The IP-related provisions of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, signed and ratified by Ukraine in 2014, came into force on September 1, 2017. New rules regulating the non-use grace period for…
This post is the sequel to the post 'Trademarks in Transactions – Part I: Due Diligence' which dealt with trademark issues which regularly arise during the due diligence phase of an M&A transaction…
On 17 January 2018, the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) held that affixing a prior trademark, without consent, to products exclusively intended for export to and lawful sale in China…
A Hungarian company distributed knives under the brands ‘BLAUMANN’ and ‘SWISS HUFEISEN’ in Germany and in other European countries including Hungary. The knives were manufactured in China and had no…
In a decision of 17 January 2018 (HR-2018-110-A), the Norwegian Supreme Court concludes that trade mark protection covers instances where there is a clear possibility that damage to the functions of…
In yet another decision, the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has ruled on whether an injunction also obliged an infringer to take active steps to stop the distribution of infringing products…
In Sky v Skykick [2018] EWHC 155 the High Court has asked the CJEU to answer key questions about the validity of UK and EUTM registrations. Sky alleged trade mark infringement of their UK and EUTMs…
Fack Ju Göhte is the title of one of the most successful German comedy films in recent times. A EUTM application by Constantin Film Produktion GmbH for the wordmark “FACK JU GÖHTE”, mostly for…
Shape mark: form of a drinking bottle lacks distinctiveness in relation to perfumes
A recent judgement of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court highlights the strict practice for the registration of…
