed by the CJEU case law. This time,…
The Advocate-General’s opinion in the Kwantum v. Vitra referral is remarkable in several ways. The case concerns the protection under Dutch copyright of the iconic “DSW” chair designed by American designers Charles and Ray Eames. Kwantum, a popular low-budget furniture store chain, sold copies of the chair without rightholder Vitra’s permission. Before the Dutch courts…
Europeans are the biggest producers of electronic equipment waste (‘e-waste’); according to recent numbers, in 2018 approximately 4 million tons of e-waste were discarded in the European Union. This amounts to more than 16 kg of e-waste per capita per year. Common sources of e-waste include televisions, computers, mobile phones and various types of home…
This post is based in part on the Position Statement of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition of 23 January 2023 on the ‘Design Package’, but expresses the authors’ own personal views. On 28 November 2022, the EU Commission published proposals for amendment of the Design Regulation and for recast of…
Welcome to the fourth (and last) trimester of the 2022 round up of EU copyright law (even though slightly overdue)! While in the last three months of 2022 the CJEU was relatively quiet, the various EU policymakers have been very productive. In this series, we update readers every three months on developments in EU copyright…
