Volkswagen v Garcia et. al.: Volkswagen Halts Disclosure of Secret Security Algorithm

Last June, Justice Birss of the High Court of England and Wales (Chancery Division) ruled in favor of Volkswagen and granted an interim injunction against Flavio Garcia, Computer Science Lecturer at the University of Birmingham, thus prohibiting him from publishing an academic paper that sought to expose weaknesses in Volkswagen automobile security systems.

Yahoo! Wins Twice At the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

On July 15th, 2013, Judge Walton of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (“FISC”) granted a motion put forward by Yahoo on June 14th, which called for the release of more details about the government’s push in a 2008 case to obtain user data under the Protect America Act.

The UK Intellectual Property Office on the Impact of Lookalikes

On May 31st, 2013 the UK Intellectual Property Office (“IPO”) released a report on its research into the “Impact of Lookalikes: Similar Packaging and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods”. The issue of lookalikes is a politically “hot” one in both the UK and the EU, as there is pressure from brand owners who seek more effective protection […]

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner Calls for Changes to PIPEDA

On May 23rd, 2013, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC”) released a report entitled “ The Case for Reforming the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act” (the “Report”). The Report proposes a number of changes to the Act by identifying four main “pressure points”.

Long live Einstein...?

In the recent decision The Hebrew University of Jerusalem v. General Motors LLC, the US District Court of the Central District of California ruled that Albert Einstein’s publicity rights  now belong to the public domain given that more than 50 years have passed since his death in 1955.

Clash of the Tartans...

In Abraham Moon & Sons Ltd v. Thornber and others, the Patents County Court (“PCC”) in London held that a firm called “Art of the Loom” and its partners (“defendants”) had infringed Abraham Moon’s (“claimant”) copyright in “Skye Sage”. This decision is noteworthy because it serves as an example of how copyright law relates to the […]