The Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") recently ruled that design works must be protected by copyright in the EU regardless of their country of origin. This decision rejects the application of the reciprocity clause from the Berne Convention for applied arts originating from third countries. A Swiss furniture design company, holding intellectual property rights on chairs designed by American artists, sought to stop a Dutch and Belgian furniture chain from selling [...]

Hoping to crack down on the ever-increasing problem of overbroad trademark registrations and fake specimens of use, the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") has announced that it will expand its existing audit program, currently conducted on a random basis, to include directed audits for certain trademark filings. In contrast to many jurisdictions, the United States requires that trademark owners periodically demonstrate that their marks remain in active use in commerce to avoid [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a district court's amended final judgment and reinstated its prior final judgment, finding that the district court overstepped its narrow mandate on remand, directly contradicting the Fifth Circuit's earlier decision. In that earlier decision, the Fifth Circuit upheld the district court's finding of trademark infringement but modified the scope of the injunction, approving it only in part. Rolex Watch USA, Incorporated v. BeckerTime, L.L.C., Case No. [...]