United Kingdom: Copyright

The dispute between Shein and Temu has escalated into one of the most significant intellectual property battles in modern retail, with a recent UK High Court judgment providing crucial clarity on marketplace operator liability and hosting defences.

England's High Court has dismissed Shein's copyright lawsuit against Temu, ruling that the marketplace platform is not liable for third-party sellers uploading proprietary product images. The decision establishes important precedent for ISP liability, determining that passive intermediaries without specific knowledge of infringement cannot be held responsible for merchant-uploaded content. The judgment opens the door for Temu to potentially seek damages for premature takedowns of product listings.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has issued a landmark ruling on geo-blocking measures in copyright protection, specifically addressing the Anne Frank case. This decision establishes new standards for what constitutes effective technological measures to prevent unauthorized access to copyrighted content across different jurisdictions. The ruling provides crucial guidance for publishers and content providers on implementing 'state of the art' geo-blocking solutions that satisfy legal requirements f

The General Court of the European Union upheld Decathlon's registered EU design for its EASYBREATH full-face snorkelling mask against a technical function challenge, while the UK High Court found Chiaro's Elvie breast pump design had narrow infringement scope after excluding technical features. These contrasting outcomes reveal how the exclusion for designs dictated solely by technical function can dramatically affect protection scope, even for products designed to fit the human body.

The European Union has introduced groundbreaking changes to its design registration system, expanding beyond traditional static images to include animated and dynamic representations. These innovations offer fashion designers unprecedented flexibility in protecting clothing designs with intricate details, complex structures, and transformable features that were previously difficult to capture through conventional methods.

The High Court's ruling in Getty Images v Stability AI has sparked debate over whether AI models trained on copyrighted images constitute infringement under UK law. While Getty dropped its primary infringement claims at trial, the court's findings on secondary infringement—particularly whether an AI model can be an 'infringing copy'—raise fundamental questions about how copyright law applies to generative AI technology. With permission granted to appeal, the legal framework governing AI training

As debt financing increasingly recognizes the value of intangible assets, companies must strategically prepare their intellectual property portfolios to meet lender expectations.

Businesses undergoing strategic change face unique challenges when seeking debt financing, as lenders grapple with uncertainty around unproven revenue streams and unfamiliar markets.

The High Court's decision in Illiquidx Limited v Altana Wealth Limited examines when information retains confidentiality despite public availability of its components.