In the EU there are jurisdictions (like Spain, France, Benelux) that do not recognise any unregistered trademarks beyond those that are notoriously known. There are others where the acquisition of unregistered trademark rights is possible but subject to use and recognition of the mark surpassing a certain qualitative threshold – with varying requirements. Then of…
Cartier International Limited and Montblanc-Simplo GmbH have recently succeeded in an application for a website-blocking order in Cartier v British Telecommunications [2016] EWHC 339 (Ch) (“Cartier 2”). The ruling is the second time the High Court has been asked by the Claimants to block websites selling trade mark infringing counterfeit goods. The first was Cartier…
In two significant legislative steps, Poland has changed its overprotective approach to earlier rights in trademark application proceedings. Traditionally, the Polish Patent Office (PPO) examined relative grounds for refusal ex officio. It refused to register trademarks identical or confusingly similar to those covered by earlier registrations or applications, even if the owner of an earlier…
For those who were unsure whether the duty of a reseller of imported goods to provide information is limited to cases involving unlawfully copied goods and thus does not encompass unlawfully distributed original goods the Austrian Supreme Court (“the Court”) recently provided a clear answer (decision of 17.11.2015, 4 Ob 170/15a – Markenparfums). In the…
The Prague City Court reviewed decision of the Czech Industrial Property Office on invalidity of trademark “Partners banka” logo filed by the largest provider of financial advisory services in the Czech Republic. The trademark owner did not hold a banking licence. The court held that the Office did not err when it invalidated the trademark…
The general rule in German opposition proceedings is that each party bears its own costs. But what are the exceptions? A recent decision by the Federal Patent Court shows once more how difficult it is to obtain a decision ordering one party to bear the costs of another (decision of the Federal Patent Court of…
The federal district court in West Palm Beach, Florida, did not commit reversible error in granting the operators of a complaint website, Brian Styles and Samantha Styles, summary judgment on claims under the Copyright Act, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (“ACPA”), the Lanham Act, and state law brought by Dan Pronman and Gary Pronman, the…
The Spanish Supreme Court recently had to consider the likelihood of confusion between the representation of a lila mop registered as a two-dimensional trade mark and another party’s actual product, again, a lila mop. The signs at issue were the following: Trademarks owned by the plaintiff Defendant’s use The Court rejected the…
Throughout the years the correct interpretation of article 266, paragraph 4, of the Portuguese Industrial Property Code (PIPC) was unclear. This provision states that annulment actions must be filed within the 10-year period beginning on the date of issue of the registration grant order, without prejudice to the right to apply for annulment of a…
On March 3, the Swedish Court of Patent Appeals (‘PBR’) delivered a judgment on the effect of a reputed EUTM in a single member state. PBR held that even if the EUTM ‘SKY’ et al were extensively used and had proven reputation in the UK and Ireland, and therefore in the EU, no recognition of…
