The Chinese company acted with the requisite bad faith under the ACPA when it bought and re-registered the domain name, which was identical to several registered trademarks owned by the insurance and financial services giant. A Chinese Internet company that distributes financial and economic information to Chinese consumers had the bad faith intent to profit…
District court failed to draw inferences in favor of nonmoving party in finding no likelihood of confusion. The federal district court in Miami erred in awarding summary judgment for a title insurance company regarding its use of the mark ‘FOREMOST,’ the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has held. The Eleventh Circuit found…
Read up on the latest news reported by the Kluwer IP Reporter here. Albanian IP Office implements CP9 The General Directorate of Industrial Property (GDIP) of the Republic of Albania has implemented the European Union’s Common Practice CP9 (Distinctiveness of three-dimensional marks (shape marks) containing verbal and/or figurative elements when the shape is not distinctive…
As expected, in its decision of 21 December 2022 (T-44/22), the General Court (GC) upheld the refusal of the packaging design shown above on the right as a trademark for tobacco products in class 34, agreeing with the EUIPO that it would take unfair advantage of the reputation of the Marlboro rooftop mark. The trademark…
At a time when New Year’s resolutions to exercise more fizzle out for lack of motivation, many people realise what the General Court (GC) already knew: sport and entertainment do not necessarily have to go hand in hand. In the BIMBA TOYS case (21 December 2022, T-129/22), the GC confirmed the decision of the Fourth…
“To grant trade-dress protection for Pocket Plus,” the court said, “would be to hand it a monopoly over the ‘best’ portable-pouch design,” which trademark law precludes. In a trade-dress infringement suit by portable pouch maker Pocket Plus against its direct competitor Running Buddy, an Iowa district court’s grant of summary judgment to Running Buddy was…
A district court was too hasty in rejecting the safe distance rule. A federal district court in Detroit must reconsider its decision to allow the Indian maker of an off-road vehicle to release a redesigned product that ostensibly did not infringe the trade dress of the venerable Jeep brand, the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
Most often, my blogs here relate to Canadian trademark practice – always changing and often of interest to trademark owners and practionners. This time however, I’m writing about mid-career transitions, which have become increasingly common amongst IP professionals and has affected many people I know all over the world. These can be challenging experiences to…
19/10/2022 T-275/21, DEVICE OF A CHEQUERBOARD PATTERN (fig.), EU:T:2022:654 The French designer’s iconic fabric, one that is no stranger to catwalks and maison de couture around the world, has found itself in the courtroom, again, after a 5 year battle with the EUIPO. The fashion conscious and lovers of luxury will surely be familiar with…
The district court erred in considering the failure to produce evidence of actual confusion at this preliminary stage, but the error did not affect the outcome. The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware correctly denied a preliminary injunction after it concluded that the trademark holder failed to provide evidence of irreparable harm in the absence…
