A trade mark is a distinctive sign which indicates the origin of goods and services, usually refers to a registered trade marks
Trademarks can evoke ideas and provide information about the quality of goods and services. The same is true for geographical indications, which are designations of geographical places and areas that indicate the geographical origin of goods or services, such as “Champagne” and “Parmigiano Reggiano”. Products with recognized geographical indications have a considerable market value. However,…
At a time when New Year’s resolutions to exercise more fizzle out for lack of motivation, many people realise what the General Court (GC) already knew: sport and entertainment do not necessarily have to go hand in hand. In the BIMBA TOYS case (21 December 2022, T-129/22), the GC confirmed the decision of the Fourth…
Most often, my blogs here relate to Canadian trademark practice – always changing and often of interest to trademark owners and practionners. This time however, I’m writing about mid-career transitions, which have become increasingly common amongst IP professionals and has affected many people I know all over the world. These can be challenging experiences to…
There has been a new positive development for the world-famous Rubik’s Cube in proceedings in France against a former distributor. In a decision of 19 November 2022, the Paris Court of Appeal prohibited the marketing by a former distributor of a lookalike puzzle cube reproducing the characteristics of the Rubik’s Cube, holding that the former…
The EUTM Appellate Court of Alicante has confirmed the pan- European injunction preventing the manufacture and commercialization of unauthorized versions of Ferrari’s one-off models by 3D printing Court decision no. 7/23 of 10 February 2023 of the EUTM Court of Alicante has confirmed the interim measures aimed at preventing the manufacture and commercialization of…
(image from www.audimediacenter.com) Last month the Regional Court Munich I (Germany) had to decide on a trademark dispute between Audi (the Plaintiff) and the Chinese car manufacturer Nio (the Defendant). The Plaintiff is the proprietor of the German trademarks “S 6” and “S 8” for “Automotive vehicles and their structural parts”. The Defendant…
Another high-profile Louboutin case, although this time it’s less about the protection of the red sole as such than the liability of online retail platforms. The Court of Justice (CJEU) handed down a preliminary ruling in a case involving Christian Louboutin on the one hand and Amazon on the other, one referred from Luxembourg and…
The Higher Regional Court Frankfurt (OLG Frankfurt) held in its decision 6 U 40/22 of June 2, 2022 that the imprint of a commonly known verb on the front of a garment would be perceived as a descriptive term by the public. This led the Court to decide that the word had not been used…
Intellectual property law is designed to confer exclusive protections to intangible assets, to be used in compliance with honest commercial practices. In the absence of a statutory definition of what constitutes bad faith, a body of case law has been necessary to illuminate the threshold of behavioural demerit sufficient to disqualify owners from the benefits…
genuine use of an EU trademark within the EU for services provided outside the EU a summary of decision T‑768/20 of the General Court of the EU The background of this decision was an application for revocation for non-use against the EUTM owned by Standard International Management LLC, a US company. Yes, this is…
