Korean company THEFACESHOP Co., LTD, Seoul, Korea, registered the mark TheFaceShop (see Fig.1) claiming protection for cosmetics, perfumes and related products and retail trade therewith in March 2014 in Switzerland. As one can imagine, the British company THE BODY SHOP INTERNATIONAL PLC, Sussex, England, was not amused and opposed the registration based on its word mark…
Denmark: 3D-marks – so desirable and yet so hard to get Lately, there have been four interesting 3D-cases in Denmark based on absolute grounds. The first case is a decision by the Danish Board of Appal (hereafter called DBoA) which related to an application by Christian Louboutin for the following 3D mark under application number…
And the winner is… the Oscar. It is hard not to connect the word ‘Oscar’ to the statuette awarded every year in Los Angeles for the best movies, directors, actors and producers. At the same time, when used in different sectors, the term ‘Oscar’ should now be considered as generic. This is – at least…
Kluwer has finally released the second edition of its “European Trademark and Design Law” commentary, edited by the eminent Charles Gielen (known to many British practitioners from his expert witness role in the WAGAMAMA case), and the co-editor of this blog, Verena von Bomhard. This work appears as a series of short article by article…
Emerald Cities Collaborative, Inc. (ECC) was unable to show that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s cancellation of its trademark registration of THE EMERALD CITY and dismissing its opposition to an application filed by Sheri Jean Roese (“Roese”) was an error, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Board did…
Christmas is upon us! We have no idea where 2016 has gone, but to distract you from the turkey eating season the Kluwer Trademark team thought you could do with a Christmas quiz. Some of it requires knowledge, but not all so don’t worry! And you will be relieved to hear that there is no…
A recent judgment by the Beijing IP Court has thwarted Apple’s attempts to obtain trademark protection for the standby screen of the iWatch! Apple may appeal this judgment. On 13 November 2014 Apple had applied to file the sign depicted in Figure 1 as a trademark in China in classes 9, 10, 14, and 38….
Known to many, there is a recent judgment of the CJEU confirming that, if likelihood of confusion exists in only part of the EU, the EUTM is not infringed in the other part – which must be exempted from an injunction. Less known to most, there is a pending reference to the Court of…
On November 15, 2016, the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (“PRV”) rejected an application for trademark protection of the a figurative mark consisting of a hand giving the middle finger on the ground that it was contrary to accepted principles of morality in accordance to Chapter 2, Article 7 of the Swedish Trademark Act. The…
In a recent decision, the Federal Administrative Court reminded everybody that under Article 5(2)(a) Madrid Protocol, any refusal of protection of an international mark may only be based on the reasons that have been notified to International Bureau (WIPO) within the one year period from the date on which the notification of the extension has…
