No doubt that it is difficult to come by a registration to a single colour – especially in Denmark. Only two existing registrations for a single colour are in effect currently. One owned by Grundfos Management A/S to   for circulating pumps in Class 7 and the other, the most recent single colour registration is from 2022,…

On 26 November 2021, in BS-10861/2021-SHR, the Danish Maritime and Commercial Court found no likelihood of confusion between the EU-registrations to VITAYUMMY (used as ) and  . Both for chewy vitamins in Class 5. The Court found that chewy vitamins should be considered to be a sub-category of dietary supplements in the form of fruit…

When deciding whether to opt for the Hague International Design System or go the national route, it is tempting to choose to go with the Hague International Design System for all the conveniences that are involved, namely the streamlined administrative filing process via a single application that can be filed through the national office of…

The Supreme Court has ruled that the family having the last name of Ørsted must tolerate and co-exist with the commercial use of ØRSTED. The judgement states that the energy company has the right to register and use several trademarks, domains and company names including or consisting of ØRSTED. The Supreme Court confirms that the…

Two sports companies, Sports Group Denmark A/S (“Sports Group”) and WaterNlife ApS (“WaterNlife”) conflicted over the use of ENDURANCE as a trademark for sports clothing. Sports Group had registered the device trademark However, the trademark was not used as registered. Mostly, Sports Group used the mark in a much simpler and minimalistic version that looked…

An efficient, reliable and cost-effective route for protecting trademarks globally through the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol will be beneficial for IP-right holders. For a period of five years from the date of the international registration, the protection resulting from the international registration remains dependent on the BASIC application or registration also known as…

In Denmark – as in the EU – it is possible to overcome an absolute ground for refusal based on non-distinctive character of the mark applied for if the applicant is able to provide proof that the mark applied for has acquired distinctive character through use prior to the application date, see Article 7(3) EUTMR…

Recently, the Danish Commercial and Maritime High Court balanced the legal interest in the family name Ørsted against the commercial interest in the name of Ørsted by ruling on the right to register and use several trademarks and domains including or consisting of ØRSTED. This is the second blog on the use of family names…

We need all the help we can get to fight counterfeit goods. Counterfeit goods are produced and distributed by organised criminal groups and this crime represents as much as 2.5 per cent of world trade, or USD 461 billion. For more information see Europol’s webpage here: https://www.europol.europa.eu/crime-areas-and-trends/crime-areas/intellectual-property-crime/counterfeiting-and-product-piracy. A Danish researcher and associate professor, Thomas Just…

The discrepancy between the case law using geographical origin as a reason for rejection of a trademark in the EU and at the DKPTO, respectively, is becoming increasingly noticeable; most recently with the judgement from the General Court in T-122/17 DEVIN on the registrability of the geographical name DEVIN. The discrepancy concerns the issue when…