For some time, the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) has taken the approach that when an opposition is based on the reputation associated with earlier EU rights, then those earlier EU rights need to be reputed also in Denmark to enjoy the enhanced protection provided by reputation in oppositions against national Danish trademark applications….
The first-ever ADR domain name proceedings took place in Slovakia since introduction of the procedure in September 2017. The case involved a dispute over the domain name <vogue.sk>. The complainant – publishing company Les Publications Conde Nast S.A. as the owner of the VOGUE trademarks sought the transfer of the disputed domain name against the…
On February 13, 2018, the Russian Constitutional Court issued a judgement in which it checked whether the existing regime of parallel import was in line with the Constitution. Although grey import has remained illegal, the burden of proof has dramatically changed: now infringers have almost 50 legal reasons to pay less and minimize the risks…
The IP-related provisions of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, signed and ratified by Ukraine in 2014, came into force on September 1, 2017. New rules regulating the non-use grace period for trademarks were thereby introduced. Where the existing trademark law provides for a 3-year non-use grace period, Article 198 of the Agreement sets forth the 5-year…
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 17 January 2018, the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) held that affixing a prior trademark, without consent, to products exclusively intended for export to and lawful sale in China constitutes trademark infringement. The dispute involved the French wine company Castel Frères, owner of a number of French and European trademarks for alcoholic beverages and…
In a decision of 17 January 2018 (HR-2018-110-A), the Norwegian Supreme Court concludes that trade mark protection covers instances where there is a clear possibility that damage to the functions of a trade mark may occur only after the products have been sold. This is the first decision after joining the EEA in which the…
The draft Brexit Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK, which was published by the European Commission on 28 February 2018, provides for continued protection in the UK of registered or granted IP rights. According to article 50 (1) of the draft agreement, the holder of a EU trade mark, design or plant variety right,…
In yet another decision, the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has ruled on whether an injunction also obliged an infringer to take active steps to stop the distribution of infringing products through resellers (decision of the BGH of 11 October 2017 in Case I ZB 96/16). The case follows a series of earlier decisions by…
In Sky v Skykick [2018] EWHC 155 the High Court has asked the CJEU to answer key questions about the validity of UK and EUTM registrations. Sky alleged trade mark infringement of their UK and EUTMs by SkyKick. Skykick denied this and counter-argued that Sky’s registrations were wholly or partly invalid, on the basis that…
