In Case C-654/21, the CJEU ruled on a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Sąd Okręgowy w Warszawie (XXII Division of the District Court in Warsaw, Poland) in a dispute between two individuals. The dispute concerned an action for infringement of the European Union trade mark “MULTISELECT” brought before the Warsaw IP Court and…
As of January 14, 2023, actions for revocation and invalidity of Spanish trademarks can be filed through administrative proceedings before the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (“SPTO”). This is expected to make cancelling a trademark, quicker, cheaper, and more flexible than through Court proceedings. This is likely to be most relevant for non-use cancellation actions…
A judgment of the General Court demonstrates the controversial and problematic nature of retail services marks. The ALDI/ALDIANO Case The case concerns Aldi, the discount chain. An Aldi entity (in the following “Aldi”) filed an application for the declaration of invalidity against the EUTM ALDIANO, registered for “alcoholic beverages (except beers)” (class 33). Aldi relied…
Since 1 April 2020 most cancellation actions in France have become administrative proceedings and must be filed with the French trade mark office (“Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle”). Only invalidity actions based on earlier copyrights, designs, surnames, pseudonyms etc. remain judicial proceedings. These new administrative proceedings are the result of the implementation of Directive EU 2015/2426…
Many trade mark owners will rejoice in CJEU’s decision in Skykick this week as the CJEU ruled that overly broad specifications will not automatically render a registered mark invalid and that the lack of intention to use the mark at the time of its application will not necessarily result in bad faith. Is this a…
