Case law, CJEU, Designation of Origin, PGI

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Primo July we published an article about the Advocate General’s opinion on the use of protected designations of origin (PDO) for export to third countries. Read the article here. With the recent judgment from European Court of Justice (ECJ) in case C-159/20, it is established that the opinion has been followed in its substance. The…

Denmark, descriptive elements, Weak elements in trademarks

(Zacco Advokatanpartsselskab)/ /Leave a comment

On 26 November 2021, in BS-10861/2021-SHR, the Danish Maritime and Commercial Court found no likelihood of confusion between the EU-registrations to VITAYUMMY (used as ) and  . Both for chewy vitamins in Class 5. The Court found that chewy vitamins should be considered to be a sub-category of dietary supplements in the form of fruit…

Case law, United States

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

Like the previously invalidated bar on “disparaging” marks, the “immoral/scandalous” marks prohibition violated the First Amendment as a viewpoint-based restriction on free speech. The Lanham Act’s prohibition against registration of “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks violates the First Amendment as a viewpoint-based restriction on expression, the U.S. Supreme Court has held. A divided Court affirmed a…

Case law, EUIPO, General Court, similarity of goods and services

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                                          Readers might recall an earlier article (see here) discussing the positions of the General Court (GC) and the EUIPO’s Boards of Appeal (BoA) regarding (dis)similarity between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. By way of a…

Austria, Case law, Infringement action, Legal costs, Trademark

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In case you are engaged in a “hot dispute” in this hot summer, so as to “cool-off” a bit, this is to start a discussion about settlement options for pending litigation.   [A lawsuit taking a good long snooze …]   A recent decision of the Austrian Supreme Court (short “OGH”) dealt with the procedural…

Acquired Distinctiveness, CJEU, Distinctive Character, Distinctiveness, EUIPO

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Dispute and Facts Munich SL owns an EU registration of 2004 for the following figurative mark: This representation means that the crossed stripes are placed on the side of a shoe. The registration covers ʻSports footwearʼ (class 25). In 2010, Munich SL sued Deichmann SE before the Regional Court of Düsseldorf for the infringement of…

Case law, Likelihood of confusion, Opposition, United States

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The LEHMAN BROTHERS mark has been used continuously in the course of winding up the affairs of at least one Lehman Brothers affiliated company. In a case involving competing applications to register the mark LEHMAN BROTHERS, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal…

Case law, CJEU, Designation of Origin, PGI

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Yet another Feta case has reached the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This time the question is whether the Kingdom of Denmark is obliged to stop Danish cheese producers from using the protected designation of origin (PDO) Feta for cheese exported to third countries. Historically production and export of cheese under the name Feta existed…