Actions which impinge upon the monopoly granted by an Intellectual Property right are considered infringements.
To what extend can a business claim reputed trademark as a basis for infringement proceedings or for raising objections against another business’ trademark registration in Denmark? A recent judgement of the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court (the Court) between ECCO and EKKOfonden has given some further guidance on this matter, indicating that even in…
Two months ago I reported about the Draft of a new Trademark Act (Markenrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz) which was supposed to enter into force before the election for the next German Bundestag. Some of the relevant German associations commented in detail on the draft and proposed some well-grounded changes – i.e. the Markenverband, the GRUR, and the Bundesverband Deutscher…
3-D Mark litigation is like life itself – you never know what you’re going to get. And for that reason, it’s all the more enjoyable when a 3-D registration prevails over a knock-off. A notorious trader of perfume imitations was marketing the following perfume bottle – apparently feeling safe about the plaintiff’s product shape, registered…
In a recent case, the Swedish Supreme Court clarified the calculation of damages awarded to a defendant based on a claim of loss of profit due to a preliminary injunction in an unsuccessful infringement case. The court held that the claimant has a strict liability for such damages and that the defendant does not have…
The recent Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) decision of Azumi v Zuma’s Choice Pet Products & Ors touches upon a Smörgåsbord of issues, including a discussion around the size of Azumi’s market share, the interplay of pet food and restaurants, the joint liability of a director, a dog claiming an own name defence, legal threats…
In the affordable luxury segment one finds the highest growth rate within the Class 14-goods at the moment. As a result we see a lot of new starts-ups in this business – one of them trying to stand out by riding on the coat-tails of the market leader in the affordable luxury segment: Pandora A/S….
Being a fashion company is not easy, in two ways. First, you have to be careful what to print on your clothing, even when this is meant as decorative artwork. On the other hand, you have to be watchful that your trademark is not printed on products of competitors, under the pretense of – the…
We all know that acquiescence is an absolute defense against infringement which occurs when a proprietor of an earlier mark has acquiesced, for a period of five successive years, to the use of a later registered trademark while being aware of such use. However, neither EU nor Italian (or, to our knowledge, any other national) trademark…
The Spanish Supreme Court has held that there is no risk of confusion between the word trade mark “Toro” (owned by Osborne Group, S.A., the notorious beverage company) and the word trade mark “Badtoro” (owned by Jordi Nogués, S.L., and filed for goods and services in classes 25 and 35 – relating to clothing-). Firstly,…
The UK Court of Appeal’s (Criminal Division) (CoA) judgment in R v C & Ors [2016] EWCA Crim 1617 provides a positive result for brand owners tackling the thorny issue of grey goods. Here, the CoA held that selling grey goods can constitute a criminal offence under s.92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA)….
