Toyota, Canon enforcement ROI advice; PUMA criticises CJEU decision; Korea’s top filers revealed; and more
Welcome to your Sunday recap of the week’s biggest developments in trademark and brand protection.
From the DOJ wading in on OpenAI’s ongoing copyright litigation to the CJEU confirming social media commentaries qualify as protected works, here’s what shaped the IP landscape this week.
This Week’s Must-Read
Where enforcement delivers the greatest ROI (4 September)
Exclusive insights from Toyota, Canon, Beiersdorf and Les Mills show why brand owners are abandoning blanket enforcement, prioritising high-impact threats and redirecting resources as counterfeiting risks evolve.
In-House Perspectives
In an exclusive Q&A, WTR’s In-House Leader of the Year reflects on how in-house counsel roles are evolving and offers advice for forging successful cross-business partnerships.
Why the best trademark teams don’t try to stop every infringement (5 September)
If there is one lesson from WTR’s 2026 Industry Award-winning trademark teams, it is that enforcement is less about volume and more about judgement.
From the Courts
PUMA claims CJEU ruling puts design owners in “untenable position” (2 September)
The EU General Court has ruled that trendsetting designs do not enjoy broader protection, in a decision that PUMA argues could create a “loophole” in protection.
CJEU confirms social media commentaries qualify as “works” (3 September)
Length, online publication or belonging to a predetermined literary genre do not preclude a social media post from enjoying copyright protection, the EU’s highest court has said.
Indian Copyright Office finds AI-generated work original, rejects AI authorship (1 September)
In only a partial victory for Stephen Thaler, the decision signals that AI involvement need not bar copyright protection in India, but confirms that ownership claims will continue to depend on identifying a human author.
Chinese court introduces three-step originality test for AI-generated works (3 September)
The three-part framework for assessing originality examines whether user inputs directly shape expressive elements, whether those inputs are reflected in the final output and whether the user’s choices dominate the work’s overall expression.
Behind the Data
Brand strength pays: WTR Brand Elite ends eight-year run ahead of almost every major stock index (4 September)
The final instalment of WTR’s long-running index finds that companies built around powerful brands have delivered exceptional shareholder returns over the past eight years, collectively doubling their original value and outperforming all but one major stock market.
Hyundai leads, K-pop surges and one digital platform dominates South Korea trademark rankings (31 August)
Exclusive analysis of South Korean trademark filing activity sees electronics, cars, cosmetics and K-pop feature prominently, with striking differences in how quickly leading brand portfolios are evolving.
APAC trademark filings bounce back after quiet start to the year (2 September)
New data analysis shows that trademark filing activity strengthened across five major Asia-Pacific jurisdictions in Q2 2026, with Japan recording a sharp quarter-on-quarter rebound.
Government & Policy
US DOJ intervenes in support of OpenAI in ongoing copyright litigation (3 September)
A Trump administration statement of interest argues that AI training on copyrighted works should be considered “fair use”.
ChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox face tougher anti-infringement obligations after DSA ups designation (3 September)
ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox will be expected to transition to a “model of platform accountability” beyond reacting to individual takedowns to tackling the systems, algorithms and features that may amplify counterfeit and infringing content, one expert notes.
Russia’s new ID law puts defensive ‘.su’ brand registrations on a countdown (1 September)
For years, ‘.su’ sat at the edge of most brand portfolios. Russia’s new verification law means brand teams can no longer ignore it.
