European Union Trade Mark (EUTM), a single trade mark registration covering all of the EU Member States.
Known to many, there is a recent judgment of the CJEU confirming that, if likelihood of confusion exists in only part of the EU, the EUTM is not infringed in the other part – which must be exempted from an injunction. Less known to most, there is a pending reference to the Court of…
The Czech Supreme Court has recently confirmed that it is an act of unfair competition to file a take-down notice to a social media network claiming intellectual property infringement while omitting further relevant information. The court ordered the defendant to make a submission to the social media network withdrawing the take-down notice and to pay…
On 18 October 2016, His Honour Judge Hacon (‘Hacon’) handed down his decision in AMS Neve Limited v Heritage Audio S.L. [2016] EWHC 2563 (IPEC). This concerned an application, under the Civil Procedure Rules Part 11, by the Spanish defendant ‘Heritage’ for a declaration that the English Courts do not have jurisdiction to try the…
A recent Supreme Court judgement in the Dalí case shows clear respect for trademarks but raises some questions regarding image. A great many brands have used in their advertising campaigns the images of people who, despite no longer being alive, continue to have considerable selling power. There are even marketing studies which show that advertising…
Royal Copenhagen, the Danish porcelain company, claimed infringement by Porsgrund AS (hereafter Porsgrund) as it considered the Norwegian porcelain dinner service company’s dinner service sets called ‘MaxiStrå blå’ to constitute a violation of Royal Copenhagen’s rights to the porcelain dinner service sets called ‘Blue Fluted Mega’. Royal Copenhagen claimed infringement under the Danish Trademark Act,…
A recent decision of the Federal Patent Court in Germany (Decision of 1 March 2016 on Case 29 W (pat) 33/13) shows that the unitary character of an EU trademark (EUTM) does not necessarily mean that it enjoys the same level of protection in all EU member states. In opposition proceedings in Germany, the Federal…
All conversation (about trade marks at least) in the UK relates to Brexit at the moment. A lot has been written when in all honesty there is very little to say. Verena’s post on 28th June is excellent – the only thing I would add is that whilst I am sure that no current EUTM…
Early in the morning of the 24 June 2016 it was announced that, by a slim majority of 51.9% to 48.1% of the participating voters, the decision had been taken for the UK to leave the EU. While not legally binding on the UK government, this decision is politically binding and at this time clearly…
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…
In September 2015 the German Bundesgerichtshof (BGH), Germany’s highest civil court, decided questions regarding the conversion of a Community Trademark into a national German trademark. The outcome was painful. The ruling greatly weakened the Community trademark system. The case was referred back to the appeal court (OLG Düsseldorf) which will hopefully refer the case to…
