Combining trademarks with further elements or sub-brands is quite popular. A recent decision of the German Federal Supreme reminds once more what to watch out for if you do not want to lose your trademark rights (decision of 11 May 2017 in Case I ZB 6/16). The owner of the German word mark registration for…
The Regional High Court of Frankfurt rendered an interim injunction on appeal, which may have a great impact on the question if and to which extent the owner of an earlier trade mark can take action against the use of a colliding trade name or company name in Germany (judgment of 1 June 2017, 6…
Increasingly, it seems that complex trademark cases are not always decided on the basis of trademark law and EUTMR alone but also on the basis of general legal principles, such as estoppel (in Danish “passivitet”), and much less often acquiescence. We have written two blogs on the subject seen from a Danish perspective. This first…
This case concerns the first appeal from a Hearing Officer of the UK Intellectual Property Office (“UK IPO”) to the Scottish Court of Session. The dispute at issue was between CCHG Limited t/a Vaporized (the “Appellant”) and Vapouriz Limited (the “Respondent”). The Respondent had brought an invalidity action before the UK IPO based on…
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board did not err in refusing to register the trademark FIRST TUESDAY for lottery games and services, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled. According to the court, the mark described a feature of the applicant’s goods and services: scratch-off lottery tickets that the applicant (the…
Can the use of “KHG” infringe the name rights of “Karl-Heinz Grasser”? Former Austrian Minister of Finance Karl-Heinz Grasser is widely known as KHG. After his term, which ended in 2007, he was accused of bribery in various cases. The accusations and investigations gained great public attention. In 2015, the defendants, a journalist who publishes…
The Swedish company producing high quality beds Hästens Sängar AB (hereafter “Hästens”) has in several jurisdictions (DK, EU, US, SE, NO, CH, FI, ES etc.) applied for the mark (hereafter “the figurative mark”) or variations thereof. Recently, in T-359/12 (C-363/15) Louis Vuitton Malletier’s mark was refused by the Court. For this reason it was evident…
The UK Supreme Court has recently published its decision on a question about whether the sale of so-called ‘grey goods’ can give rise to criminal liability. We covered the previous Court of Appeal decision here. The Supreme Court has now confirmed the Court of Appeal’s previous decision – the sale of grey goods can give rise…
In a case earlier this spring, the Swedish Patent and Market Court dismissed an infringement action based on the reputed mark SOFIERO in relation to beers against SOFIERO KAFFEROSTERI used for coffee. The court concluded that coffee beans and ground coffee are dissimilar to beer and that the relevant consumer is not likely to find…
Lord Neuberger, or Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury to his friends, has taken aim at the need for clarity around legal precedent in the post-Brexit landscape. Having spent decades on the front line of statutory application and legal interpretation, Lord Neuberger seems well placed to comment on the legal ramifications of removing the CJEU as…
