We learn from an early age that our self belongs to us and only we can decide how to use our own image. However, legal provisions sometimes turn things upside down.

This is exactly what happened to famous singer Dua Lipa, when she posted a photo of herself (yes, herself) on her Instagram page. Shortly after, she was sued by a paparazzi/tabloid company called Integral Images on grounds of copyright infringement, because she posted the photo “without permission or authorisation” of the rights owner.

They argued in their complaint that “The (Instagram) Account is monetised in that it contains content designed to accumulate followers who are directed to, via link and/or advertisement, consume and purchase Defendant’s content, Defendant profits from these activities”. In return, the company is seeking damages of $150.000 from the singer.

Despite the fact she took down the post, the litigation is still underway.
Seems like when you don’t have copyright, you’ll copy wrong. Yes, pun intended.
If you want to avoid legal issues or need legal assistance in intellectual property matters, we are one email away.

*Image rights Dua Lipa/YSL Beauty*

The mighty Johnny Cash once said “what is done in the dark will be brought to the light”. Seems like Helene Adelaide Shelby, an inventor, took that saying quite literally and filed a patent in 1927, aimed at protecting a new interrogation method.

This patent sought that in order to extract a confession that the murderer be put face-to-face with their propped up victim. The body would have its eyes replaced by red blinking lights, while flood lighting would project upwards over the body as to cast a spooky atmosphere.

The idea was that the murderer would be so scared of the ghastly apparition that they would be compelled to admit the truth in sheer terror, while an engineer behind the body would record the entire… uhmm… spectacle. The only fact here that isn’t shocking is that this method was never implemented.

If you want to make sure your intellectual property rights won’t go unused to their full potential, contact us.
We smile and litigate!

Patent link: https://lnkd.in/ex25bNG

While the world of cryptocurrency may still be something cryptic for most people, one thing that everyone has heard of, at least once, is Bitcoin.

To give a little context, Bitcoin is so famous because it was the first widespread cryptocurrency. Its terms and conditions were written in a “whitepaper” and it was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto. Fun fact – no one knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is, if it’s a real person or whether it’s an alias for an entire group of people.

Now that we finished with this brief foreplay, prepare to be somewhat dumbfounded.

In a rather shocking turn of events, recently a UK court has ruled in favor of a self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto over the copyright for the Bitcoin whitepaper.
As a result, Craig Wright, a computer scientist who claimed he wrote the original document, has requested that the website bitcoin.org can no longer post said whitepaper, as it would be copyright infringement.

What is even more shocking, aside from the notorious fact that no one knows who Satoshi really is, is that this ruling was issued by default, due to the fact that the defendant did not provide any defense.
Looks like the only thing more difficult to understand than crypto is the ruling of certain courts.

If you want to maximize your chances of success in court, contact us.
Yes, we are blockchain savvy.

image via etherdesk.com

To say that this past year has not been easy budget-wise on entrepreneurs and startups is a bit of an understatement.

Luckily, the EU alongside partner Intellectual Property Offices must have really enjoyed that famous Jerry Maguire scene – “Help us help you!”

So, they have created a Fund to help out small and medium-sized companies by covering up to 1.500 EUR of the official fees regarding the protection of their IP rights.

This SME Fund will cover up to 75% of the pre-diagnostic service fees or up to 50% of the registration fees, whether they regard national or EU rights. For example, if you want to register an EU trademark (protected for every EU member state) for one Nice class, let’s say “selling shoes online”, then you can receive up to 50% of the fee back, namely 425 EUR.

You can apply for this Fund between July 1st and July 31st.
Don’t miss out! Let us help you protect your IP rights!

Since the UEFA Euro 2020 is in full swing, we need to get the ball rolling on some intellectual property aspects. Yes, we are kicking this post off with lots of puns.

Many people might not know this, but a significant number of football players have registered their names or nicknames as trademarks.

The goal is that this way they can provide a better protection for all branded merchandise, making it easier for the player or their legal team to overcome possible IP infringement.

Even if you are just a startup or an emerging entrepreneur, and not a worldclass goalie, you should always protect the name or logo of your product or business. Otherwise, you might not score all your desired revenue due to others using a similar or an identical trademark.

Don’t miss the mark, let us help you in all your intellectual property matters!
Register your trademark today!