The body of law drawn from the precedents set by earlier decisions.
A recent decision of the Danish Trademark and Patent Office (hereafter DKPTO) shows the narrow scope of protection of company names under Danish law. It is possible to base an opposition before EUIPO on Article 8 (4) EUTMR which include 1) non-registered trademarks and 2) other signs used in the course of trade. Other signs…
The Higher District Court of Düsseldorf had to decide whether the parallel importer of medical devices also had to provide the trademark owner at its request with a specimen of the re-labelled product. In its detailed decision of 12 April 2016 on case I-20 U 48/15 the court held that medical devices were rather more…
Comic Enterprises Ltd v Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation [2016] EWCA Civ 455 On 25 May 2016, the Court of Appeal held that the series mark provision in the UK Trade Mark Act is compatible with EU law. In March the decision in the trade mark conflict between Comic Enterprises and Twentieth Century Fox was…
From September 1, 2016 a specialised IP court will start to operate in Sweden as the current Swedish judicial system involving IP cases will undergo certain changes. The new IP court, named the Patent and Market Court, will handle most cases relating to intellectual property, marketing and competition in Sweden. Focusing on trademarks and brand…
In cancellation proceedings the German Federal Patent Court denied registrability to a 3-D-mark depicting a chocolate stick for chocolate products largely based on evidence it had collected on its own motion (Decision of 22 April 2016 on Case 25 W(pat) 8/09). The International Registration (“IR”) depicted below was registered in December 2005 in Germany. In…
Amazon’s internal search engine has already been the subject of a decision by the High Court (England and Wales) made just over two years ago (2014, EWHC 181, ch). The claimant was the proprietor of the LUSH trademark, used (inter alia) for bath additives. After the trademark was entered as the search term, Amazon exclusively…
The Austrian Supreme Court (short “the Court”) denied a motion for a preliminary injunction (short “PI”) against the use of the mark “Duff (BEER)” based on the Claimant’s EUTM “Duff”, since the EUTM could be declared invalid on the basis of Defendant’s earlier German trademark rights (decision of 27.01.2016, 4 Ob 183/15p – DUFF Beer)….
Due to the variety of economic agents operating on the Portuguese market, some judicial disputes frequently arise regarding the registration rights derived from trademarks and trade names legally constituted. When these situations occur there is a collision of registration rights. The Lisbon Court of Appeal has recently dealt with one case in which the holder…
In the Stockholm District Court judgment of March 22, 2016, the UK company Textilis, Ltd (‘Textilis’) was found infringing, amongst others, the Swedish company Svenskt Tenn Aktiebolag’s (‘Svenskt Tenn’) figurative EUTM ‘Manhattan’ (shown below). The case concerned two questions, namely whether (a) there was infringement in Sweden and (b) the trade mark is valid. This case relates…
The general rule in German opposition proceedings is that each party bears its own costs. But what are the exceptions? A recent decision by the Federal Patent Court shows once more how difficult it is to obtain a decision ordering one party to bear the costs of another (decision of the Federal Patent Court of…
