Case law

The 'Hawk Tuah' meme, popularised by Haliey (sic!) Welch, has prompted several third parties to apply for trademark protection in the EU. Can Welch, the 'Hawk Tuah Girl', challenge them?   collage…

Federal Circuit rules Illinois litigation privilege bars claims in long-running trade dress dispute, but upholds some counterclaims. In a nonprecedential ruling that could impact how companies settle…

However, the dissenting group’s use of the trademark on its website did not create a likelihood of confusion where the dissenters clearly identified the dispute between themselves and the Libertarian…

A Puerto Rican chicken company abandoned its mark because it stopped using it for five years and never could offer any evidence of an intent to resume use. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First…

In September 2024, the Munich Court (Germany) found three defendants guilty of commercial gang fraud for sending misleading invoices to EUIPO customers. Each defendant was sentenced to 1 year and 10…

In the first part of this series, we examined how geopolitical factors have contributed to a rise in trademark squatting, focusing on Russian companies taking advantage of foreign brands’ market…

In its decision of 23 August 2024, the German Federal Patent Court ruled, inter alia, on the question whether a word mark is put into genuine use when it is used as part of a logo and displayed in a…

District court did not abuse its discretion in determining that defendants’ profits did not result from use of infringing marks for airplane engine fuel injection systems. Though aircraft fuel…

Trademark squatting involves registering a trademark identical or similar to an established brand to profit from its reputation. This practice thrives in jurisdictions with weaker trademark laws,…