The General Court dismisses the actions brought by Apple Inc. against the decisions of EUIPO revoking the word sign THINK DIFFERENT mehr...

The General Court of the European Union gives a ruling for the first time on the registration of a sound mark submitted in audio format - An audio file containing the sound made by the opening of a drinks can, followed by silence and a fizzing sound, cannot be registered as a trade mark in respect of various drinks and for metal containers for storage or transport, in so far as it is not distinctive. mehr...

The marks must be compared as applied for and registered, without altering their orientation – The General Court dismisses the action brought by Chanel against the registration of a Huawei mark on the ground that the figurative marks at issue are not similar. mehr...

The General Court confirms that there is no likelihood of confusion between the collective mark HALLOUMI, reserved for the members of a Cypriot association, and the sign ‘BBQLOUMI’ which serves to designate the products of a Bulgarian company. mehr...

Patent applications at the EPO related to additive manufacturing (AM) are rising rapidly, achieving average annual growth of 36% in recent years mehr...

The mere storage by Amazon, in the context of its online marketplace (‘AmazonMarketplace’), of goods which infringe trade mark rights does not constitute an infringement by Amazon of those trade mark rights. mehr...

The General Court of the European Union confirms the cancellation of the EU trade mark consisting of the shape of the ‘Rubik’s Cube’. Given that the essential characteristics of that shape are necessary to obtain the technical result consisting of the rotating capability of that product, that shape could not be registered as an EU trade mark. mehr...

Piaggio’s intellectual property rights in the Vespa LX scooter have not been infringed. The Community design of the Chinese company Zhejiang’s scooter remains registered. mehr...

Advocate General Bobek: EUIPO’s decision rejecting the registration of the trade mark ‘Fack Ju Göhte’ should be annulled. The offensive or vulgar nature of this trade mark has not been proved with reference to a specific social context at a given time. mehr...

The General Court of the EU confirms the invalidity of the adidas EU trade mark which consists of three parallel stripes applied in any direction. adidas does not prove that that mark has acquired, throughout the territory of the EU, distinctive character following the use which had been made of it. mehr...

The General Court of the EU confirms that registration of the mark ‘NEYMAR’ by a third party is invalid. mehr...

The sign ‘france.com’ cannot be registered as an EU trade mark. mehr...

The General Court annuls the refusal to register, as an EU trade mark, a figurative mark including the currency symbols ‘€’ and ‘$’. EUIPO did not give sufficient reasons for its refusal decision. mehr...

adidas may oppose the registration, as an EU trade mark, of two parallel stripes on shoes. The marks applied for in the case risk taking unfair advantage of adidas’ earlier mark representing three parallel stripes on a shoe. mehr...

According to Advocate General Szpunar, a trade mark combining colour and shape may be refused or declared invalid on the grounds set out under EU trade mark law. The analysis must relate exclusively to the intrinsic value of the shape and take no account of attractiveness of the goods flowing from the reputation of the mark or its proprietor. mehr...

Coca-Cola may oppose the registration of the sign ‘Master’ which uses the same font as its own for the marketing of beverages and food products. Although the ‘Master’ sign is only used in Syria and the Middle East in a form similar to that of Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola can prove the risk of commercial free-riding by logical inference, in that it is likely that ‘Master’ will be used in the future in the same way in the EU. mehr...

Apple succeeds in preventing the registration of ‘MI PAD’ as an EU trade mark in respect of electronic devices and (tele)communication services. mehr...

According to Advocate General Wahl, a supplier of luxury goods may prohibit its authorised retailers from selling its products on third-party platforms such as Amazon or eBay. Such a prohibition, which seeks to preserve the luxury image of the products concerned, is not, under certain conditions, caught by the prohibition of agreements, as it is likely to improve competition based on qualitative criteria. mehr...

The sale of a multimedia player which enables films that are available illegally on the internet to be viewed easily and for free on a television screen could constitute an infringement of copyright. The temporary reproduction on a multimedia player of a copyright-protected work obtained by streaming is not exempt from the right of reproduction. mehr...

The Court of Justice of the European Union confirms that the company Forge de Laguiole may oppose the registration, at EU level, of the trade mark Laguiole in the area of, inter alia, knives and cutlery. By contrast, the company Forge de Laguiole may not oppose the registration of the trade mark Laguiole in areas in which it does not actually pursue a business activity mehr...

A new report from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), estimates that 184 million fewer smartphones were sold by the legitimate industry in 2015, due to the presence of counterfeit devices in the marketplace. mehr...

Joint EPO-EUIPO follow-up study confirms the economic benefits for Europe of patents, trade marks, designs and other forms of IP mehr...

Unified Patent Court (UPC) – Provisional Application - The Preparatory Committee is now working under the assumption that the Provisional Application Phase (PAP) will start end of spring 2017, presumably in May, and that the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court (UPCA) can enter into force and the Court become operational in December 2017. mehr...

A report of the EUIPO estimates that counterfeit pesticides cost the German manufacturing sector €299 million each year, with 500 jobs lost mehr...

The initial acquirer of a copy of a computer program, accompanied by an unlimited user licence, may resell that copy and his licence to a new acquirer. However, where the original material medium of the copy that was initially delivered has been damaged, destroyed or lost, that acquirer may not provide his back-up copy of that program to that new acquirer without the authorisation of the rightholder. mehr...

EUIPO must re-examine whether the three-dimensional shape corresponding to the product ‘Kit Kat 4 fingers’ may be maintained as an EU trade mark. According to the General Court distinctive character acquired through use of the mark must be shown in all the Member States concerned. mehr...