The body of law drawn from the precedents set by earlier decisions.
In Germany and specifically in Bavaria, a non-alcoholic mix drink with the ingredients Cola and Orange soda has reached cult status and may be recognized as one of the most popular non-alcoholic drinks. Among consumers this Cola and Orange mix drink is well-known as “Spezi”. One significant manufacturer and distributer of “Spezi” is the brewery…
On 13 October 2022 the Court of Justice (CJ) issued a preliminary ruling on corrective measures under the Enforcement Directive 2004/48. In this case (Case C-355/21), Procter & Gamble filed a trademark infringement claim against the Polish company perfumesco.pl. Procter & Gamble produced the perfume under the exclusive licence of the HUGO BOSS word-trademark. In…
The ongoing dispute, originally instigated by Nestlé, surrounding Cadbury’s trade mark applications for the colour purple has recommenced. Mr Justice Meade of the High Court recently handed down judgment in Société des Produits Nestlé S.A. v Cadbury UK Limited [2022] EWHC 1671 (Ch). Meade J decided in Cadbury’s favour on two counts, allowing the registration…
With Judgment of 30 August 2022 the Swiss Federal Court has fully granted Lindt & Sprüngli’s injunction against Lidl and has prohibited Lidl from producing and distributing copies of the Lindt Gold Bunny. This Judgment implies that Lidl is no longer allowed to sell Gold Bunny look-alikes in Switzerland and must destroy any remaining stock…
The long running dispute between Sky and SkyKick is not due to end any time soon. SkyKick has been granted permission to appeal the 2021 decision of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s findings are expected to provide important guidance for brand owners regarding whether broad scope trade mark specifications…
Pepsi earns reversal of pretrial order that would have required it to stop marketing a new Mountain Dew product. A federal district court was wrong to enjoin Pepsi from continuing to market a canned energy drink under the Mountain Dew line under the name of “rise energy” because the owner of the RISE mark was…
With Judgment of 6 April 2022, the Federal Supreme Court upheld FIFA’s claim that the marks “PUMA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022” and “PUMA WORLD CUP 2022” were misleading, ordered these marks to be removed from the register and referred the case back to the Zurich Commercial Court to decide on the question of injunctive relief…
The district court erred by failing to analyze infringement under reverse confusion theory. The federal district court in Miami erred by concluding as a matter of law that Amazon.com, Inc.’s Fire TV television set-top box service was unlikely to be confused with Wreal LLC’s subscription-based adult content video streaming service called FyreTV. The district court…
The 2018 Farm Bill—which carved hemp out of the definition of marijuana—made products containing the Delta-8 THC isomer legal, which meant marks for the products could be federally protected. A manufacturer of e-cigarette and vaping products was entitled to a preliminary injunction barring a wholesaler from selling counterfeit versions of the manufacturer’s “Cake”-branded e-cigarette and…
Summary The owner of a boutique store, Ms. Kotrri (Applicant), successfully defended her trade mark application before the UKIPO for HOUSE OF ZANA, covering “clothing” in class 25, against apparel retailer, Inditex (Opponent). The Opponent sought to prevent registration on the basis of Sections 5(2)(b) and 5(3) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 and relied…
