European Union Trade Mark (EUTM), a single trade mark registration covering all of the EU Member States.
Cour de Cassation, Chambre Commerciale, January 31, 2018, Appeal No. C 16-10.761 The French Supreme Court emphasizes that the reputation of the earlier mark is a relevant factor in the assessment of likelihood of confusion and gives it wider protection. In 2009, adidas initiated an infringement action in France relying on its famous three stripes…
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…
On 15 March 2018, Marriott Worldwide Corp., assisted by Anna Reid (D. Young & Co.), scored a major victory at the General Court (case T-151/17) against EUIPO and Mr. Johann Graf. Johann Graf had registered the „winged bull“ device or „taurophon“ as shown above on the right as an EUTM for, inter alia, class 43…
On 28th February, the EU Commission published the Draft Withdrawal Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (the “Draft”), as can be viewed here, with commentary here. In a week of weather warnings, plunging temperatures and de-icer fume…
On 5th December the European Commission and the EUIPO issued this notice to EUTM and RCD applicants and owners. It is a stark spelling out of what will happen on the date of withdrawal of the UK from the EU – 30 March 2019 – if there is no agreement on the issue of EUTMs…
With decision C-425/16 of October 19, 2017, the European Union Court of Justice (“CJEU”) pronounced on whether or not EU national courts can dismiss an infringement action without first ruling on a counterclaim for invalidity, and if the courts must wait until the decision on the counterclaim is final. The issue arose from a request of…
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has denied the Tea Board’s (TB) appeal against the General Court’s (GC) decision to allow Delta Lingerie’s (DL) application for various ‘Darjeeling’ marks in classes 35 and 38. In 2010, DL applied to register four figurative EUTMs including the word ‘Darjeeling’ in classes 25, 35 and…
‘Dormant trademarks’ are unused trademarks which remain on the register until the competent authority declares them revoked (this denomination comes from Verena von Bomhard’s article ‘Dormant Trademarks in the European Union – Swords of Damocles?’, The Trademark Reporter, Vol. 96 September-October, 2006 No. 5). Under current Hungarian rules these dormant trademarks can cause trouble if…
In the recent decision W.F. Gözze Frottierweberei Gmbh, Wolfgang Gözze GmbH v Verein Bremer Baumwollbörse, case C-689/15, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) analyzes an issue which the EUTMR rules do not clearly resolve, i.e. whether or not a licensed EUTM registration may be invalidated if the owner fails to carry out quality controls on licensee/licensees’ products. The dispute arose between a German cotton textiles industry association (the…
In the M/S. Indeutsch International case concerning the validity of the “Chevron” device shown above (T-20/16 of 21 June 2017), the General Court held that the mark (described in the registration as “a repeated geometric design”) could not be seen as representing the appearance of the goods for which it was registered, namely knitting needles and crochet…
