- Michael Forrester- Business Litigation Solicitor
The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) released today is the outcome expected, but may have far reaching consequences comments Michael Forrester of Ralli’s iSolicitors team.
These cases concerned the screening of live premier league football matches in pubs through foreign decoder cards, issued by a Greek broadcaster to subscribers resident in Greece, to access Premier League matches.
The pubs buy a card and a decoder box from a dealer at prices lower than those of Sky, the holder of the broadcasting rights in the United Kingdom.
The first case concerns a civil action brought by the Premier League against pubs that have screened Premier League matches by using Greek decoder cards and against the suppliers of such decoder cards to those pubs.
The second case arose from criminal proceedings against Karen Murphy, the landlady of a pub that screened Premier League matches using a Greek decoder card. In those two cases, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales has referred a number of questions concerning the interpretation of European Union law to the Court of Justice.
Crucially, the ECJ held that: Read more »
Tags: copyright solicitor, copyright solicitor manchester, intellectual property, intellectual property lawyer, intellectual property solicitor, internet solicitor, internet solicitor manchester, ip lawyer, ip solicitor, ip solicitor manchester
Intellectual Property, Media | Ralli | 
October 4, 2011 4:15 pm | 
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Keith Arrowsmith, Head of Intellectual Property & Media
The UK’s position on the granting of patent protection for computer related technologies is sometimes difficult to pin down. We have a system that was designed before the abundance of the new technologies. It also needs to keep pace with the global market in these technologies.
The UK’s IPO has recently been asked to give decisions on whether to grant a patent for two similar data handling computer systems. The first (the New Voice Media case) concerned a new method of computer handling of calls that did not require a dedicated customer relationship management software system. Instead, the new method worked by searching for the data from other sources. The IPO decided this was patentable (since they could see a new technical contribution, even though the new aspect happened to be delivered by software).
The second (the Edinburgh Napier University case) concerned the application of techniques developed in the bioinformatics field to detect attacks or misuse of a computer system. Here, the IPO decided that this was only the manipulation of data, and therefore no patent would be granted.
The distinction seems to be wafer thin. Given the international importance of these types of decisions, the need for consistency (at least across Europe) is paramount.
Michael Forrester- Business Litigation Solicitor
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (“the Regulations”) come into force on 26 May 2011. They make a number of changes to the law relating, primarily, to the internet in accordance with revisions to the directive on which they are based.
The most important change is the addition of a new Regulation 6(2)(b) which provides that a user must give their consent for information to be stored or accessed on their device.
The biggest effect of this change is that this requires users to specifically consent before any information is stored or accessed on their device by a website. This has the biggest application to cookies and is a change from the “opt out” option which is currently used by most websites to comply with the current rules.
On a literal reading, the new Regulations have a potentially huge effect on all website users and owners. Cookies are extremely widely used on websites to help users navigate the pages and perform a number of functions. In practice, this means that any website using cookies will need to require a user to specifically consent by ticking a box or something similar before a cookie is stored on their device. In many cases this will mean a user must consent before they access the site at all.
The Regulations, on a literal reading, require a huge undertaking for web developers and users alike. Developers face the prospect of needing to include a new agreement for every user before they can access the site. Users however have the even worse prospect of being faced with a pop up box for every website they visit. Read more »
Tags: cookies, intellectual property lawyer, intellectual property solicitor, internet lawyer, internet solicitor, ip lawyer, ip solicitor, michael forrester, website lawyer, website solicitor
Intellectual Property | Ralli | May 19, 2011 2:23 pm | Comments (1)
Keith Arrowsmith, Head of Intellectual Property & Media
Q. Is there anything in British law which currently states whether buying music from foreign websites is legal, illegal or unknown?
A. Music is protected by copyright, and buying music is a legally binding contract. International aspects of these types of transactions are covered by multiple treaties and protocols.
Each piece of music will have its own copyright – some will be in the public domain, some will be controlled. Buying therefore is not subject to one particular UK law, and it is not possible to know whether a particular website has permission to sell copies of the music in any territory (without contacting the composer and performer (or their agents).
Keith Arrowsmith, Head of Intellectual Property & Media
It has become common practice for website owners to rely on standard terms and conditions when dealing with customers and advertisers on the internet.
At a recent court hearing, The Rugby Football Union (RFU) asked a judge to force ticket reseller Viagogo to reveal the details of customers who offered rugby match tickets for sale at more than their face value. The RFU argues that tickets to their matches are sold on the strict understanding that anyone who purchases one at more than its face value has no right to attend the game, and is therefore a trespasser at the rugby ground. The judge agreed, despite Viagogo promising its customers confidentiality.
I suggest web terms should be reviewed, to make sure promises of confidentiality take into account the overriding powers of the courts, or else customers may have the right to sue the website owner, even if the owner only reveals confidential information on the basis of a court order.
With the 2012 events fast approaching, ticket sales on the web are likely to be carefully monitored.
Michael Forrester- Business Litigation Solicitor
It was widely reported last week that LG obtained a legal injunction against Sony which subsequently banned the importation of PS3 games consoles into Europe.
Thousands of PS3 games consoles were seized by customs officials in The Netherlands, with the legal dispute centering around the ownership of Blu-Ray technology.
Applications for interim injunctions in intellectual property, and particularly patent cases, are not uncommon. Businesses seek this type of relief because a cash award is sometimes inadequate. The number of claims may increase because local courts were given authority to deal with this type of case last year.
The interim injunction in this case granted by the International Court of Justice in The Hague has received considerable publicity because of the parties involved and the large effect that an interim injunction can have on a market place. Read more »
Tags: business solicitor, business solicitor manchester, ip lawyer, ip laywer manchester, ip solicitor, ip solicitor manchester, michael forrester, patent solicitor, patent solicitor manchester, trademark solicitor, trademark solicitor manchester
Business Law, Intellectual Property, Media | Ralli | March 8, 2011 11:15 am | Comments (0)
Michael Forrester - Solicitor & Harassment Law Expert
News emerged yesterday that thousands of IP addresses alleged to have been used to infringe copyright over Peer to Peer networks have been deleted by an ISP.
Reports suggest that Ministry of Sound has since suspended plans to send warning notices to more than 25,000 BT broadband customers suspected of illegal downloading.
Lohan Presencer, Chief Executive of Ministry of Sound stated that it was “very disappointing that BT decided not to preserve the identities of the illegal uploaders”, and that they are “more determined than ever to go after internet users who illegally upload our copyrighted material.”
It is reported that further applications for information from all ISPs are expected.
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- Phil Hitchen (Intellectual Property Solicitor)
“Most people regard tangible assets, such as premises and plant, and staff as material to business operation and success or failure. Of equal if not greater importance is knowing what intellectual property your business owns or licences and your rights.
Whether it be the name or logo you use; the design and supply details of your products or services or the software that records orders and delivery all involve intellectual property. You need to know what you have and protect it and exploit it or lose it. Read more »
I’ve been out of the country but regrettably not out of the loop for the past few days, and have been watching the press coverage of the Trafigura Freedom of Speech case with great interest.
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