Friday, August 2, 2019
The Court of Justice issued its preliminary ruling in a case concerning the sampling of a fragment of a song, Kraftwerk's Metall auf Metall, by a German producer. Producers' rights under Directive 2001/29 are assessed, as well as the possible application of exceptions and limitations, based on art. 5 of the Directive.
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Monday, July 8, 2019
Opinion of CJEU Advocate General Bobek in case C-240/18, “Fack Ju Göhte”, concerning freedom of expression in trademark law and the appropriate assessment of public policy and morality principles, under art. 7(f) of Regulation (EC) 207/2009. For additional info, click on READ MORE.
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Wednesday, June 26, 2019
CJEU, T-307/17: one among Adidas' three-stripe marks declared invalid by the EU General Court, which upheld the EUIPO’s invalidity decision, based on lack of inherent and acquired distinctive character. For additional info, click on READ MORE.
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Friday, June 7, 2019
On 4 June 2019, the CJEU ruled that, under Art. 15 (1) of Dir. 2000/31/EC, a Member State’s Court injunction may include the order for the host provider to remove information identical or, to some extent, equivalent to that found illegal – also worldwide, subject to applicable public and private international law. For additional info, click on READ MORE.
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Monday, April 15, 2019
On April 11, 2019, in Öko-Test Verlag v Dr. Liebe (C‑690/17), the CJEU ruled on the scope of protection of an individual mark relating to quality labels associated with test results. The request for a preliminary ruling was submitted by the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. For additional info, click on READ MORE
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Friday, April 12, 2019
On April 10, 2019, in The Green Effort Limited v EUIPO (C‑282/18P), the CJEU upheld the General Court’s earlier decision and, therefore, The Green Effort lost its rights on the word trademark “Formula E”. For additional info, click on READ MORE
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Friday, March 29, 2019
On March 27, 2019, in Oy Hartwall Ab v Patentti- ja rekisterihallitus (C‑578/17), the #CJEU ruled on the relevance of the classification as a “colour mark” or “figurative mark” in trademark applications. The request for a preliminary ruling was submitted by the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland.
The applicant sought to register, with the Finnish Intellectual Property Office, a colour mark, which was represented by a colour drawing with the shape of a banner.
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Friday, March 15, 2019
On March 14, 2019, the CJEU ruled on two questions, concerning absolute grounds of refusal of a EUTM, submitted by the Court of Appeal of Stockholm in the case Textilis – Keskin v Svenskt Tenn (C-21/18). For additional info, click on READ MORE
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Friday, March 8, 2019
On March 6, 2019, the CJEU ruled on the invalidity of a Community design based on an earlier figurative trademark in BMB v EUIPO - Ferrero (C-693/17P).
Both the registered design, owned by BMB, and the trademark at issue, Ferrero’s international registration that goes back to 1974, represent a container for sweets. For additional info, click on READ MORE
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Friday, March 1, 2019
On February 28 2019, in Group Léa Nature S.A. v EUIPO (C-505/17P), the CJEU upheld a decision of the General Court, which applied the “global assessment” rule to evaluate the similarity between the signs at issue, and, acknowledging the existence of a link between such marks, holds that there was also a risk of a detrimental effect on the earlier marks. For additional info, click on READ MORE
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