genuine use of an EU trademark within the EU for services provided outside the EU a summary of decision T‑768/20 of the General Court of the EU   The background of this decision was an application for revocation for non-use against the EUTM owned by Standard International Management LLC, a US company. Yes, this is…

A judgment of the General Court demonstrates the controversial and problematic nature of retail services marks. The ALDI/ALDIANO Case The case concerns Aldi, the discount chain. An Aldi entity (in the following “Aldi”) filed an application for the declaration of invalidity against the EUTM ALDIANO, registered for “alcoholic beverages (except beers)” (class 33). Aldi relied…

On 13 October 2022 the Court of Justice (CJ) issued a preliminary ruling on corrective measures under the Enforcement Directive 2004/48. In this case (Case C-355/21), Procter & Gamble filed a trademark infringement claim against the Polish company perfumesco.pl. Procter & Gamble produced the perfume under the exclusive licence of the HUGO BOSS word-trademark. In…

First it was getting a registration as a trademark for the name of a State (see at https://trademarkblog.kluweriplaw.com/2022/03/28/mission-impossible-register-the-name-of-a-state-as-a-trademark/). Now, it is getting the European Union Court of Justice (CJEU) to review a decision of the General Court (GC) on trademark and design matters arising from the EUIPO Boards of Appeal. As already reported (see at…

The debate over the protection of the iconic “AUDI” logo in Poland is currently being renewed (see here). An injunction was sought by AUDI to stop another party from importing, offering, marketing, and advertising radiator grilles that bear a sign that is identical to or similar to its EU trade mark (“EUTM”) for the following…

The EU trademark law system does not have, unlike the US, a legal concept of “incontestability”. Instead, it has “acquiescence”, a defence against invalidity or infringement actions which can be raised against the owner of an earlier mark who has acquiesced, for a period of five successive years, in the use of a later registered…

Primo July we published an article about the Advocate General’s opinion on the use of protected designations of origin (PDO) for export to third countries. Read the article here. With the recent judgment from European Court of Justice (ECJ) in case C-159/20, it is established that the opinion has been followed in its substance. The…

Dispute and Facts Munich SL owns an EU registration of 2004 for the following figurative mark: This representation means that the crossed stripes are placed on the side of a shoe. The registration covers ʻSports footwearʼ (class 25). In 2010, Munich SL sued Deichmann SE before the Regional Court of Düsseldorf for the infringement of…

Yet another Feta case has reached the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This time the question is whether the Kingdom of Denmark is obliged to stop Danish cheese producers from using the protected designation of origin (PDO) Feta for cheese exported to third countries. Historically production and export of cheese under the name Feta existed…