We are happy to announce the new International Law Talk Podcast episode on Bad Faith in European Trademark Law. For this episode I had the honor of speaking with the leading expert in the field: Alexander von Mühlendahl, former Vice-President of the EUIPO, prior to that deeply involved in the creation of EU trademark law,…

Vintage brands – generally well-known marks that have been phased out but live on in consumers’ memories – face the challenge that trademarks that are not used are cancelled. The CJEU judgment of 22 October 2020 in the testarossa case (C‑720/18 and C‑721/18) maintains the generous line from the 2003 Ansul judgment (C‑40/01), saying that…

On 20 January 2021, the General Court handed down its judgment in the slogan case brought by Oatly AB against the EUIPO’s refusal to register “IT’S LIKE MILK BUT MADE FOR HUMANS” (Case T‑253/20). The General Court sided with Oatly and found that this slogan was sufficiently distinctive to be registered as an EU trademark….

The Kluwer Trademark Blog wishes all readers very Happy Holidays and of a very good new year 2021 (not only in relative terms!). Christmas is upon us – only two more days. Children are getting excited unless of course they have already received their presents, for example in the Netherlands where Sinta Claas brought them…

Reason prevailed: on 5 October 2020 (T-602/19), the General Court of the European Union granted the action of Eugène Perma France against the EUIPO and held that the marks NATURALIUM and NATURANOVE could not be considered confusingly similar only because both started in “NATURA”. Surprisingly, both the Opposition Division and the Fourth Board of Appeal…

  Jeroen Muyldermans and Paul Maeyaert, both experienced IP litigators at the renowned Belgian law firm Altius, have undertaken the humungous task of compiling, analysing, structuring and presenting the case law deriving from the General Court and Court of Justice in Luxembourg as well as the Boards of Appeal at the EUIPO on the topic…

  On 30 January 2020, the General Court of the European Union confirmed the Board of Appeal’s decision rejecting the opposition brought by Julius Sämann against the EUTM application for the sign shown above, based (inter alia) on the silhouette of its “magic tree”: (Case no. T-559/19). The Court agreed with the Board of Appeal…