On December 30, 2020, after seven long years of negotiations, China and the EU concluded in principle the negotiations for a Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). The frayed political and trade relations with the US, as well as Brexit, convinced the EU members to put aside objections related to human rights violations and close the deal with China, now their major trade partner. The Chinese, hard pressed to offset the 2020 diplomatic set-backs, including the mishandling of the initial Covid-19 crisis, the Xingjian labor camps issue, and the Hong Kong crisis, and in need of alternatives to their strained relations with the US, were willing to make concessions — including some key provisions concerning China’s forced technology transfer.
If really and properly implemented by China, those provisions could advantage EU businesses against their US competitors. We review the provisions, compare them to similar commitments recently made by China with the US, and assess their possible impact on EU and US IP holders in China. Continue Reading
After a slow but steady start to 2020, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) saw a flurry of new complaints filed in the second half of the year. Eight new complaints were filed in December, resulting in a total of 57 complaints filed in 2020. As discussed in previous posts (e.g. 
The UK Parliament and EU Commission have now agreed on a wide-ranging EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, focused on the supply of goods. Pharmaceuticals are highlighted in a number of areas. For example, Annex TBT-2 of the Agreement provides for recognition of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspections for medicinal products carried out in the other party’s jurisdiction, i.e. across the UK and EU. In his most recent blog 
With the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, the EU legislation governing the EU trademark and design system ceased to apply to the UK. While Brexit trade deal talks were in full swing, the SPB Team worked through all administrative details to comply with the new Brexit requirements, which took effect on 1 January 2021. 
False claims of use and fake specimens of use have bedeviled the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and legitimate trademark owners for many years. The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“TMA”) — part of the COVID-19 relief legislative package signed by President Trump on December 27, 2020 — provides significant relief for trademark owners’ efforts to combat that fraud. As noted in a 
Copyright owners seeking damages under $30,000 now have the choice of adjudicating their claims outside of federal court. Passed as part of the December 2020 COVID-19 relief bill, the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (“CASE Act”) created an alternative small claims tribunal system that can adjudicate certain copyright infringement claims. 
The year 2020 saw increasing acceptance of cannabis in the US, as indicated by 
Back in July 
In 1988, the Danish movie called “Babette’s Feast,” based on a story by Danish novelist Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), earned an Oscar for best foreign language film. We remember this much-loved movie about loss, survival and the art of French food. For those of you who are interested in IP and are going to share the New Year’s Eve dinner with the very same people you have seen around the table in the last few months, we also offer a few ideas and fun facts about intellectual property in food typically served in France for New Year’s dinner that may help to raise some new conversation topics.