The body of law drawn from the precedents set by earlier decisions.
The federal district court in Tampa properly determined that a karaoke disc jockey’s use of unauthorized copies of karaoke tracks displaying Phoenix Entertainment Partners’ SOUND CHOICE mark did not constitute trademark infringement or unfair competition under the Lanham Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta has ruled in an unpublished decision. Adopting the reasoning…
The Benelux trade mark system will undergo two important changes as per June 1, 2018. Appeals from decisions of the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) Until now appeals from decisions of the BOIP in opposition cases were brought before the courts of appeal of The Hague, Brussels or Luxembourg (with further appeals on questions…
On February 13, 2018, the Russian Constitutional Court issued a judgement in which it checked whether the existing regime of parallel import was in line with the Constitution. Although grey import has remained illegal, the burden of proof has dramatically changed: now infringers have almost 50 legal reasons to pay less and minimize the risks…
The IP-related provisions of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, signed and ratified by Ukraine in 2014, came into force on September 1, 2017. New rules regulating the non-use grace period for trademarks were thereby introduced. Where the existing trademark law provides for a 3-year non-use grace period, Article 198 of the Agreement sets forth the 5-year…
In a decision of 17 January 2018 (HR-2018-110-A), the Norwegian Supreme Court concludes that trade mark protection covers instances where there is a clear possibility that damage to the functions of a trade mark may occur only after the products have been sold. This is the first decision after joining the EEA in which the…
In yet another decision, the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has ruled on whether an injunction also obliged an infringer to take active steps to stop the distribution of infringing products through resellers (decision of the BGH of 11 October 2017 in Case I ZB 96/16). The case follows a series of earlier decisions by…
When Thomas McClary, a former member of the rhythm and blues, funk, and soul music band, The Commodores, left the band in 1984, he left behind any common-law rights he had in the band’s trademarks, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Those rights were retained by a corporation formed by two of…
The federal district court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, did not err in determining that Viacom’s BUBBLE GUPPIES animated children’s television show on the Nickelodeon Network and related merchandise did not infringe registered trademarks for GUPPIE owned and used by a Michigan couple in connection with children’s clothing, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has…
On 6th December 2017, the ECJ issued its judgement in the matter Coty / Akzente. The judgement is essentially about three questions: 1) Does the luxurious nature of products or trademarks justify a selective distribution system or did the Pierre Fabre judgement of 2011 put an end to that justification? 2) Does a selective distribution…
The Court of Florence last October 25, 2017 issued a decision prohibiting a travel agency to commercially use the image of Michelangelo’s David without the authorization of the “Galleria dell’Accademia”, (Galleria) the museum where the sculpture is located. The decision came after the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (the “Ministry”) under…
