Christmas is upon us! We have no idea where 2016 has gone, but to distract you from the turkey eating season the Kluwer Trademark team thought you could do with a Christmas quiz. Some of it requires…
A recent judgment by the Beijing IP Court has thwarted Apple’s attempts to obtain trademark protection for the standby screen of the iWatch! Apple may appeal this judgment.
On 13 November 2014 Apple…
Known to many, there is a recent judgment of the CJEU confirming that, if likelihood of confusion exists in only part of the EU, the EUTM is not infringed in the other part –…
On November 15, 2016, the Swedish Patent and Registration Office ("PRV") rejected an application for trademark protection of the a figurative mark consisting of a hand giving the middle finger on the…
In a recent decision, the Federal Administrative Court reminded everybody that under Article 5(2)(a) Madrid Protocol, any refusal of protection of an international mark may only be based on the…
An injunction preventing China-based Sun Earth Solar Power Co. and its U.S. affiliate NBSolar, Inc. (collectively, "SESP") from using the trademark "Sun-Earth," while permitting SESP to state within…
The UK High Court (‘HC’) decision in Victoria Plum Ltd v Victorian Plumbing Ltd & Ors [2016] EWHC 2911 concerns the use of AdWords by co-existing competitors bidding on each others’ names. Of…
In mid-November, the Russian Intellectual Property Court published a noteworthy decision shedding light on an ambiguous pre-trial procedure in IP disputes.
The procedure (effective since 1 June…
In a recent decision of the General Court of the European Union (General Court), the Italian fashion house Gucci (Guccio Gucci SpA) once again drew the shorter straw against permanent rival Guess (…
A recent case before the European Court of Justice has dealt with the interesting question of how Article 7(1)(e)(ii) of Regulation No 40/94 (now replaced by Regulation 207/2009), which provides that…
