Judgment of the Supreme Court (First Chamber) no. 107/206 of 1 March 2016 The Spanish Supreme Court (SC) in a judgment of 1 March 2016, dismissed the cassation appeal filed by the “Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne” (joint trade association for Champagne) in respect of registration of the Spanish trademark “Champím” and use of…
In the Stockholm District Court judgment of March 22, 2016, the UK company Textilis, Ltd (‘Textilis’) was found infringing, amongst others, the Swedish company Svenskt Tenn Aktiebolag’s (‘Svenskt Tenn’) figurative EUTM ‘Manhattan’ (shown below). The case concerned two questions, namely whether (a) there was infringement in Sweden and (b) the trade mark is valid. This case relates…
In the EU there are jurisdictions (like Spain, France, Benelux) that do not recognise any unregistered trademarks beyond those that are notoriously known. There are others where the acquisition of unregistered trademark rights is possible but subject to use and recognition of the mark surpassing a certain qualitative threshold – with varying requirements. Then of…
Cartier International Limited and Montblanc-Simplo GmbH have recently succeeded in an application for a website-blocking order in Cartier v British Telecommunications [2016] EWHC 339 (Ch) (“Cartier 2”). The ruling is the second time the High Court has been asked by the Claimants to block websites selling trade mark infringing counterfeit goods. The first was Cartier…
In two significant legislative steps, Poland has changed its overprotective approach to earlier rights in trademark application proceedings. Traditionally, the Polish Patent Office (PPO) examined relative grounds for refusal ex officio. It refused to register trademarks identical or confusingly similar to those covered by earlier registrations or applications, even if the owner of an earlier…
For those who were unsure whether the duty of a reseller of imported goods to provide information is limited to cases involving unlawfully copied goods and thus does not encompass unlawfully distributed original goods the Austrian Supreme Court (“the Court”) recently provided a clear answer (decision of 17.11.2015, 4 Ob 170/15a – Markenparfums). In the…
The Prague City Court reviewed decision of the Czech Industrial Property Office on invalidity of trademark “Partners banka” logo filed by the largest provider of financial advisory services in the Czech Republic. The trademark owner did not hold a banking licence. The court held that the Office did not err when it invalidated the trademark…
The general rule in German opposition proceedings is that each party bears its own costs. But what are the exceptions? A recent decision by the Federal Patent Court shows once more how difficult it is to obtain a decision ordering one party to bear the costs of another (decision of the Federal Patent Court of…
A lifestyle and hospitality company well known for its luxurious beach clubs and hotels, has recently succeeded in registering EPICUREAN LOUNGE word mark in the European Union. While the OHIM examiner initially refused the application on the grounds of descriptiveness, an appeal reversed the examiner’s decision. In September 2014, Nikki Beach filed a community trademark application…
The federal district court in West Palm Beach, Florida, did not commit reversible error in granting the operators of a complaint website, Brian Styles and Samantha Styles, summary judgment on claims under the Copyright Act, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (“ACPA”), the Lanham Act, and state law brought by Dan Pronman and Gary Pronman, the…
