On 14 January 2019, on the date of the deadline, the German Trademark Modernization Act entered into force (with the wonderfully uniquely German name of “Markenrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz” – short: “MaMoG”). The Trademark Modernization Act implements the mandatory and several optional provisions contained in the revised EU Trade Mark Directive 2015/2436 of 16 December 2015 in Germany….

It is longstanding practice in fashion to designate certain products not only by illegible article numbers, but by names. Many times male or female personal names are chosen. When there is a broad range of products, many names are needed by a fashion company. Many times these will not be needed for a long time,…

The Regional High Court of Nuremberg rejected a request for an interim injunction in a trade mark case on appeal, considering that the defendant had already stopped the trade mark infringement at the time when the applicant (plaintiff) was seeking injunctive relief (judgment of 10 October 2018, 3 W 1932/18). The court decided that it…

The Regional Court of Munich was asked to decide on the question if an application for action by a right holder, based on the Customs Enforcement Regulation No. 608/2013 (“Customs Enforcement Regulation”), constitutes a dishonest obstruction of a competitor’s business under German unfair competition law. The court rejected the claim arguing that the provisions of…

In Germany, the Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf decided that trademark rights were not exhausted in a case where luxury cosmetic products were offered at a German discounter. The Court held that the offer of the luxury cosmetic products at the discounter stores as well as at the discounter’s online-shop would be detrimental for the image…

In a judgement of April 2018, the Regional Court of Hamburg has ruled on the use of original advertising material by non-authorized dealers and on how trademark law can bypass copyright law (308 O 231/16). The plaintiff manufactures saddle bags and other high quality cycling accessories. The defendant is an online retailer with numerous online…

EU Design law denies protection to designs which are solely dictated by a product’s technical function (art. 8(1) CDR). But how to determine if a product’s appearance is solely defined by its technical function in order to deny protection to a design? German courts, for instance used to apply the “multiplicity of forms” test, where…

In Germany, an opposition against a German trade mark can be based not only on a trade mark but also on a company name or trade name. In brief, under German law, a company name is the official name or designation of a trader or an undertaking including a catch word, for example “Mc Donald’s…

In yet another decision, the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has ruled on whether an injunction also obliged an infringer to take active steps to stop the distribution of infringing products through resellers (decision of the BGH of 11 October 2017 in Case I ZB 96/16). The case follows a series of earlier decisions by…