Understanding Trademark Law Through the Lens of Halloween: A Spooky Guide

Post date: 
October 30, 2024
Categories: 
Brand, European Union Trademark, Trademark Law, Trademarks, IP Rights, Intellectual Property Law
Tags: 
#halloween

Understanding Trademark Law Through the Lens of Halloween: A Spooky Guide

Halloween, with its pumpkins, costumes, and haunted houses, is one of the most exciting and creative times of the year. But behind the spooky masks and candy bowls lies a complex world of Intellectual Property Law, especially trademarks, which many businesses need to navigate carefully during the season.

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Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Legal Field

Post date: 
October 03, 2019
Categories: 
Uncategorized
Tags: 
Artificial Intelligence

Over the last few years, an increasing amount of law firms have announced that they will start using artificial intelligence (AI). However, for many it may still be unclear what the concept of AI includes and what kind of possibilities it has to offer especially in the legal field. This article aims to give an overview on how law firms can take advantage of AI and chatbots to support their daily work. At the end of the article, the possible impact that AI will have on the legal profession is shortly discussed.

Can “Oktoberfest” function as a trademark?

Post date: 
September 19, 2019
Categories: 
EUIPO, Trademark Law, Trademarks
Tags: 
Oktoberfest

The German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO) refused registration of the trademark “Oktoberfest” – just before the Münchner Oktoberfest will start.

 

Women in Law Award 2019 – Protecting Brands and IP Successfully and the Women behind LexDellmeier

Post date: 
September 02, 2019
Categories: 
Uncategorized

With the legal profession traditionally being male-dominated, Lawyer Monthly aims to recognise the struggles female lawyers overcome, in order to be the best for their clients. That is why we are very proud to have received the Women in Law Award and to be on the cover of the 2019 edition of the Lawyer Monthly Women in Law Awards Magazine.

H’ugo’s – a famous Munich local Pizza Bar Lounge wins trademark case at the European Union General Court

Post date: 
August 22, 2019
Categories: 
EUIPO, European Union Trademark, Likelihood of confusion, Trademarks, European General Court, Decisions

H’ugo’s – a famous Munich local Pizza Bar Lounge wins trademark case at the European Union General Court

With its decision dated 9 July 2019, the European General Court (T-397/18) confirms the finding of the previous EUIPO instances regarding the likelihood of confusion between the prior word mark “H’ugo’s” and a younger figurative mark containing the word elements “HUGO’S BURGER BAR” (European Union Trademark Application No. 014608806).


H’ugo’s                             vs.                       

EUTM no. 006706022                                     EUTMA no. 014608806
(word mark)                                                   (figurative mark)

CHEERS! – Most valuable beer brands 2019

Post date: 
August 05, 2019
Categories: 
Brand, Licensing, Ranking, Trademarks, Brand Value

In June 2019, Brand Finance, an independent brand valuation consultancy with offices all over the world published its annual report ‘Beers 25 2019’ which lists the world’s most valuable beer brands – and found Budweiser’s brand value was USD 7.5 billion.

Study - Intellectual Property and the Impact on Company Growth

Post date: 
August 01, 2019
Categories: 
European Union Trademark, Trademark Law, Trademarks, IP Rights, Intellectual Property
Tags: 
SME, Intellectual Property, EUIPO, Company Growth, EUIPO Study

Guess how much growth you can achieve in case you invest in trademarks, designs, patents etc.?

Just recently this year in 2019, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) released a joint study, which examines the relationship between the growth prospects of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their IP activity.

Three "Stripes" - and you are out - EU General Court cancels adidas 3-stripe mark

Post date: 
July 30, 2019
Categories: 
EUIPO, European Intellectual Property Office, Trademark Law, Trademarks, IP Rights, European General Court, Decisions
Tags: 
adidas, 3-stripes, EU General Court, three-stripe-mark

With its decision dated 19 June 2019, the European General Court (T-307/17) confirms invalidity of one of adidas’ three-stripe-marks, namely European Union Trademark Registration No. 12442166.

I. Background of the case

EU trademark No. 12442166, claiming protection for the below sign, was filed by the German company adidas AG as a figurative mark on 18 December 2013.

Europol / EUIPO: New Threat Assessment Report

Post date: 
July 10, 2019
Categories: 
Brand, European Intellectual Property Office, Product Piracy
Tags: 
EUIPO, Product Piracy, Threat Assessment Report

In June 2019, Europol and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) published the first EU-wide intellectual property crime threat assessment, building upon two previous joint situation reports on piracy and counterfeiting. The report confirms links between IP crime and the increasingly professionalized organized crime networks in the EU.

 

When a striker acts as a defender: EU General Court’s decision “NEYMAR” (T-795/17)

Post date: 
July 04, 2019
Categories: 
Brand, ECJ - European Court of Justice, The Court of Justice of the European Union, Trademark Law, Trademarks, European General Court, Community Trademark, Decisions
Tags: 
Bad Faith

With its decision dated 14 May 2019, the European General Court confirms a decision of the European Union Intellectual Property Office’s Board of Appeal invalidating European Union trademark registration no. 011432044 “NEYMAR”.

„Model: Sam“ - Use as a trademark or a simple model designation?

Post date: 
June 11, 2019
Categories: 
Brand, Likelihood of confusion, Trademark Law, Decisions, German Federal Court

The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) recently rendered a decision on trademark use in the field of textiles that is worth reading.

In general, use as a trademark requires that a significant part of the relevant public recognizes a sign as indicating the origin of a product. For that, it is not sufficient that a sign is originally distinctive and that its use is not plainly descriptive. Instead, use as a trademark has to be assessed in each case individually taking into account all circumstances of the case. Thus, use of a first name like “SAM” as a model designation can also constitute use as a trademark and, in consequence, be deemed trademark infringement.