2011 Yearbook of Case Law

The first edition of the Yearbook of European Case Law on Industrial and Intellectual Property launches a series designed to provide a clear and practical overview of the year’s most significant decisions. It brings together 26 cases drawn primarily from the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Spanish Court for Community Trademarks, Community Designs, and the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office, along with several particularly significant Spanish rulings.

The publication addresses topics such as trademarks, copyright and the information society, patents, designs, piracy, geographical indications, advertising, and unfair competition. Among the topics covered are the use of trademarks on the Internet, the liability of online marketplaces, P2P programs, private copying, supplementary protection certificates, the amendment of European patents, and counterfeit goods in transit.

Each case follows a common structure consisting of Facts, Rulings, and Commentary, designed to quickly identify the dispute, the court’s response, and its main implications.

This first edition thus lays the groundwork for a Yearbook designed to track, year by year, the evolution of European case law on industrial and intellectual property.