The anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (Acta) stalled in its late stages as, according to report in the Financial Times, EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said he would refer the trade pact to the European Court of Justice. The court will be asked to decide if Acta is compatible with EU rights and freedoms.
Mr De Gucht said: ‘Let’s cut through this fog of uncertainty and put Acta in the spotlight of our highest independent judicial authority.’

Latest blow

The news is another blow to the anti-piracy movement after the abandonment last month of two pieces of potential US legislation – the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act.
A pessimistic supporter of the treaty told the paper: ‘Faced with rejection, the Commission decided to kick the ball into the long grass and hope that the current climate improves when Acta resurfaces next year.’
In other copyright developments, the legal battle over the iPad trademark in China has reached a Shanghai courtroom as Chinese electronics manufacturer Proview takes on US giant Apple.
Lawyers for Proview, who claim to have won at least one injunction already, say Apple has cost the Chinese company up to $2 billion (£1.3bn) in profits.

Invalid trademark

Apple maintains it acquired the rights to the iPad name from Proview in 2009, and also suggests that the trademark was likely to be invalid in any event.
According to UK newspaper The Independent, Apple’s attorney Hu Jinnan said: ‘Proview has no product, no customers and no suppliers. It has nothing.’