The CJEU quite often agrees with its General Court, so when it does not it’s always interesting to see why. In the GC’s judgment (T-253/17, – here previously commented) the GC had considered unlikely that consumers purchase a product because it is contained in a recyclable packaging, so that the trademark Der Grüne Punkt, whose…
A district court should not have applied the doctrine of claims preclusion in the primary dispute over the mark IDHAYAM, based on a prior TTAB proceeding, but the mark owner waived its claims as to two other trademarks. Infringement claims by V.V.V. & Sons Edible Oils (“VVV”) over a competing company’s use of the mark…
The media bombshell was dropped by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex last week. In a widely reported announcement Harry and Meghan have unveiled their intention to step back from Royal life, embrace a new working model and have financial independence. What has also been reported, yet less widely, is the move by the Sussexes…
Since our last article, so many things have happened that it is sometimes hard to follow what is going on! Here is a snapshot to keep you updated. As you all know, Boris Johnson has now replaced Theresa May as the new leader of the Conservative Party and the new Prime Minister of the UK….
In the past few weeks, almost contemporaneously, two courts cases dealt with the scope of protection of the PDO “Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena” and the PGI “Aceto Balsamico di Modena”. Both courts agreed that ACETO and BALSAMICO are generic and common terms which do not fall under the scope of protection of PDOs/PGIs, but…
“Reverse trademark confusion” infringement theory suffices for liability but does not support recovery of infringer’s profits. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago has affirmed a Wisconsin federal jury’s verdict finding that defendant JFTCO, Inc. (“JFTCO”) infringed the registered FABICK trademark owned by plaintiff Fabick, Inc. (“FI”). The court also affirmed two district court rulings…
There was no evidence that the firm’s marks achieved secondary meaning, and the same marks were being used as trademarks as well as service marks in the advertising space. Plaintiffs and Appellants Engage Healthcare Communications, L.L.C., Greenhill Healthcare Communications, L.L.C. and Center of Excellence Media, L.L.C. (“Engage”) lost their appeal of an order granting summary…
The attorney was unable to show that the USPTO’s decision was arbitrary or capricious. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision to dismiss an attorney’s challenge of his bar license suspension as the attorney’s procedural and substantive challenges to the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s disciplinary proceeding were rejected…
We had reported on the introduction in Greece of mandatory mediation in trademark infringement disputes in this blog here and here. Law no 4640/2019 “Mediation on civil and commercial disputes – Further harmonization of Greek legislation with Directive 2008/52/EC of the European parliament and of the council of 21 May 2008 and other provisions” (the…
Because the contract did not give a popcorn manufacturer a perpetual license to sell popcorn under the Mrs. Fields trademark, the manufacturer should not have been granted a preliminary injunction ordering Mrs. Fields to comply with the contract terms. A popcorn manufacturer did not establish a strong likelihood that it will prevail on its claim…
