On June 17, 2024, in the Netherlands, 18 Benelux spirits trademarks owned by Russia – including those for the iconic vodka brands STOLICHNAYA, MOSKOVSKAYA, and NA ZDOROVYE – were auctioned off in one single lot for €1.6 million. Some of these trademarks are also registered at the EUIPO claiming seniority. Interestingly enough, the auction terms…
In her ‘Happy new year‘ (30 December 2022) post on this blog ‘Trademarks in Luxembourg‘ Verena von Bomhard shortly referred to the ECJ’s Classic Coach (C-112/21) decision of 2 June 2022 as relating to ‘the complex relationship between trademarks and earlier unregistered local and trade name rights‘. In the meantime, the matter returned to the…
Whether referred to as image rights, personality rights, right of publicity, portrait rights or simply likeness, having control over the use of your “image” can be an important right that – in one way or another and to various degrees – is respected in most jurisdictions. This is particularly true for persons whose image has…
In a contribution published in Berichten IE 2018/4, De Brauw lawyers Tobias Cohen Jehoram, Carlos van Staveren and Renate Keijser analyse all IP rulings handed down by the Dutch Supreme Court this century. The analysis helps IP specialists identify the right strategy in choosing and formulating grounds when appealing to the Supreme Court and how…
The Court of Appeal of Arnhem/Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, in its decision of August 21, 2018 invalidated the Benelux trade mark registration of the so called S-shape for loosefill packing material (see below picture) because it consists exclusively of a shape that is necessary to obtain a technical result. The Court of Appeal…
Last month the Dutch District Court of The Hague decided in case C/09/520643 / HA ZA that there is no likelihood of confusion between SINA rice and SITA rice. This is somewhat remarkable considering earlier decisions on similar comparisons between four letter signs in relation to foodstuffs. The reason for denying likelihood of confusion lies…
That is the question that was recently answered by the Board of Appeal of the Dutch Advertising Code Authority. The TM symbol stands for “trademark” and is traditionally used for unregistered trademarks in various jurisdictions such as the US. Conversely, the ® symbol is used to indicate a trademark has been registered. However, in the…
In a decision of a Dutch District Court earlier this year[1], the American fast-food chain Wendy’s suffered a loss against a local Dutch snack restaurant, which bears the name WENDY’S. The trademark registration owned by the same snack restaurant blocks the American chain to enter the market. Although this case has similarities with the story…
Being a fashion company is not easy, in two ways. First, you have to be careful what to print on your clothing, even when this is meant as decorative artwork. On the other hand, you have to be watchful that your trademark is not printed on products of competitors, under the pretense of – the…
On 15 July 2016 the PI judge in the District Court in The Hague, the Netherlands, rendered a decision in a banana case between competitors Chiquita and Fyffes International about a recently introduced new brand of Chiquita. The decision confirmed that descriptive elements cannot automatically be disregarded if these elements form a conceptual whole with…
