Toy Building Blocks
Company A has been manufacturing toy building blocks for decades. In 1970, a patent was filed for a toy building block, which was later granted. The design of the building block was also well received by customers. The building blocks are known under the name “LEGO.”
Question: What industrial property rights can the company use to protect itself against imitations in 2025?
Wall Anchors
A-GmbH has been manufacturing wall anchors under the brand name “BOMBER” for several years. These are relatively complex plastic injection-molded parts. The company deliberately decided not to patent or design-protect the anchors before entering the market. Now, the management of A-GmbH has discovered that a foreign company, B, is manufacturing exact copies of the wall plugs under the brand name “FIX-1000.” Investigations reveal that a former employee of A-GmbH sent a CAD template for an injection mold to B, which B is now using to manufacture its wall plugs.
Question: What property right could A-GmbH use to take legal action against B?
Canned Beverages
Beverage manufacturer X has realized that the canned beverages it produces sell much better when it displays the image of national skiing hero Marcel H. on the can. Marcel H. is anything but pleased with this sales gimmick and wants to take legal action against X.
Question: What property right could H use to take action against X?
Career Path
Johann Ernst H. continues to be successful even after his career as a ski racer: he has become one of Austria's best-known and most popular pop singers. Inspired by so much success, professional skier X has also discovered his love of pop music and is giving concerts after the end of his career.
Question: What property right can H use to defend himself against such a brazen imitation of his successful career?
ROSSI
Omar Ernesto Semino (S), better known as “SEMINO ROSSI,” is a well-known pop singer. An up-and-coming young artist, X, discovers that he looks very similar to S. Alluding to the visual similarity, he calls himself “SEMINO JUNIOR,” which quickly brings him enormous fame. S wants to prevent this.
Question: What property right can S use to take action against H?
A product developer has “invented” a design for a new mobile phone and wants to market it and negotiate with a manufacturer about the use of his development in a new product series.
Question: Which property right could he register in advance of the negotiations to secure his rights?
Unintentional Development
While repairing an industrial plant, an employee at company X connects a motor incorrectly, causing it to rotate in the opposite direction to that specified in the plan. Another X employee discovers that this unintended measure can triple the plant's throughput without compromising the quality of the output product.
Question: How can X protect this discovery?
A new Opera
Composer K has written a new opera (music and libretto) and would like to “sell” it to an opera house.
Question: Which industrial property rights can help him do this?
New Drugs
The pharmaceutical company P has a patent for a drug. As the approval of its drug has been delayed due to stricter regulations, P will only have 7 years of effective patent protection after approval. However, P has incurred considerable expenses for the approval and would like to extend the term of protection.
Question: Is this possible, and if so, which intellectual property right can be used to achieve this?
A new Variety of Wheat
Farmer L has bred a new variety of wheat that is particularly resistant to pests.
Question: Which industrial property rights can L use to protect himself against imitations by third parties?