The Swiss Federal Administrative Court overturned a decision of the Swiss Trademark Office and allowed the word marks “SCHWEIZER SALINEN”, “SALINE SVIZZERE”, “SALINES SUISSES”, “SWISS SALINES”, “SWISS SALT WORKS” on the ground that these were distinctive by virtue of the monopoly that the Applicant enjoys on the Swiss salt market. Schweizer Salinen AG’s five Swiss…
This important decision by the German Federal Supreme Court of 15 January 2017 is about how the protection against copying under unfair competition law interplays with trademark and patent law: The plaintiff manufactures and sells anchor bolts which are used to mount traffic signs: The defendant offers the following bolts: Until 2006, the plaintiff’s bolt…
The case of CWS-Lackfabrik Conrad W. Schmidt GmbH & Co. KG v Policolor, looks at traditional issues as likelihood of confusion, but also at the thorny issue of whether earlier rights need to be valid at the time of issuing a decision or only at the relevant date for the cause of action. Lackfabrik owned the…
To what extend can a business claim reputed trademark as a basis for infringement proceedings or for raising objections against another business’ trademark registration in Denmark? A recent judgement of the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court (the Court) between ECCO and EKKOfonden has given some further guidance on this matter, indicating that even in…
The UKIPO is one of the Tribunals that has the power to grant costs awards against the losing party. And whilst they are usually more significant than the specific amounts granted by the EUIPO, they are usually awarded according to a published ‘scale’. This scale is almost always followed, but not always! The general practice on…
The federal district court in Charlotte, North Carolina, did not err in finding thatGrayson O Company’s registered mark “F 450” for a line of hair care products was not infringed by Agadir International’s hair care products sold under the mark HAIR SHIELD 450°, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, has held. despite the…
Following the announcement of a general election in the UK, you would be forgiven for assuming that we Brits really enjoy voting. Perhaps due to the likelihood of queues, the celebration of modern democracy or even just the miniature pencils. This present vote has been met with delight, despair and of course, classic British ambivalence. …
Two months ago I reported about the Draft of a new Trademark Act (Markenrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz) which was supposed to enter into force before the election for the next German Bundestag. Some of the relevant German associations commented in detail on the draft and proposed some well-grounded changes – i.e. the Markenverband, the GRUR, and the Bundesverband Deutscher…
The Russian IP Court was a welcome addition to the Russian court system back in July 2013. It’s recent decisions seem to collide with Russian legislation regulating what is and what is not a trademark infringement, as well as, with established practice. Different definitions A trademark infringement can incur civil, administrative or criminal liability under…
To ensure you don’t miss out on interesting IP law developments reported on our other IP blogs, we will, on a regular basis, provide you with an overview of the top 3 most-read posts from each of our IP law blogs. Here are the top posts from March and April. Top 3 Kluwer Copyright Blog…
