World Trademark Review: Innovation at the German Patent and Trademark Office: spotlight on cutting-edge tools and services . “In exclusive insights, the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) reveals the innovative non-core tools and services that it offers trademark users, including developments of its digital tools and collaboration with other national IP offices.”
The Art Newspaper: Calling all numismatists! Biggest coin database in German-speaking world to go live today. “A new database with information on approximately 90,000 coins in German and Austrian public collections is due to go live at 6pm central European time today, the fruit of seven years of planning and preparation by 29 institutions. The portal… will offer free access to the biggest coin database in the German-speaking world, comprising parts of the collections of the Münzkabinett in Berlin and its counterpart at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum as well as thousands of coins in smaller museums and university collections.” It’s already launched; this article is from late May. There is an English version of the site available.
Lexology: The end of an odyssey: The German Act to adapt copyright law to the requirements of the Digital Single Market. “The German Act to adapt copyright law to the requirements of the Digital Single Market will enter into force on 7 June 2021 – as the first national transposition of the Digital Single Market Directive (‘DSM Directive’). It will result in major amendments of German Copyright law and is the attempt to not only unite conflicting interests of rights holders, authors and internet users but also to adjust the partially outdated German copyright law to the digital age. As a result, a huge variety of partly controversially discussed new provisions and amendments will be implemented. We have looked into it and share with you some of the highlights of the new regulation.”
Reuters: German antitrust watchdog investigates Google over data use. “Germany’s antitrust watchdog has launched a probe into whether Google Germany, Google Ireland and its parent company Alphabet are exploiting their market dominance in the way they handle data, it said on Tuesday.”
Reuters: German regulator bans Facebook from processing WhatsApp user data. “Germany’s lead data protection regulator for Facebook is banning the social network from processing personal data from WhatsApp users because it views the messaging app’s new terms of use as illegal, it said on Tuesday. The decision follows emergency proceedings opened by the regulator in the city-state of Hamburg last month after WhatsApp required users to consent to new terms or stop using the service.”
BBC: Covid: Germany’s Oktoberfest cancelled for the second time. “Authorities in Germany have cancelled the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich over coronavirus concerns. This is the second year in a row that the event has been called off due to the pandemic.”
CNN: Germany to return looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. “In a joint declaration published Thursday, Germany’s Ministry of Culture, state ministers and museum directors committed to ‘substantive returns’ of Benin bronzes — artworks made of bronze, brass and ivory that were taken by the British army in a raid on the Kingdom of Benin, in present-day Nigeria, in 1897.”
HYPEBEAST: Jack Wolfskin Opens Archive to Celebrate 40th Anniversary. “Marking 40 years since founder Ulrich Dausien established the Jack Wolfskin brand, the outdoors-focused label is giving a look inside its extensive archive. The online exhibition will tell stories from the German brand’s four decades, particularly shining a light on the innovations and products that have defined it since it first emerged in 1981. The archive prominently displays the brand’s signature paw print logo, which launched back in 1983.”
InfoMigrants: Developing projects to improve psycholocial health of migrants and refugees. “The website is available in four languages (German, English, Dari and Arabic) and was supported by the German Ministry for Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung.) The researchers found that the need for professional psychological help among migrants and refugees was greater than that of the general population…. That is why the website bundles together lots of different projects conducting research on and offering help in this area across Germany.”
Deutsche Welle: Germany restricts use of AstraZeneca vaccine to over 60s in most cases. “German Health Minister Jens Spahn and the 16 state health ministers on Tuesday decided to suspend the routine use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under age 60 at an emergency meeting. Authorities in the cities of Berlin and Munich had earlier decided to limit the use of the vaccine.”
BBC: Coronavirus: Germany tightens borders amid alarm over pandemic. “Germany could see 100,000 infections a day if the third wave of coronavirus spreads unchecked, the head of the RKI public health institute has warned. Random checks and compulsory tests will be enforced on the border with France, says the French foreign minister, because ‘the pandemic in Germany is exploding faster than they thought’.”
AP: Germany funds vaccine assistance for Holocaust survivors. ” Germany has committed millions of dollars in extra funding to help ensure all Holocaust survivors are able to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, an organization that handles claims on behalf of Jewish victims said Wednesday. By virtue of their ages alone, survivors of the Holocaust are at higher risk of dying of COVID-19. Many suffer serious medical issues related to early childhood malnutrition and mistreatment at the hands of the Nazis during World War II.”
BBC: Coronavirus: Germany’s Merkel reverses plans for Easter lockdown. “German Chancellor Angela Merkel has cancelled plans for a strict lockdown over Easter, just a day after the measures were announced. Mrs Merkel said the plan was a ‘mistake’, adding that she took responsibility for the U-turn. The proposed lockdown was agreed with regional leaders on Monday, with restrictions set to be tightened between 1-5 April.”
BBC: Covid: Germany warns of ‘exponential’ rise in coronavirus cases. “Coronavirus cases are rising exponentially in Germany, officials warn, as continental Europe braces for a third wave of infections. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was likely that the country would now need to apply an ’emergency brake’ and re-impose lockdown measures.”
Reuters: German COVID-19 cases are growing exponentially again: RKI. ” Coronavirus infections are rising exponentially in Germany, an expert at the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said on Tuesday, putting at risk plans to lift the lockdown and revive the economy.”
