A workshop on deepfakes took place during the MARQUES Spring Team Meeting in Barcelona today. Around 200 MARQUES Council and Team members are attending the Spring Meeting this week.

The speakers at the workshop were Julia Holden (Trevisan & Cuonzo, Italy), Thomas Hertl (Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany) and Maiken Toftgaard (Poul Schmith/Kammeradvokaten, Denmark) of the MARQUES Copyright Team and Graeme Murray (Marks & Clerk, UK) and Howard Shire (Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, US) of the MARQUES Education Team. The workshop was moderated by Sandra Müller (Squire Patton Blogs, Germany) of the Education Team.

Introducing the workshop, Sandra said deepfakes are easy to create and hard to protect. They are one of the biggest threats to society today and they also impact brands. She said the workshop would address what tools can IP practitioners use to address this threat?

What are deepfakes?

Graeme kicked off the workshop by defining disinformation and deepfakes. He said the latter encompasses brand manipulation, political manipulation, entertainment manipulation and fraudulent deepfakes.

He also shared examples of deepfakes, including those featuring Bruce Willis, the Pope wearing a puffer jacket and Elon Musk kissing Giorgia Meloni, illustrating both how realistic and how damaging they can be.

Legal tools

The 2022 EU Code of Practice on Disinformation has at least 44 signatories (including Google, Meta, X and TikTok) who have committed to tackling the spread of disinformation online. There are efforts to encourage more signatories to join.

The Commission sets goals but they are not legally binding on signatories. Julia described the Code as a “toolkit to fight disinformation” that is “reasonably effective”.

For example, under the Code very large online platforms report every six months on what they are doing on implementation.

By contrast the EU Digital Services Act is legally binding for online platforms and intermediaries regarding illegal content, imposing stricter regulations on the largest players for the dissemination of harmful data. However, the Act does not define disinformation.

The EU AI Act can also play a role in regulating deepfakes. Maiken said that while it does not ban deepfakes it imposes certain disclosure obligations.

The Act takes a risk-based approach to AI tools: most deepfakes would likely be classified as low risk unless they are political in which case there would be additional requirements.

The panel also discussed country-specific regulations, including criminal and administrative provisions, in Italy, Germany, Denmark, the UK and the US – and in various US states.

Tips and strategies for brand owners

During the Q&A part of the workshop, the panelists discussed challenges including who can take action, the risks for brands of attacking deepfakes, how to act in a timely way and how to prove damage.

Advice included: crawling the internet; working with social media operators; take a case-by-case approach; have a deepfake strategy in place including identifying the source; and work with marketing to get consents.

The Spring Meeting continues with Team meetings today, followed by a dinner and the annual Kay Uwe Jonas Lecture this evening and Team presentations tomorrow.

The Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) has published its new strategic plan, BOIP 2030. It focuses on service excellence, legal quality, and raising IP awareness.

The details of the plan and a video animation are available on the BOIP website here.

BOIP’s vision is: “Intellectual property is an integral part of every business plan in the Benelux” and its core statement is: “By delivering the highest service quality and fostering strong partnerships, we enable businesses to turn their ideas into value.”

The plan has three strategic themes: BOIP Delivers, BOIP Connects and BOIP Commits.

The Office states: “BOIP is committed to ensuring that its services are not only reliable but also human-centric, addressing the diverse needs of its users. By focusing on accessibility, quality, and customer-centricity, we aim to make the resources and support offered by BOIP available to all.”

The plan has nine strategic goals:

1. Accessibility of information and services
2. Quality of administrative and legal output
3. Customer-centric service design
4. Enhancing the understanding of our environment
5. Strengthening the IP network
6. Facilitating integration of IP into business
7. A sustainable organization
8. An inspiring employer
9. A societal contributor

BOIP 2030 comes into effect this year, with outcomes continuously monitored and evaluated annually.

BOIP is part of the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property and has the following remits: to implement the Benelux Convention on Intellectual Property (BCIP) and the Implementing Regulations; to promote the protection of trade marks and designs in the Benelux countries; to perform additional tasks in other fields of intellectual property law, as directed by the Administrative Council; and continual evaluation and, if necessary, amendment of  Benelux legislation governing trade marks and designs, in the light of international, EU and other developments.

Image from BOIP website

The annual Question the Trade Mark Judges event organized by the UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL) and MARQUES will be held on 25 March 2025 from 6.00 pm to 7.30 pm.

It will take place at UCL Laws in London.

As usual, the panel will feature leading trade mark judges from the UK and EU, who will answer pre-selected questions from the audience.

This year the judges taking part include:

• Nina Korjus – Chairperson of the 4th Board of Appeal, EUIPO
• The Honourable Mrs Justice Joanna Smith – England & Wales High Court
• Al Skilton - Senior Hearing Officer, UKIPO

More details are available on the UCL-IBIL website here.

Standard tickets are £35 each but MARQUES members only pay £30.

Reserve your place now for what is always a very popular event!

EUIPO has announced that the login screen for the EUIPO user area will have a slightly updated design from 15 February 2025.

The change is part of the Office’s effort to enhance security. The new system includes advanced security measures to prevent unauthorised access to accounts.

The username, password and login process will remain the same.

Note that the login screen includes the EUIPO logo at the top of the page and on the tab marker. The web address starts with https://login.euipo.europa.eu.

If any users have questions or concerns they can contact EUIPO by email at customercare@euipo.europa.eu or telephone +34 96513 9100.

Picture taken from EUIPO website

The MARQUES Copyright Team has produced the first of a series of short videos on copyright.

Each video is a minute or two long and features members of the Team discussing an aspect of copyright.

The first video addresses the question “Why have a Copyright Team?” and the second covers “Common Misconceptions”.

The video series has been produced by the Team and the MARQUES Secretariat to help brand owners understand the key principles of copyright law and address questions that often arise.

The videos are short, direct and optimised for social media.

MARQUES will be sharing all the videos on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X. You can also view them on the MARQUES website here.

The SME Fund 2025 was launched on 3 February 2025.

With a focus on sustainability, digitalisation and global competitiveness, the fifth edition of the SME Fund scheme will cover a range of IP rights, including trade marks, designs, patents, plant varieties, and the IP Scan service.

The SME Fund scheme aims to:

• Foster innovation: Help SMEs leverage their intellectual property to boost their growth and drive transformative solutions.
• Reaching out to more SMEs: Encourage more SMEs to take advantage of the funds and services available.
• Support SMEs in their IP strategies: Support businesses through the IP scan to create IP portfolios to enhance their potential and protect their innovations.

The SME Fund is an initiative of EUIPO, the European Commission and the European Union Intellectual Property Network.

Since the first pilot initiative in 2021, more than more than 72,000 SMEs have been financially supported.

In 2024, 31,779 applications were received from SMEs, with 29,097 applications for the trade mark or design voucher.

The Office is hosting a webinar on 18 February, providing insights and guidance on maximising the benefits of the SME Fund.

Picture taken from EUIPO website

In 2024, EUIPO received 180,451 EU trade mark applications, a 2.7% increase compared to 2023, according to data published by EUIPO Director João Negrão.

57% of the applications came from the EU, with German companies accounting for 12% of EUTM applications, followed by Italy (7.6%), Spain (6.7%), France (4.8%) and Poland (3.9%).

China accounted for more than 15% of filings and increased by 16% over 2023. Other large non-EU filing countries included the USA (9.4%), the UK (4.4%) and Switzerland (2.2%).

The top 10 Nice classes were present in about 53% of EUTM filings, with class 35 (Advertising, Business Management, class 9 (Electrical Apparatus) and class 42 (Technological Services) the most frequently occurring classes. Among the top 10 classes, class 5 (Pharmaceutical Preparations) had the highest growth in 2024, up more than 5% over 2023.

The number of opposition decisions taken by EUIPO declined by 6.4% in 2024, while cancellation decisions rose by 7.9%.

“This is a reflection of efforts made to reduce the stock of pending opposition decisions, allowing the examiners to focus on clearing the pending cancellation proceedings. Also, the Office is making an active effort to encourage parties to such proceedings to look for amicable settlements, including making use of EUIPO’s Mediation Centre,” said Mr Negrão.

The number of appeal decisions rose by 1.1% in 2024.

The SME Fund received close to 32,000 requests in 2024 and has received more than 100,000 requests since 2021.

“I wish to acknowledge the positive dynamic showed by innovative business in the EU and worldwide in 2024, as well as thank all our users for the trust they have placed, once again, in the EUIPO,” said Mr Negrão.

Picture sent by EUIPO