Lisbon System Working Group
MARQUES participated in the Ninth Session of the Working Group on the development of the Lisbon System (concerning appellations of origin) in Geneva from 23rd to 27th June. Miguel Angel Medina, Keri Johnston and Ortrun Gunzel of the GI Team all attended.
A full report from the GI Team will be included in the next issue of HouseMARQUES.
CP1 Working Group Meeting
MARQUES was represented at the CP1 Working Group meeting in the context of the Convergence Programme on 2nd July by Alessandra Romeo, External Relations Officer, on behalf of the Trade Mark Law & Practice Team.
The subject of this project is classification issues. The Working Group’s activities are continuing and more information will be available soon.
Members should note that the third issue of European TMDN News has been published. It reports on the latest activities and projects of the European Trade Mark and Design Network, and its members' efforts to share best practices and harmonise working methods across Europe, including on the common Harmonised Database, in the context of the Convergence Programme projects.
Academy Network Meeting
On 2nd and 3rd July, the OHIM Academy Network Meeting was held in Alicante, and External Relations Officer Alessandra Romeo was present.
MARQUES was thanked for its contribution to the activities of the IP Academy and particularly for promoting those activities, notably the online webinars and the road show seminars on OHIM website (which have taken place in seven countries so far (Spain, France, UK, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Portugal in 2013 and Luxembourg, Denmark and the Czech Republic this year) through Class 46. This promotion resulted in a tangible increase in participants to those events.
Alessandra presented MARQUES’ own comprehensive educational programme and training activities. The audience, consisting of the representatives of most of the EU national IP offices as well as representatives of GRUR and INTA, expressed their appreciation in particular for the good contribution provided on updating IP professionals through Class 46 on the most relevant EU case-law.
Readers can view the IP Academy Learning Portal to peruse the current course catalogue and upcoming initiatives of the IP Academy which include a seminar to be held between 29th September and 3rd October on trade marks and designs, where MARQUES will be granted one place that we will allocate to one members, as in past case, on a first come first served basis.
Members can also test the tutorials and webinars made available on many different topics in the course catalogue and provide their feedback and ideas for improvement to Alessandra by email: aromeo@marques.org.
Customs meeting in Brussels
On 17th July, the 2nd EU Customs - right holders and stakeholders meeting in the framework of action 1.3.2 of the EU Customs Action Plan to combat IPR infringements (2013-2017) was organised in Brussels by DG TAXUD. MARQUES was represented by Ian Lowe, the Chair of the Anti-Counterfeiting and Parallel Trade Team.
WIPO mission to Cameroon
A Policy Dialogue on International Developments in the Field of Trademark Law and the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks was held in Yaoundé, on 22nd and 23rd July.
MARQUES was invited to join the WIPO mission to Cameroon and MARQUES Chair Diana Versteeg was invited to give a speech to represent the industry user’s perspective on the Madrid system and the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks.
Issue 043
The next Coexistence Agreement Workshop will be held in Bucharest, Romania on Wednesday 10th September. Booking is also now open for Meet the Judges in Vienna, Austria on Friday 17th October.
MARQUES members have taken part in a number of events and activities in the past month. Here are some of them.
Among the posts on Class 46 and Class 99 this month: the Apple Store trade mark decision, stripes as trade marks and Hague Agreement spring clean.
The CP6 project in the Cooperation Programme tackles graphic representation of designs. David Stone of the Designs Team explains the proposals, and the MARQUES response to them.
ICANN’s latest meeting was held in London last month, and proved to the biggest ever. Nick Wood of the Cyberspace Team reports.
The US Patent and Trademark Office found that the REDSKINS trade mark for Washington DC’s American football team was disparaging to Native Americans. Janet Satterthwaite reports.
António Campinos's term as President of OHIM has been extended, it was announced on 27th June.
