The body of law drawn from the precedents set by earlier decisions.
At the end of August 2020, the Russian competition authority (the “FAS”) issued two important decisions aimed at allowing a non-authorized import of trademarked products into Russia (so-called “parallel import”). Specifically, the FAS said that two major automotive producers violated competition law by restricting the parallel import of their parts from outside Russia. These decisions…
As readers may recall, the General Court rendered a judgment around two years ago in the Asolo v Red Bull case (known under FLÜGEL – T-150/17 of 4 October 2018) ruling on similarity, or rather dissimilarity, between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. While the FLÜGEL case concerned specifically energy drinks vs. alcoholic drinks, the General Court…
Two years ago the Danish Maritime and Commercial Court (the Commercial Court) ruled in favor of the international flower distributing company Interflora in a case concerning a women’s magazines use of Interflora’s famous slogan SIG DET MED BLOMSTER (in English SAY IT WITH FLOWERS) (case no. BS9384/2017). The magazine had used the sentence in connection…
On 11th September 2020, the European Commission (EC) published India’s Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) application for ‘Basmati’ under EU Regulation No. 1151/2012 (Regulation). While the origin of Basmati has been contested within India itself, there is opposition by other countries in the Indian subcontinent. Here we identify two critical issues that lead to wider debates…
On 17 September the CJEU handed down a long-awaited judgment on a matter that thrilled sports fans and the IP community (C-449/18P, C-474/18P, available in French and Spanish). Footballer Lionel Messi Cuccittini is allowed to register his surname as a trademark for a sportswear brand after a nine-year legal battle. The trade mark is a…
Costco raised triable issues of fact as to its liability for infringement and counterfeiting and whether its use of “Tiffany” to describe a ring style was fair use. The federal district court in Manhattan erred in concluding as a matter of law that Costco’s use of the word “Tiffany” to describe diamond engagement rings amounted…
A permanent injunction preventing an ex-band member from touring as “The Commodores featuring Thomas McClary” extended extrajudicially to European performances. In a long-running dispute in which Commodores Entertainment Corp. (CEC) has repeatedly prevailed in its efforts to stop former Commodores member Thomas McClary from using the “Commodores” name in musical performances, the U.S. Court of…
The existence of a contractual relationship between the two parties was not a prerequisite to the power of the district court to adjudicate the breach of contract claim. Whether the assignment of a trademark for a brand of children’s products was valid was a question of contractual standing rather than Article III standing, the U.S….
We’ve been seeing a lot more interest from life sciences companies in applying for slogans recently. After all, advertising campaigns are increasingly a fierce battlefield for IP litigation. However, slogan marks often run at but rarely manage to take the hurdle of distinctiveness applied by the EUIPO and usually confirmed by the European Courts. Two…
Seller’s appeal of district court’s judgment against it was frivolous because its arguments had virtually no likelihood of success, and the appeal seemingly was pursued for purposes of delay. In a trademark infringement suit between the maker of the dietary supplement Prevagen against an Internet seller for the unauthorized and unlawful sale of Prevagen products,…
