Since the implementation of the EU Design Directive (the Directive) in 2001, the French courts have made a number of decisions on design rights and a number of issues raised by the new law are therefore now quite established. One remaining and recurring question, however, is the relationship between two...

As a multi-national court, covering jurisdictions with quite different national laws and approaches to dispute resolution, the UPC has a high degree of flexibility. As a result, there is significant scope for those bringing or defending a claim to make best use of the available options for tactical reasons. Who...

Is a royalty payment clause in a licence agreement enforceable even after the patent had been deemed invalid? Yes, says the Advocate General (AG) in his opinion of 17 March 2016 in Genentech v Hoechst. The European Court of Justice’s answer to this question is pending. Background to the case...

The amount of profits payable by an infringing party in intellectual property cases has traditionally been an uncertain calculation. Often the amount will be agreed between the parties out of court following a judgement on liability, so there have been very few cases on this issue. Earlier this year the...

Until recently there had been relatively little case law on the Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (2004/48/EC) (the Enforcement Directive), despite it coming into force over a decade ago. But in the last two years there have been a flurry of cases dealing with damages awards under...

The European Commission has published a consultation paper which seeks to explore issues relating to access to non-personal and machine-generated data. The consultation forms part of the EU’s Digital Single Market strategy which seeks to establish modern, coherent rules to foster the free and secure flow of data in the...

Osborne Clarke has advised Berlin-based AI start-up Smart Steel Technologies (SST) on the participation by technology group Heraeus. As a result of the transaction, Heraeus, which is primarily known as a precious metals specialist, will become the largest shareholder of Smart Steel Technologies with a stake of around 47 percent...

Osborne Clarke has advised akquinet GmbH, an IT services company headquartered in Hamburg, on the acquisition of Enghofer Koch Consulting GmbH. The akquinet group of companies, headquartered in Hamburg, has 950 employees and currently has over 20 locations in Germany and Austria. The company specialises in the implementation of ERP...

Why is it new? Currently, anyone wishing to pursue a claim in civil proceedings must know the identity of the defendant (including name, address). The proposers believe that, as a consequence, if you do not have this kind of information, it is impossible for you to obtain effective legal protection...