A preliminary injunction did not vacate an earlier arbitration award in a long-running dispute over the trademarked family name. In a dispute between real estate businesses over the name “Singh” and “Singh Michigan” in connection with real estate services, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has denied an appeal to block a preliminary injunction…

EUTM 17981629 in the name of Pest Control Office Limited   In May 2021, the Cancellation Division of the EUIPO declared the registration of Banksy’s Monkey image invalid on grounds of bad faith. The trademark owner appealed and on 25 October 2022, the Fifth Board annulled the decision and refused the cancellation action, ruling not…

https://www.top-fashion.sk/moda/made-in-czech-slovakia/5521-nehera-nekonvencna-moda-so-silnym-pribehom https://nehera.com/en Vintage marks – marks that only live on in people’s memories, but not on the market – face the challenge that trademarks that are not used can be cancelled. This conundrum has already been addressed in the earlier post on the CJEU Testarossa judgment. One such vintage mark that gave rise to a…

On 12 October 2022, the General Court decided on the invalidity action by Shopify, Inc. against the EUTM for a number of goods and services in classes 9, 35, and 38 (T‑222/21). The GC confirmed the EUIPO Board of Appeal’s finding that there was no likelihood of confusion, essentially because “shop” is descriptive and will…

On 2 June 2022, the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court (the Court) issued a decision (BS 6088/2022 SHR) between Skechers U.S.A., Inc. II (Skechers) and HI3G DENMARK ApS (HI3G) and others regarding blocking of domain names. Skechers operates in the business of selling shoes and sports products and the company has registered word and…

  In two parallel decisions of 19 October 2022, the General Court confirmed the cancellation of the figurative “Lío” marks as shown above registered in the name of a German individual (let’s call him B) on grounds of bad faith (T‑466/21 and T‑467/21), confirming the EUIPO Fifth Board of Appeal on all points. The facts…

Read up on the latest news reported by the Kluwer IP Reporter here. Angolan trademark registration certificates for medicines to bear disclaimer Recently, the Angolan Institute of Industrial Property (IAPI) issued Notice 9/2022, which mandates all trademark registration certificates for pharmaceutical products in class 5 to carry a disclaimer that the certificate does not grant…

In Germany and specifically in Bavaria, a non-alcoholic mix drink with the ingredients Cola and Orange soda has reached cult status and may be recognized as one of the most popular non-alcoholic drinks. Among consumers this Cola and Orange mix drink is well-known as “Spezi”. One significant manufacturer and distributer of “Spezi” is the brewery…