Jurisdiction

Case law, Community design, Germany

(Hoffmann Eitle)/ /Leave a comment

The German Federal Court of Justice (“BGH”) held in its decision “Papierspender” (“Paper Dispenser”) that a Community design was not automatically caught by the functionality provision of the Community Design Regulation because it had appeared in a patent application. The decision highlights the importance for product developers to keep detailed records, already during product development,…

India, Infringement

, (Khaitan & Co.)/ /Leave a comment

Any entity operating a fantasy sports platform would wish to display names of players and teams, for ease of identification and to make the platform as realistic as possible. Player or team names, however, where they act as source identifiers, would fall within the definition of a trademark, and their proprietors could enforce their rights…

Case law, United States

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

A party that appeals a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision to the Federal Circuit does not waive the right to challenge a subsequent TTAB decision in district court. A North Carolina district court erred in finding that it lacked jurisdiction to hear an appeal of a TTAB decision issued after remand from the…

Case law, Infringement, United States

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

Widow of longtime MAD artist Don Martin can go forward with mark infringement, publicity rights claims over publications that occurred within Florida’s four-year catch-all statute of limitations. The widow of MAD Magazine cartoonist Don Martin is not time-barred from pursuing trademark infringement and publicity rights claims against the publisher of MAD and DC Comics, to…

Case law, United States

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

Tire maker entitled to recover on injunction bond for wrongful prohibition on sale of certain brand tires. The federal district court in Yakima, Washington, correctly ruled—on remand and in accordance with a prior instruction—that leaving a preliminary injunction in effect after trial was wrongful, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has held. However,…

Canada

(Bereskin & Parr LLP) and (Bereskin Parr LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (“CIPO”) published two new practice notices on Monday, May 3rd, 2021, dealing with expedited examination and improving timeliness in examination.  The prospect of expedited and more timely examination will be welcomed by trademark owners, frustrated with extended delays in examination. Expedited Examination Beyond very limited opportunities for marks covering goods…

Case law, United States

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

Lengthy use by the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam of its unregistered marks was not enough, by itself, to raise a triable issue as to the marks’ protectability. A church that calls itself the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (the “Unified Church”) failed to show that its asserted trademarks had acquired secondary meaning and therefore…

Case law, pharmaceutical trademarks, United States

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

Use of analogous state-law limitations period for Lanham Act Section 43(a) claims was “unsatisfactory”; summary judgment order finding Bayer’s false association and false advertising claims time-barred was vacated. Reasoning that a district court erred by reading a limitations period into the Lanham Act where none existed for Section 43(a) claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals…

Case law, EUTM, Infringement, Likelihood of confusion, Similarity of marks, Sweden

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The Swedish Patent and Market Court (PMD) ruled out a likelihood of confusion between two figurative trademarks for “ghost” and “GHOST VODKA” based on their mere visual differences. In fact, the Court concluded that the sigs were dissimilar, without even analyzing the signs on a phonetical or conceptual level. A good outcome for the defendants…

Case law, United States

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

The TTAB acted within its discretion in weighing evidence of functionality and alternative designs. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board had sufficient evidence to find that two box designs for electric cables and wire to prevent tangling submitted by applicant Reelex Packaging Solutions, Inc. were functional and not entitled to trademark protection as trade dress,…