NEW SPANISH PATENT ACT PUBLISHED

30-July-2015
The new Spanish Patent Act has ended its parliamentary procedure and been approved on 24 July. This new law, that will repeal the current 1986 Patent Act, will enter into force in 1 April 2017.
The main and most awaited feature of the new act is the introduction of a system where patents will only be granted with prior examination of novelty and inventive step. This change means to align Spain with international regulations and favour the creation of a strong patent ecosystem. The current law lets the applicant choose between undertaking the substantive exam (and obtain a “strong” patent) or only a formal exam (“weak patent”).
Another novelty oriented at fostering a more innovative economy is the reduction of fees and the first three annuities in 50% for medium and small enterprises as well as for entrepreneurs.
Lastly, we highlight the novelties concerning utility models, by far the most common titles among Spanish inventors. With the new law, the geographical scope of tge state of the art affecting utility models will be global, the same as for patents (not only Spain as it is today). Utility models will also see its material scope extended to the field of chemicals.
 Any questions? Send us and email : Emps@emps.es


EMPS IN SAN DIEGO FOR INTA MEETING

15 - April - 2015

The Annual Meeting of the International Trademark Association (INTA), will be held from May 2 to 6 in San Diego, California. The meeting will be the largest to date, with more than 9.500 participants from over 150 countries.

The meeting is the perfect occasion to meet with clients, business partners and friends, while learning about the most important developments in trademark law. 

Esquivel Martín Pinto & Sessano will be there, like every year, represented by partner Adrián Esquivel. 

More info: www.inta.org

MOROCCO TO ACCEPT EUROPEAN PATENTS

30 – March - 2015

Starting on March 1, 2015, European Patents will be accepted to full legal effect in the Morocco national territory. This is the first non-member state of the European Patent Organisation to introduce such a measure. Applicants of European patents will be able at application stage to request validation for Morocco. These patents will have the same status as national patents and will be subject to Moroccan law. The EPO has entered into validation agreements with two further non-member states, Moldova and Tunisia, but this is the first ever to come into force. The number of countries where patent protection can be obtained with a single application with EPO is now of 41.
More info at http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2015/20150119.html

GOOGLE NEWS TO SHUT OPERATIONS IN SPAIN

11-December-2014


The news service hosted by Google (“Google News”) will shut operations on December 16th in Spain as a result of the recent reform in Intellectual Property regulation.

Google News is a section within the popular search engine that offers news headlines and snippets, as well as links to news websites. Under the new intellectual property law, that will be in force from January 1st, 2015, the reproduction of news by search engines and news aggregators will generate an unwaivable right for economic compensation for news publishers.  Google News has declared this to be “non-sustainable” and has decided to suspend the service in Spain.


Google News is a controversial issue across Europe, and each country is testing different methods to compensate the publishing sector for their alleged loss to the search engine. Germany has opted for a similar regulation, with the difference that news publishers may waive their rights to the compensation fee if they want. France decided last year on a completely different approach, and Google and the Government signed an agreement to share their advertising revenue with the publishing industry. 

EMPS AT THE ASIPI MEETING IN MEXICO CITY

11 – September - 2014

The ASIPI (Inter-American Association of Intellectual Property)work sessions and administrative council will take place in Mexico City on November 30th to December 3rd. As every year, EMPS will attend represented by the partner of the firm Mr Adrian Esquivel.

This year the ASIPI reunion will be particularly festive, as the association turns 50 this year. The EMPS team takes the opportunity to congratulate ASIPI in its anniversary for their continuous excellent work during all these years.

We look forward to seeing  you in Mexico.

http://www.asipimexico2014.com



MAGISTER LVCENTINVS TURNS 20

23-June-2014
The “Magister Lvcentinvs”, master of laws in intellectual property at the University of Alicante, celebrated on June 21 its 20th anniversary. This event was attended by alumni, such as two EMPS partners, Adrian Esquivel and Victoria Sofía Martin Santos, as well as by many personalities of the European IP world and representatives of organizations such as OHIM and WIPO. The celebrations for this master, one of the first programs to be offered in Spain and Europe in the field of IP, took place in the Real Liceu and the Real Club de Regatas in Alicante. The event was held immediately after ECTA, also held in Alicante this year, and attended by EMPS representatives as each year.

THE ECJ ENSHRINES THE "RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN"

03-June-2014

The European Court of Justice has issued a decision concerning the “right to be forgotten”, resulting from a prejudicial question made by the Spanish National Audience court in the course of a controversy between the Spanish Data Protection Agency and Google Spain. The judgment construes the Directive 95/46/CE on Data Protection and makes two interesting points: first, it declares that a search engine established in Spain must comply with local data protection regulations; secondly, and as a necessary consequence of the first point, it declares the search engine is responsible from the processing of personal data. This means that search engines must apply the users’ rights to oppose and cancel their personal data, as provided for in Spanish regulations, and that they are obliged to remove inadequate, irrelevant or excessive personal data upon the user’s request. 

 Read the decision in English here.
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