Distinctiveness is the characteristic of a trade mark which enables it to function as an indicator of the origin of goods and services.
Yet another trademark dispute has been taken to court by APPLE. This time, APPLE lodged a trademark opposition against the letter „j“ trademark of an Italian incorporation by the name „Steve Jobs“ in front of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court (FAC) (B-1176/2017 (FAC)). After APPLE had failed to cancel the opposed trademark before the Institute…
In India, so-called translation cases, where a later mark is (or is alleged to be) a mere translation of an earlier mark leading to confusion resulting from conceptual similarity, are dealt with under the concept of “deceptive similarity”. While earlier decisions seemed to favour a broad interpretation of this concept, the judgment of the Delhi…
Is being environmentally friendly a quality which matters for consumers? And if it does, what it is “allure”? On the judgment of the General Court of 12 December 2018 in case T-253/17 regarding genuine use of the sign of Der Grüne Punkt Der Grüne Punkt – Duales System Deutschland GmbH is the owner of a…
In BASIC NET SpA vs EUIPO, (case C-547/17 of Sept. 6, 2018), shortly after the recent Nestlè/Mondelez KIT KAT case (C‑84/17P, C-85/17 P and C-95/17 P; see ‘CJEU on the Kit Kat shape and acquired distinctiveness of EU trade marks for shapes’ in this blog), the CJEU again tackled the issue of how and where…
The Paris Court of Appeal ruled that the French figurative trademark owned by Mr. Christian Louboutin and designating “high‑heeled shoes (except orthopedic footwear)” in Class 25, reproduced above, is valid (Paris Court of Appeal, 15 May 2018, No. 17/07124). The trademark is described as follows: “The trademark consists of the color red (Pantone 18.1663TP) applied to the…
It does not happen every day that you can see a trademark case decided by the EU General Court with a Polish claimant (EUTM applicant), represented by his Polish attorney, with a Polish judge as the rapporteur and even with Polish national acting as the EUIPO’s representative. One of very few non-Polish aspects of this…
The UK Intellectual Property Office has recently declared invalid Birkenstock’s UK trade mark registration for the pattern on the sole of their shoes. The decision of the Appointed Person, James Mellor QC, not only considers a slightly unusual mark, it also provides helpful guidance on factors to consider if a brand owner is trying to…
Shape mark: form of a drinking bottle lacks distinctiveness in relation to perfumes A recent judgement of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court highlights the strict practice for the registration of shape marks. The court ruled that a 3D mark for perfumes cannot be entered in the trade mark register for perfumes in Class 3, since…
The Court of Appeal (‘CoA’) recently published its decision on the validity of two shape mark registrations for the shape of London black taxis. Unfortunately, it has not improved the position for those seeking protection for trade dress in the UK. Pure recognition of the sign is still not sufficient basis to lay claim to…
This case concerns the first appeal from a Hearing Officer of the UK Intellectual Property Office (“UK IPO”) to the Scottish Court of Session. The dispute at issue was between CCHG Limited t/a Vaporized (the “Appellant”) and Vapouriz Limited (the “Respondent”). The Respondent had brought an invalidity action before the UK IPO based on…
