The Greek Supreme Court has recently handed down its ruling in a cassation appeal concerning the shape of biscuits and their protection as unregistered trademarks (no 659/2023), confirming the findings of the Athens Court of Appeal. The biscuits, although quite well-known, were considered non-distinctive, as was the image of two spikes of wheat embossed on…
Last year we commented here on the Greek draft trade mark law aimed at implementing the Directive 2015/2436 (the Directive). This law was recently submitted and accepted by the Greek Parliament (the Law), almost one year after its public consultation, adding Greece to the EU countries that are now fully compliant with the Directive. Greece…
We had reported on the introduction in Greece of mandatory mediation in trademark infringement disputes in this blog here and here. Law no 4640/2019 “Mediation on civil and commercial disputes – Further harmonization of Greek legislation with Directive 2008/52/EC of the European parliament and of the council of 21 May 2008 and other provisions” (the…
We all know the iconic Aspirin® paper package with the white and green parallel portions against which the name of the product is written in black letters: This package stands out from other pain killer packages sold over the counter (OTC) such as for example or …
The Greek draft law implementing the European Trade Mark Directive 2015/2436 (the Directive) was uploaded on the compenet Ministry website for public consultation on January 11, 2019 and it will remain open for public consultation until January 25, 2019 (http://www.opengov.gr/ypoian/?p=9959). Upon completion of the public consultation, the draft law shall be brought before the Parliament…
We recently reported on the introduction in Greece of mandatory mediation in trademark infringement disputes in this blog here. The respective legal provisions of law 4512/2018 shall start to apply as of 17 October 2018. On 28.6.2018, the Greek Supreme Court’s administrative plenary panel issued an opinion holding that the mandatory mediation introduced by this…
The issue of registration of state names as trademarks has recently been the subject of a Paris Court of Appeal ruling (22 September 2017). The US company France.com Inc. was the proprietor of the domain name “france.com” registered since 1994. The Dutch company Traveland Resorts registered in its own name a number of…
By virtue of law 4512/2018, which was published on 17 January 2018, all disputes concerning trademarks, patents and industrial designs initiated before civil courts in Greece are subject to mandatory mediation. Hearing of the cases shall be inadmissible if the mediation process stipulated in the law has not been followed. The provisions shall start to…
