IP laws: Brighter days ahead
10-01-2021
20-08-2018
Mexico’s new Industrial Property Law heralds an improved system for the country’s IP owners in almost every area, says Christian Thomae of Dumont.
November 5, 2020, marked the date on which Mexico adopted the new Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property. This repealed the previous law that had been in force for 25 years and had been subject to several amendments. The new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement made it necessary to reorganise and update the Mexican IP system, as to allow for a smooth implementation of the renegotiated trade agreement.
France jurisdiction report: Protecting your plate
10-01-2021
09-09-2016
French deputies have tabled a draft of law to create a sui generis industrial property right protecting culinary creations.
Current industrial property law only imperfectly allows culinary creators to obtain protection for their creations at a time when French cuisine is enjoying more and more success, especially abroad.
French case law has decided, on several occasions, that a recipe which could be compared to a compilation of non-protectable ideas or to the presentation of know-how cannot be the object of an appropriation, neither by copyright nor by patent law.
The culinary creator may however use patent law in order to protect some of the innovations contained in his or her creations. For example, chef Guy Savoy patented the process of neutralising the taste of iodine while respecting the original taste of sea-urchin.