IPPro Issue 22

Issue 22

28 May 2019

In this issue:

A nightmare for S and ME? The effect of the EU Copyright Directive on SMEs

A shift in focus The best from INTA’s 2019 Annual Meeting

On the cutting edge of crime

Europol’s IP Crime Conference will discuss the cutting edge of IP crime combat

In this issue

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Editor: Barney Dixon barneydixon@blackknightmedialtd.com +44 (0)203 750 6026

Reporter: Ben Wodecki

INTA Report

INTA’s 2019 Annual Conference cemented the association’s broadened horizons and brought it to the forefront of history, as Ben Wodecki reports

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Conference Preview

The IACC’s Bob Barchiesi gives a run-down of this year’s Europol IP Crime Conference, which will focus on adaptive enforcement initiatives

benwodecki@blackknightmedialtd.com +44 (0)203 750 6017

Designer: James Hickman jameshickman@blackknightmedialtd.com +44 (0)203 750 6021

Contributors: Becky Butcher

Section 101

The Staff Union of the European Patent Office has called for a strike in all EPO sites around the European Patent Organisation’s next Administrative Council meeting

No Sweet Child

Pirates of the Screens

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Account Manager: Bea Ipaye beaipaye@blackknightmedialtd.com +44 (0) 203 750 6025

Associate Publisher: John Savage johnsavage@blackknightmedialtd.com

SUEPO Strike

A revised draft bill detailing reforms to Section 101 of the Patent Act has been put forward by senior members of the US Senate’s Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property

Rock band Guns ‘N Roses has accused Oskar Blues Brewery of infringing its trademarked name for its beer line

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Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise did not infringe the copyright of a screenplay of the same name

+44 (0)203 750 6021

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Publisher: Justin Lawson justinlawson@blackknightmedialtd.com +44 (0)203 750 6028

Office Manager: Chelsea Bowles accounts@blackknightmedialtd.com Published by Black Knight Media Ltd Copyright © 2018 All rights reserved

Copyright Directive

Expert lawyers from Hogan Lovells analyse the finalised EU Copyright Directive and its potential effects on SMEs

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Industry Events

Pick up your copy of IPPro at all of intellectual property’s major events

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Subscribe now for free

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News Focus Section 101 reform bill altered following negative feedback

Catarina Belova/shutterstock.com

A revised draft bill detailing reforms to Section 101 of the Patent Act has been put forward by senior members of the US Senate’s Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property.

Subcommittee chair Thom Tillis and ranking member Chris Coons released the revised text following backlash to the original draft.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said the original draft would “drive the patent system into uncharted territory”.

The new changes to the text include provisions of section 101 being construed in favour of eligibility, no exceptions to subject matter eligibility are to be used to determine patent eligibility and alterations to the determination of a claimed invention. Also present are alterations to the definition of the term ‘useful’, limits to the determination of a patent’s eligibility, and an altered definition to Functional Claim Elements.

The revisions to the bipartisan bill are aimed to “solicit feedback,” with the language used in the draft subject to further revisions.

The subcommittee will hold three hearings in early June to continue the discussion of patent eligibility in the US. Senator Tillis commented: “I want to thank my congressional colleagues for all of their hard work on this important issue.”

“The release of this draft bill text comes after months of discussions with interested stakeholders. We believe this draft framework represents a true balance that will restore integrity, predictability, and stability to our nation’s patent system, while also preventing the issuance of overly broad patents.”

“We look forward to feedback on this draft bill text and to holding public hearings to further discuss the state of patent eligibility in the US.” Coons added: “I appreciate the collaborative efforts of colleagues in both the Senate and the House, as well as the ongoing engagement of stakeholders, as we work to make needed improvements to the US patent system.”

“The US is the most innovative country on the planet.

Strengthening our IP laws to encourage and reward research and innovation is critical to our leadership in developing cutting-edge technologies and safeguarding our national security. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and stakeholders as we finalise legislation.”

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Questel acquires Brandstock Intellectual property software and service provider Questel has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Brandstock.

Munich-based Brandstock is an IP asset management and brand protection firm founded

by CEO Volker Spitz in 1993. It serves 400 clients globally.

According to a statement from the two firms, the acquisition is part of Questel’s strategy to build a “one-stop-shop” in IP and innovation.

It said: “Brandstock’s trademark filing service is highly synergetic with Questel’s international patent filing service.”

The acquisition means that Questel employee approximately 700 worldwide workers with an average turnover of around €150 million.

Charles Besson, CEO of Questel, said: “Brandstock is the right fit for Questel.”

“Germany is now Questel’s main place for business in Europe, and Brandstock markedly expands our catalogue of IP services.”

Spitz added: “Brandstock already holds one of the top market positions for trademark renewals and is a serious contender for patent renewals.”

“We have an ambitious plan to disrupt the patent annuities business, and Questel has just the right market leadership and entrepreneurial spirit to accelerate that plan.”

www.ippromagazine.com

News Focus Martin Good/shutterstock.com

SUEPO calls for strike after ‘disappointing’ Campinos meeting The Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO) has called for a strike in all EPO sites around the European Patent Organisation’s next Administrative Council meeting. This comes following a meeting between SUEPO and the office’s president, António Campinos, on 16 May. This is the first call for action under Campinos, who has been in the role since 1 July 2018.

Campinos initially organised this meeting to discuss a framework for a memorandum of understanding between the office and SUEPO. But SUEPO said that the meeting was “disappointing” and, in the absence of progress in the discussion, handed out a call for strike to the president.

The staff union purposely delayed the publication of the call for strike to give time for Campinos to reconsider his position.

SUEPO stated that it would be ready to withdraw the call for strike, so long as tangible results are booked within the timeframe imposed by “the (unlawful) regulations on strike”.

In its call for strike, SUEPO said that none of the root causes of the many issues that trouble the EPO have been addressed.

The staff union claimed that the previous administration, which was formed under former president Benoît Battistelli, and its “anti-staff policies” are still in place.

“The situation at the office is more toxic than ever, as also shown by the recent disastrous staff survey results and the 4 IPPro

worsening of staff health”, SUEPO wrote, “there are many reasons for discontent”.

The staff survey revealed that just 27 percent of EPO staff dare to speak up, compared to the norm for Europe, which is 56 percent.

According to the survey, only 16 percent of staff have confidence in the decisions made by senior EPO management, compared to the 66 percent norm in Europe.

As part of the strike, SUEPO demanded fair settlement for “all SUEPO officials and staff representatives abusively sanctioned by the Battistelli administration”.

It also asked that the office give fair reporting, instead of “artificial underrating of hundreds of colleagues”; give respect to staff, instead of threats of incompetence procedures; install people-oriented management, rather than “management by fear”; provide a fair assessment of the EPO financial situation and avoid pension reform based on what SUEPO calls a “heavily biased study”.

Finally, SUEPO asked for the office to guarantee fair salary and pension adjustment procedures for the coming years, with no erosion of purchasing power.

“These issues must be solved to avoid irreparable damage to our organisation and its staff, and to restore respect and trust”, SUEPO concluded, “This requires a change not only of certain regulations, but also in the attitude of the administration towards staff”. www.ippromagazine.com

News Focus

Mission Product prevails in Supreme Court victory over Tempnology The Supreme Court of the US has reversed and remanded a US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decision in Mission Product Holdings v Tempnology in an 8-1 vote.

It said Mission “presents a plausible claim for money damages arising from its inability to use Tempnology’s trade-marks, which is sufficient to preserve a live controversy”.

The case questioned whether a trustee’s rejection of a trademark licence agreement, which constitutes a breach of contract, terminates the rights of the licensee that would survive the licensor’s breach under applicable nonbankruptcy law.

“Tempnology’s various arguments that Mission is not entitled to damages do not so clearly preclude recovery as to render this case moot”.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in February after the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel decision.

The case saw interest from various high profile groups in the intellectual property community, with amicus briefs filed by the International Trademark Association (INTA), the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), and the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO).

In its brief, INTA supported the alternative position that rejection of a trademark licence agreement would result in termination of the licensor’s obligations and a corresponding breach of the agreement by the licensor, but it does not terminate the licensee’s right to continue to use the licensed trademark.

The Supreme Court has now though reinstated the Bankruptcy Court’s decision, finding that a debtor’s rejection of an executory contract under Section 365(a) of the Bankruptcy Code “has the same effect as a breach of that contract outside bankruptcy”.

“Such an act cannot rescind rights that the contract previously granted”.

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During the oral arguments in February, Mission’s legal team argued that an “overwhelming consensus of courts and scholars [believe] that rejection can’t give the estate any greater rights with respect to the rejected contract than the debtor would have outside bankruptcy”.

Mission claimed that a “licensor could not use its own breach of contract as a basis to terminate the licensee’s rights under the agreement”.

Justice Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the court, which stated: “A [debtor--licensor’s] rejection breaches a contract but does not rescind it. And that means all the rights that would ordinarily survive a contract breach, including those conveyed here, remain in place.”

Justice Neil Gorsuch dissented, writing: “This court is not in the business of deciding abstract questions, no matter how interesting.”

Gorsuch’s dissent focused around the concept of the awarding of damages, arguing that Mission Product’s claim for compensation “hasn’t come close to articulating a viable legal theory on which a claim for damages could succeed”.

“Where our jurisdiction is so much in doubt, I would decline to proceed to the merits.’’ www.ippromagazine.com

News Focus A.Paes/shutterstock.com

Mission Product prevails in Supreme Court victory over Tempnology The Supreme Court of the US has reversed and remanded a US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decision in Mission Product Holdings v Tempnology in an 8-1 vote. The case questioned whether a trustee’s rejection of a trademark licence agreement, which constitutes a breach of contract, terminates the rights of the licensee that would survive the licensor’s breach under applicable nonbankruptcy law. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in February after the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel decision. The case saw interest from various high profile groups in the intellectual property community, with amicus briefs filed by the International Trademark Association (INTA), the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), and the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO).

In its brief, INTA supported the alternative position that rejection of a trademark licence agreement would result in termination of the licensor’s obligations and a corresponding breach of the agreement by the licensor, but it does not terminate the licensee’s right to continue to use the licensed trademark.

The Supreme Court has now though reinstated the Bankruptcy Court’s decision, finding that a debtor’s rejection of an executory contract under Section 365(a) of the Bankruptcy Code “has the same effect as a breach of that contract outside bankruptcy. Such an act cannot rescind rights that the contract previously granted”. It said Mission “presents a plausible claim for money damages arising from its inability to use Tempnology’s trade-marks, which is sufficient to preserve a live controversy. Tempnology’s various arguments that Mission is not entitled to damages do not so clearly preclude recovery as to render this case moot”.

During the oral arguments in February, Mission’s legal team argued that an “overwhelming consensus of courts

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No ‘Sweet Child of Mine’: Guns ‘N Roses sues infringing brewery Rock band Guns ‘N Roses has accused Oskar Blues Brewery of infringing its trademarked name for its beer line.

In a complaint, filed at the US District Court for the Central District of California, Guns ‘N Roses claimed that Oskar Blues Brewery, and its parent company CANarchy Brewery Collective, infringed the Guns ‘N Roses trademark with cans and kegs of craft beers it has sold since 2018.

The name of the ‘Guns ‘N Rose’ beer rosé ale produced

by Oskar Blues also appears on t-shirts, pint glasses, and stickers, according to the complaint.

Oskar Blues attempted to trademark the name in August 2018, but the band objected to and opposed the filing in March 2019. The brewery opted to abandoned its attempts to register the trademark.

Despite its abandonment of the trademark, the brewery still sells the Guns ‘N Roses products. This lawsuit is an attempt to put a stop to this allegedly infringing action.

The band is seeking an order that all infringing products and content be destroyed and that it be awarded any and all profits the brewery obtained from the sale of beer, as well as an award of three times the amount of compensatory damages and increased profits. www.ippromagazine.com

Patents • Latest News BBB received ‘thousands’ of complaints from accidental counterfeit consumers The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has received “thousands” of complaints from disgruntled shoppers who have accidentally purchased counterfeits.

The BBB’s Fakes Are Not Fashionable study states that thousands of shoppers who went to purchase a genuine good have instead received fakes.

BBB warned that the sale of counterfeit goods “pose significant health and safety risks”.

BBB claims that many victims don’t file complaints, which makes it “a challenge to get a firm grasp on just how often people pay for goods that are counterfeit or different from those ordered”.

The BBB suggested that by purchasing goods with a “made in the US” label would help determine that a product is genuine.

The BBB’s International Investigations Specialist, Steve Baker added that more action is needed.

The report claims that the “vast majority” of fake goods are coming from “organised criminals operating out of China”.

He said that credit card payment processors should engage their full efforts in combating those that provide merchant accounts to sellers of counterfeit goods.

Deceptive web sellers illegally use copyrighted pictures of branded goods in order to fool consumers, according to the BBB. Despite receiving what it described as “thousands” of complaints from those who purchased counterfeit goods, the

Baker also adds that US consumers would benefit from a programme “to help counterfeit victims with chargebacks like the one operated in Canada by the CAFC”.

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Patents • Latest News Senate bill to make it difficult for ‘Chinese military’ to obtain US tech IP US Republican Senator Josh Hawley has introduced a bill aimed at making it difficult for Chinese military entities to purchase American intellectual property.

It will also impose sanctions on any foreign entity or individual who violates the export controls of those “core technologies” by transferring the technology to China.

China has “aggressively acquired sensitive US technology to advance its military capabilities through IP theft and unfair trade practices”, according to a statement from Hawley.

Hawley said it is “time to acknowledge that China acts more like an adversary than a friend”.

Hawley’s China Technology Transfer Control Act of 2019 will place “core technologies” onto the Department of Commerce’s Export Control List which will force companies to obtain a licence in order to export it to China.

He continued: “For too long, China has exploited American innovation to undermine our values and threaten our security.

This legislation is an important step toward keeping American technology out of the hands of the Chinese government and its military.”

The bill states that the term “core technologies” covers 15 different technologies including artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced construction equipment among others.

During a committee hearing on 14 May, Hawley claimed that these technologies would “benefit the Chinese military” and warned that the technologies are going to be weaponised.

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Copyright • Latest News Sarunyu L/shutterstock.com

Pirates of the Carribean copyright lawsuit thrown in Davy Jones’ locker Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise did not infringe the copyright of a screenplay of the same name.

Arthur Lee Alfred claimed that Disney’s five feature films about swashbuckling pirates infringed his screenplay, which is also titled Pirates of the Caribbean.

Alfred initially filed his complaint against the Walt Disney Company complaint in 2017 at the US District Court for the District of Colorado.

He claimed that the Disney company willfully infringed his copyrighted screenplay, including the expression of themes, settings, dialogue and even characters.

The films follow the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow as he sails the seven seas fighting Davy Jones, the British East India Company and Blackbeard.

Alfred’s complaint stated that the key characters in his screenplay “are delineated and consistent, widely identifiable with several of the character and characters of the Pirates franchise”.

He argued that the film’s version of Jack Sparrow is “substantially similar” to his version of Davy Jones. His version of Jones is “a dashing young rogue,” clean-shaven, hair pinned back in a tail,” with “unsurpassed” talents in piracy who is cocky and brave, and a drunk.

For reference, the film depicts Davy Jones as a conflicted man with a squid face and a giant crab claw for a hand.

The court argued that “cockiness, bravery, and drunkenness are generic, non-distinct characteristics which are not protectable”.

The court also noted that the characters are different based on looks as Sparrow is “never clean shaven, has facial hair, is dirty, has his hair in dreadlocks and wears a black hat, and his hair is never pinned back”.

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Alfred also argued that the character Captain Barbossa is based on his work’s Jack Nefarious “because Barbossa was Jack Sparrow’s first mate and betrayed him”.

The court also denied this claim, stating that Nefarious is not left stranded on an island and that the characters differ in how they interact with other characters and in the overall narrative.

The court also argued that the works are different due to Alfred’s script featuring six orphan children and a female protagonist named Jane, none of which feature in any of the five films.

His argument that the theme of 10 years time passing being mentioned in the first film was “generic and not protectable”.

Alfred also argued that there was “extended similarity in dialogue” in both works. The court did note there were “a few instances of similar dialogue”. However, it added that the characters in both works are unoriginal as they are similar to what is depicted in the aforementioned theme park ride.

He alleged that the screenplay was submitted to Disney in the year 2000, three years before the first film in the franchise, Curse of the Black Pearl released. Their screenplay utilised “basic elements” of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme park ride at Disney attractions, whilst adding supernatural elements to create a new story.

Disney executives decided to pass on taking up Alfred’s script, only to release its first Pirates film in 2003. He filed a complaint in 2017, the same year the fifth film in the franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales, released.

Despite a lengthy battle, the District Court has now decided to grant Disney a motion to dismiss Alfred’s complaint without leave to amend and dismissed Alfred’s claims of copyright infringement.

The court found the works to not be substantially similar in mood, setting, and dialogue among other means. www.ippromagazine.com

Patents • Latest News Elder Scrolls creators and Redfall author settle over trademark ZeniMax Media, the company behind the popular Elder Scrolls video games, has reached an agreement with a fiction publisher over the use of Redfall as a trademark.

ZeniMax attempted to register the term Redfall in classes 021, 023, 026, 036 and 038, with many fans speculating it would be the name of the highly anticipated sixth instalment of the Elder Scrolls franchise.

However, ZeniMax’s filing was opposed by Jay Falconer, a science fiction author who wrote a series of books titled ‘Redfall’.

He continued: “Either way, I have worked hard to develop this brand and I can’t afford to stop earning a living for my family.”

ZeniMax has now broken the impasse with the author.

The company said it had “amicably resolved a pending trademark dispute related to the Redfall trademark”.

“While the specific terms of the agreement are confidential, the parties believe that resolution of the matter is mutually beneficial to both ZeniMax and Bookbreeze.com (Falconer’s company) and their respective fans.”

Falconer said ZeniMax’s legal team hadn’t gotten in touch with him, but stressed he wasn’t “standing in the way of the game” and wanted to create a “no-cost deal, one in which everyone wins”.

He said it was “probably just a misunderstanding or unfortunate timing, needing a conversation and a licence to resolve”.

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Have a news story we should cover? Get in contact via benwodecki@blackknightmedialtd.com

www.ippromagazine.com

Copyright Directive • Interview

A nightmare for S and ME? Expert lawyers from Hogan Lovells analyse the finalised EU Copyright Directive and its potential effects on SMEs Before the vote, many were told the new additions to the copyright directive would have no impact on small- to medium-sized enterprises. What sort of impact will article 17 have on smaller companies?

Alistair Shaw: There is a softened, slightly less rigorous, liability avoidance regime built into the directive for them. It does depend on the size of the provider and how long the service has been running. Small and new start-ups will only have to respond to take-down notices in the first instance.

Once they have been operating for more than three years, or they have more than five million unique visitors per month or their annual turnover exceeds 10 million, it’s different.

There has been concern about whether small and mediumsized enterprises have sufficient funds to implement whatever measures are necessary for compliance. In terms of putting technical measures in place to try to present uploads of unauthorised material in the first place, there are commercially available packages which companies can license in, rather than building their own version of something like YouTube’s ‘Content ID’ system from the ground up. Some of the fears may be a bit overstated, but there’s no question there are going to be some additional burdens on those companies.

Whether it will result in their business models becoming untenable remains to be seen.

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Copyright Directive • Interview Morten Petersenn: The one point that I find interesting is how much litigation will occur. For instance, Germany is a very intellectual property-focused country. We are seeing a lot of disputes with companies sending cease and desist letters then going to court for permanent injunctions if they find someone whose website doesn’t have an imprint which complies with the legal requirements. I am referring to matters that have not had a huge commercial impact, but nevertheless, filing claims against competitors is something that is happening frequently in Germany. At the moment, it is unclear how the courts will implement the directive into national legislation. It also remains to be seen how the courts will interpret a number of vague terms, but there will be a number of parties who may try to take advantage of this lack of clarity to enforce copyright.

Copyright does not just refer to high-profile artistic works; we have court chambers in Hamburg that specialise in copyright protection. Around 50 percent of their cases refer to people who enforce copyright for photography, simply because every photo enjoys copyright protection. You can imagine that, on every platform, there are tonnes of photos, so this is one area where I am a bit nervous that it could be misused.

In terms of public focus on articles 15 and 17, do you think there has been a lot of misinformation surrounding this directive?

Petersenn: As an observation, it has been quite interesting to see how many unqualified comments there have been about this. Everyone has something to say, but eventually, it’s not to do with the directive anymore. There were demonstrations held by young people, who all had very good points, but they were not always strictly relevant to the directive. There are two

Alastair Shaw Counsel Hogan Lovells

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positions which both have their merits: one side believes you should not ask private institutions to influence anything on the internet, while the other argues for those owner rights should be protected. Both have their value, but one should take a broader perspective of freedom on the Internet.

Shaw: From an IP lawyer’s perspective, it has been fascinating to see that a piece of legislation concerning IP rights can become a topic of much broader conversation. It has been good to see that people have become engaged in the copyrights involved here and where the balance should lie.

The controversy has arguably highlighted the importance of IP rights.

How could the directive impact piracy/copyright infringement numbers?

Petersenn: It will have some effect in the long run. Looking at the directive, the procedure for an exception from liability should apply to service providers whose main purpose is to participate in or facilitate copyright infringement. What is quite remarkable is that those providers will not be able to relieve themselves of these acts in the future, and so it will be easier to take action against such platforms following implementation of the directive. In Germany, we typically try to obtain blocking orders against the providers, referring to the illegality and piracy of the platforms. If it becomes written law, it will be easier to convince the providers to cease and desist.

Shaw: I agree it is good that there is a clear statement in the directive that doesn’t affect the law against piracy and blatant copyright infringement, whether they be platforms or torrent websites. That’s good news for copyright owners.

Morten Petersenn

Partner Hogan Lovells

www.ippromagazine.com

Red shift

Ben Wodecki reports

INTA’s 2019 Annual Conference cemented the association’s broadened horizons and brought it to the forefront of history Boston is where the US as we know it began and the city continuously plays host to historical events.

Earlier this month it hosted the International Trademark Association (INTA)’s 141st Annual Meeting.

What made this annual meeting different to the rest, was the clear shift from a conference solely focused on trademarks alone and the exhibition of INTA’s strategy in addressing the all encompassing concerns of brands.

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INTA 2019 • Report

The study and the challenge INTA’s Generation Z study into counterfeit goods was released alongside the conference revealing that 79 percent of those surveyed had bought counterfeit goods in the year prior to the study.

This study was so striking for the association, that its CEO and president, Etiennce Sanz De Acedo and David Lossignol, respectively, focused on it for the majority of their opening ceremony speeches on the topic.

De Acedo described how the system “is not working for Generation Z,” whilst Lossignol went full throttle on how INTA can rid the world of counterfeits.

Lossignol compared the public’s perception of counterfeits to the perception of fur coats 20 years ago. On stage, he unveiled the Unreal Challenge in order to try to change that. The Unreal Challenge, headed by the association’s Unreal committee asks INTA members to conduct presentations at schools to warn young people about the dangers of counterfeits. There were a record number of attendees at this year’s annual meeting and Lossignol stressed that if every person who attended the opening ceremony did a presentation, it would make a big difference.

“A world without counterfeits is not an impossible dream if we work together,’’ he said.

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INTA 2019 • Report

An expert panel Panellists at the conference discussed a range of topics, including new attitudes towards brands and their ethical responsibility.

‘personalities’ who are paid to create various social media posts on several platforms to highlight to consumers which product they should buy.

In one session, panellists said that consumers are becoming more ethically aware and said that some might even choose on brand over the other depending on whether that brand has received a B Corporation certification standard.

One of these ‘influencers’ is James Charles, who works in the make-up industry. He hit the headlines recently due to his high profile spat with fellow make-up ‘personality’ Tati Westbrook.

Companies can apply for the standard if they have and maintain positive social and environmental performance. During the session, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton partner Marc Lieberstein suggested this was important for brands in connecting with younger generations of consumers and said INTA should host a panel discussing this.

The B Corporation and the need for a positive image to show to younger consumers were discussed at length during the discussion, which focused on brand meaning and valuation in the age of millennial consumerism.

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There, he was accused, among other things, of endorsing a product that is a direct competitor of one he works for, as well as sexual harassment.

INTA panellists said that the Charles/Westbrook argument shows how brands can negatively choose ‘influencers’, and in the process lose brand value.

Collette Parris of water bottle manufacturer S’well highlighted other similar examples of brand value being lost due to ‘influencers’ and social media, including how Snapchat “lost billions” in value after Kylie Jenner tweeted criticising the app.

Millennials are expected to be the largest living adult generation, surpassing the Baby Boomers by the end of 2019.

In order to mitigate the risks of influencers like Charles affecting a brand, Paris, suggested that brands should view an influencer’s endorsement post before it is posted.

Brands who have historically catered towards an older generation are now adjusting their brand strategy to better align themselves with this new consumer base. One way this has been conducting is through the use of ‘influencers’. These are

She also suggested that brands work out ground rules in any contract with an influencer and added that S’well opts for influencers who match their corporate social responsibility, rather than who has the most followers.

www.ippromagazine.com

INTA 2019 • Report

The experts Along with its focus on brands in its content, INTA invited a plethora of big brand and business speakers to its events, with IP lawyers, counsels, and specialists from the likes of Starbucks, Snap, and Apple leading the conversations.

Electronic Arts (EA)’s senior advertising counsel, Deborah Davis noted that Pokémon GO “didn’t fully realise its ecommerce potential”.

During a session on augmented and virtual reality technology could be utilised by brands she suggested the mobile game didn’t fully realise the ecommerce potential of ‘lures’ to attract business. In the app, businesses can put down a ‘lure’ that brings out specific Pokémon. This could be used to attract players to restaurants or shops to catch rare pokemon.

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Facebook’s domain name strategy and management lead Lia Milam slammed the General Data Protection Regulation, suggesting it was negatively affecting enforcement efforts against bad actors.

She warned that Facebook’s scale makes it a “huge target for bad actors”.

Milam stated that because the site is working at such a scale, it can’t go to lawyers for “thousands” of requests it receives.

As INTA cements its brand-focused agenda, it is clear that this has been a good choice for the association. With more varied content than ever, the INTA Annual Conference always proves to be a historical affair.

www.ippromagazine.com

Europol IP Crime Conference • Preview

Adaptive enforcement

The IACC’s Bob Barchiesi gives a run-down of this year’s Europol IP Crime Conference What are the key themes of this year’s Europol IP Conference?

merchandise, to target pirated TV decoders, and to shut down illegal operations using the bitcoin digital currency.

This year’s theme is ‘Adaptive Enforcement Initiatives against New Intellectual Property Crime Trends’. There is no doubt that counterfeiters continue to evolve and, as a result, our enforcement strategies must, too. The third annual Europol IP Crime Conference will bring experts from law enforcement, private industry, and academia to discuss new ways to tackle IP crime on a regional and global scale.

In addition to Europol, the IACC has also formed partnerships with the City of London Police, Guardia di Finanza (Italy), EURid, Danish Consulate General, Shanghai, and the Confindustria Moda (Italy).

How important are events like the Europol IP Crime Conference in helping enforce against IP crime?

Fighting IP crime is a key priority for industry and law enforcement authorities in safeguarding consumers against dangerous and substandard products and tackling the criminal networks involved in these low risk/high revenue illegal activities. The third Annual Europol IP Crime Conference is a unique opportunity for all committed stakeholders in the anti-counterfeiting community to meet, coordinate and elevate their efforts in the fight against fakes.

Do you have any upcoming news to share?

We are pleased to announce that we will introduce our law enforcement training app in Europe. Currently, we offer the app to enforcement agencies in the US and Latin American countries. The IACC Law Enforcement Training App complements our global training programme by providing law enforcement with relevant tools to enhance their IP protection efforts and to connect instantly with brands. The app contains training manuals, crucial company contacts for participating brands and national and relevant statutes, regulations, and legal directives. More details for this will be available in the coming weeks.

How far does the IACC’s partnership with the Europol IP Crime Conference go?

We are excited to be in Malaga, Spain, with Europol and our other partners. The International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) has been a partner in hosting the Europol IP Crime Conference since it first took place three years ago.

Previous conferences were held in Antwerp, Belgium, and Budapest, Hungary, making this one of the few events in IP that truly focuses on tackling counterfeiting on a global level.

We have benefited from a long-standing partnership with Europol. Together, we collaborate on ways to mitigate the threat of counterfeits in Europe. I have had the honor of sitting on Europol’s IPC3 Advisory Board, which provides operational and technical support to law enforcement agencies and other partners in the EU and beyond. Specifically, Europol has used it to help take down websites used to sell counterfeit 17 IPPro

Bob Barchiesi

President IACC

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