In the UK, we can expect to see the following:
- The Supreme Court ruling in Iconix v Dream Pairs on post-sale confusion (more here).
- The Court of Appeal decision in the AGA v UK Innovations case on the interplay between section 51 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 and retained CJEU case law on enforcement of copyright in works of applied art (more here). It is also possible that there will be an appeal in the WaterRower v Liking case.
- The Court of Appeal ruling in the easyGroup v easyFundraising case on genuine use in relation to variant marks – an issue on which two different High Court judges disagreed on exactly the same facts (more here).
- Court of Appeal decisions in Thatchers v Aldi (supermarket look-alikes) and adidas v Thom Browne (various issues including the impact of a crowded market and post-sale confusion).
- The High Court decision in Getty v Stability AI on whether the training and outputs of Stability AI's Stable Diffusion Artificial Intelligence system infringes copyright in the Getty images or any of the Getty trade marks.
- Possible guidance and changes of practice by the UKIPO in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in SkyKick v Sky on bad faith (more here). We are also likely to start to get a feel for how – if at all - the SkyKick decision will influence specification drafting and enforcement.
- Further rulings fleshing out how the knowledge requirement for accessory liability set out in Lifestyle v Ahmed will be applied in practice (more here).
- Possible rulings on the impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2024 – and particularly the loss of supremacy of EU law – on trade mark and design law.
At EU level, we can expect to see the following:
- The ECJ ruling in the Ape Tees and Shopify cases on what happens when a prior right relied on in an opposition or invalidity action is revoked/surrendered/not renewed etc before a decision is issued. If the ECJ rules that a prior right can only be relied upon if it is still subsisting at the date a decision is issued, that might mean more counterclaims for revocation, dragging out of actions, stays, and tactical appeals by defendants. More here.
- ECJ preliminary rulings on copyright protection for works of applied art in the USM Haller and other cases.
- The impact of the Kwantum v Vitra ECJ ruling that a work is protected by copyright in the EU if it meets the EU originality requirements (even if the work is not protected in its country of origin) and particularly whether this will result in more copyright infringement claims in the EU (relevant eg to works of applied art and product shapes).
- Various ECJ decisions that could impact design law including in LEGO v Pozitiv (infringement and the informed user) and Deity Shoes (individual character and creation of designs by non-EU undertakings).
- Various other ECJ preliminary rulings including: on whether a trade mark registration consisting of the name of a designer is deceptive when assigned by that designer to a third party (such that the designer no longer has any involvement in the design of the products bearing the mark); on the interplay between bad faith and other grounds for invalidity including that a mark is functional (CeramTec); on acquiescence (Sanchez Romero); and on the interplay between trade mark law and human rights and fundamental freedoms (Inter IKEA Systems) (see here).
- Various appeals from the General Court to the ECJ including those listed here. These include the ECJ's ruling in the EUIPO v Neoperl case on the scope of the jurisdiction of the General Court, in particular, to rule on matters not yet ruled on by the Board of Appeal.
- The General Court ruling in OMV v EUIPO on the registrability/validity of two-colour marks – in this case the colours green and blue for service stations. This should help clarify the law on two-colour combinations.
- The Grand Board of Appeal ruling on the registrability of famous book titles (1984 and ANIMAL FARM), which will have implications for the registrability of a variety of film, TV, book and similar titles.
- The Grand Board of Appeal ruling in the Paris 1717 case on whether a mark can be refused registration due to it being deceptive as to the qualities of the owner (here, the owner not having been established since 1717). The ECJ is also due to give a preliminary ruling on a similar issue in the Faure Le Page case.
- The Grand Board of Appeal's ruling on the registrability as a trade mark of the representation of a person's face, an issue on which there is inconsistency in the case law.
- The impact of the new regulation which introduces geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products, effective from 1 December 2025 (more here).
- The impact of the first wave of changes under the EU's revised Design Regulation which will take effect in May 2025 (more here). We might also see the entry into force of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty.
- Increased focus on the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (finally adopted on 16 December 2024) which potentially limits the ability of brand owners to use fanciful packaging shapes (more here). The packaging minimisation requirements apply from 1 January 2030.