UPDATE: October 2024 – Intellectual Property (IP) Crime in Europe, joint report by EUIPO and EUROPOL

Post date: 
November 18, 2024
Categories: 
EUIPO, Product Piracy, IP Rights, Intellectual Property Law, Counterfeiting, Intellectual Property
Tags: 
#EUIPO, #EUROPOL, #IP Crime, #Counterfeiting

Christmas is only a few weeks away! Now is the time for including gifts for your loved ones to your shopping lists. But as you browse through busy stores or infinite lists of products online looking for bargains, do not let the sweet vapours of mulled wine dull your senses. As the EUIPO and EUROPOL recently highlighted in a joint report published on 23 October 2024 on the ecosystem of Intellectual Property (IP) crime, counterfeit goods keep finding their way to our shelves and represent a staggering 5.8% of EU trade. The report sheds light on how much IP crime remains a threat to European consumers, how it is enabled, and how its impact could be mitigated.

Read more about UPDATE: October 2024 – Intellectual Property (IP) Crime in Europe, joint report by EUIPO and EUROPOL

Global Innovation Index 2018: “Energizing the World with Innovation”

Post date: 
July 19, 2018
Categories: 
Brand, Brand Value, Innovation
Tags: 
Global Innovation Index, 2018, Energizing the World with Innovation

The Cornell University, INSEAD and the WIPO just published its 11th edition of Global Innovation Index (GII) for the year 2018 with the theme “Energizing the World with Innovation”. The Global Innovation Index is an annually published report since 2007, which gives an impartial view to the measuring of innovation worldwide. The 2018 edition provides detailed information about the state of innovation performance of 126 countries and economics around the world, which represent about 90,8% of the world´s population and 96,3% of global GDP.

General Court: Decision on meeting genuine use deadlines set by the EUIPO

Post date: 
July 11, 2018
Categories: 
Community Trademark, Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Law, Procedural rules, Trademark Law
Tags: 
04 May 2018, General Court of the European Union, EUIPO, genuine use deadlines, proof of genuine use, principle of sound administration

On 4 May 2018, the General Court (GC) dismissed the action filed by the trademark applicant Skyleader. The GC stated that in revocation proceedings, the EUIPO cannot accept evidence of proof of use which is submitted after the time limit. Further, the EUIPO is not allowed to exercise discretion on whether or not to take such evidence into account. It has no other option than to revoke such trademark if use documents are not filed on time.  

EU Trademark No. 006347827 (word/device mark)

RALPH LAUREN’S ‚POLO‘ TRADEMARK DESERVES ENHANCED LEGAL PROTECTION, GENERAL COURT SAYS

Post date: 
June 27, 2018
Categories: 
Brand, Brand Value, Distinctiveness, Likelihood of confusion, Trademark Law, Trademarks
Tags: 
27 June 2018, polo, ralph lauren, hpc polo, EUIPO, General Court of the European Union

 

On 20 June 2018, the General Court of the European Union (GC) ruled that the distinctiveness of the trade mark ‚POLO’ by Ralph Lauren’s eponymous fashion brand is indeed so famous that it requires broader legal protection against similar trademarks. What is significant in this decision is the fact that, even though a mark may not be exceptionally distinctive, its recognition by the public combined with its acquired reputation and its influence on the market is enough to grant ‘POLO’ enhanced protection against the registration of similar marks.

                                              POLO                                                 vs.                                     HPC POLO

                            (EU Trademark No. 4049334)                                                    (EU Trademark No.  013531462)

                                         (Word mark)                                                                                   (Word mark)

INFRINGEMENT OF IP RIGHTS: WHAT IS THE REAL DAMAGE?

Post date: 
June 13, 2018
Categories: 
Counterfeiting, Intellectual Property, IP Rights
Tags: 
13 June 2018, IP Rights, IPR intentive industry, Infringement, Counterfeiting, EUIPO, Synthesis report

On the occasion of the World AntiCounterfeiting Day, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has published a Synthesis Report on IP Infringement this month. This Report contains valuable information on criminal activities against the IP community relating to the last five years and aims to inform the public about the important economic consequences of product infringement in the EU area.

                                                                           

                                                                                            Source: EUIPO

Marriott wins case against Austrian billionaire: General Court rules visual and conceptual similarity between figurative marks

Post date: 
May 16, 2018
Categories: 
Brand, Community Trademark, Decisions, European General Court, IP Litigation, Trademark Law, Trademarks
Tags: 
16 May 2018, Marriott Worldwide Corp., GC, EUIPO

On 15 March 2018, the General Court of the European Union (GC) annulled the prior decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the EUIPO (Case R 165/2016-4), deeming that there indeed was a likelihood of confusion between the figurative marks “Winged bull“ and “Griffin“. The parties involved were the internationally known hospitality company Marriott Worldwide Corp. , which held the rights for the figurative mark representing a griffin and Johann Graf, a famous Austrian billionaire and owner of the international gambling company Novomatic, who had obtained a EUTM registration for the use of the figurative mark of a winged bull. The interesting part in this case is the difficulty in objectively assessing whether the trademarks were visually and conceptually similar, since the organs of the EUIPO deemed the signs very different from each other while paying attention to details, whereas the GC sifted the focus on the overall meaning of the signs in the sense that they were both representing imaginary beings.

 

                                               vs               

                                            Marriott                                                                                            Johann Graf

                           EU Trademark No. 8458259                                                       EU Trademark No. 010511723                                     

                                     (Figurative mark)                                                                             (Figurative mark)                    

SECURING CLIENT-LAWYER COMMUNICATION IN THE NEW DATA PROTECTION ERA

Post date: 
May 14, 2018
Categories: 
Uncategorized
Tags: 
14 May 2018, Data Protection, GDPR, CCBE, Munich Bar Association

SECURING CLIENT-LAWYER COMMUNICATION IN THE NEW DATA PROTECTION ERA

Blog post by Ioanna Zacharopoulou, Trainee at LexDellmeier IP Law Firm

In light of the new General Data Protection Regulation (95/46/EU), which will be enforceable from 25 May 2018, the Council of Bars and Law Societies in Europe (CCBE) and the Munich Bar Association both published rough guidelines regarding the steps every law office should take in order to comply with the new rules set by the EU. Aim of the Regulation is to further unify and simplify the legal status quo in the EU, this time by setting the lawyer-client relationship in the center of attention.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                Source: Pixabay

Protecting and ensuring the confidentiality between the lawyer and the client is the key in finding eligible solutions - both on technical and legal level – on the matter of data protection. What is critical is finding a balance between professional secrecy and governmental surveillance especially when the latter of which could lead to unwanted third-party interference. The bearers of such responsibility are first and foremost the law firms, who have to take measures to safeguard their professionalism, whilst providing a safer communication environment.

Happy Star Wars Day and may the 4th be with you!

Post date: 
May 04, 2018
Categories: 
Brand, Brand Finance, Brand Value, Community Trademark, Intellectual Property, IP Rights, Trademarks
Tags: 
4 May, Star Wars Day, Lucasfilm, Star Wars

On 4 May, all fans of the commercially most successful movie series are celebrating the international Star Wars Day. In the fan community, this tradition has been established over 10 years ago. The 4th of May was not chosen randomly, but, because of the very similar pronunciation to the Star Wars most popular Jedi saying: “May the force be with you”.

Source: EU 3D shape trademark No. 005896601

Brexit update: After Brexit, the “.eu” top-level domain will no longer be applicable to the United Kingdom

Post date: 
May 02, 2018
Categories: 
Domains, Intellectual Property Law, IP Rights, Procedural rules
Tags: 
28 March 2018, .eu top-level domains, DG CONNECT, EURid

On 28 March 2018, the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology for the European Commission (DG CONNECT) published a Notice to Stakeholders stating that after the UK leaves the European Union on 30 March 2019, all domain name owners based in the UK will no longer be entitled to “.eu” top-level domains.   

Source: Shutterstock

Intellectual Property: 2017 IN STATISTICS

Post date: 
April 10, 2018
Categories: 
Brand, Domains, Intellectual Property, IP Rights, Licensing, OHIM, Trademarks, WIPO
Tags: 
10 April 2018, EUIPO, WIPO, Statistics, Intellectual Property

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Organization (EUIPO) have recently published their statistics regarding information on applications and cases filed during the year 2017. What is impressive is the amount of registrations at both Organizations, which in 2017 reached an unprecedented number.

                                                                                                               

                                                                                            Source: Shutterstock 

EMPOWERING WOMEN: FEMALE INNOVATION AND ITS LEGACY

Post date: 
March 27, 2018
Categories: 
IP Rights, WIPO
Tags: 
27 March 2018, WIPO, Women Innovators, World Intellectual Property Day 2018, STEM

This year’s World Intellectual Property Day is dedicated to female innovators, honouring a significant number of women that are pushing the boundaries in the fields of science, technology, and design and promoting their innovating ideas, courage and curiosity, which help shape the world into a better place.