Compliance Perspectives: The End of the Privacy Shield
Nota Bene Episode 89: European Q3 Check In - Merger Clearance and Data Protection Court Rulings and Brexit Updates with Oliver Heinisch
A new development in the Castelbajac case, which pits the designer with the eponymous name against the company PMJC, concerning the application for revocation of the trademarks assigned to the latter by the designer. In a...more
The UK Court of Appeal has for the first time chosen to diverge from a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU"), making use of the powers given to it following the UK's exit from the European Union....more
In Short - The Situation: The Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") recently ruled that operators of online marketplaces may be held directly liable for trademark infringement in a context where third-party...more
In the latest instalment of trade mark litigation between UK supermarket competitors Lidl and Tesco, the Court of Appeal has reversed a High Court decision that had struck out Tesco's counterclaim on bad faith grounds. The...more
In Short - The Situation: European Union ("EU") trademark law permits the repackaging of pharmaceuticals that are imported or traded in parallel from one Member State to another only in limited circumstances. In view of...more
Continuing with news involving the color red, on December 23, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a preliminary ruling finding that Amazon may be subject to liability for trademark infringement...more
Thank you for reading the December 2022 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss Pantone's 2023 Color of the Year and a preliminary ruling in Europe regarding an online marketplace's...more
In two recent landmark decisions, Novartis v. Abacus (C‑147/20) and Bayer v. kohlpharma (C-204/20), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) strengthened the position of drug manufacturers against repackaging...more
Three cases handed down on 17 November 2022 by the EU’s highest court shed important light on the ability of brand owners to oppose the repackaging of medicinal products, particularly where anti-tampering devices are replaced...more
Trademark proceedings concerning the rights to the trade name and trademark "HEITEC" were brought before the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH), which in turn referred four questions to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling....more
CJEU Decision - In Maxxus Group GmbH v Globus Holding GmbH C‑183/21, the CJEU was asked whether German procedural rules were consistent with Article 19 of the Directive (EU) 2015/2436 on revocation of trademark rights for...more
A "Champagne Sorbet" may only bear the name "Champagne" if the taste of the sorbet is also essentially characterized by Champagne. After years of litigation up to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the Higher...more
On 31 January 2020, the UK left the European Union and entered a transition period that is due to end at 11:00 pm GMT on 31 December 2020. At this point, it is still uncertain whether a new EU/UK deal will be reached. To...more
Messi is victorious not only on the football field, but also before the European Courts: the football player’s reputation creates a conceptual difference between MESSI and MASSI which counteracts the visual and phonetic...more
CJEU determines no likelihood of confusion between footballer’s “Messi” figurative mark and earlier MASSI mark. Whilst debate will continue to rage as to whether Messi or Ronaldo is the world’s best male football player, the...more
Although the decision appears on its face to be a positive development for online marketplaces, it is does not definitively resolve questions of liability. On 2 April 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)...more
The last year of the 2010s has been prolific in terms of important new pieces of legislation and case law within the European Union, and in France and Germany in particular. Indeed, the European Parliament and the EU Council...more
Today, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in Sky v SkyKick (C-371/18) has declined to follow the Advocate General and held that trade mark specifications that cover broad terms such as “computer software” cannot be...more
This month, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) addressed a case of particular interest for pharmaceutical companies that are in the process of developing a new product. Regulatory and commercial considerations...more
In its judgment C-693/17 earlier this year, the CJEU confirmed a decision of the GC in design invalidity proceedings, in which the proprietor of a trademark protecting the image of product packaging successfully took action...more
During the ECTA annual conference in Edinburgh last week, Andreas Renck spoke about the ongoing battle in registering and defending colour per se marks, in particular the question of how to correctly represent the marks on...more
The use of figurative signs and words that evoke a geographical area which is associated with a protected designation of origin may constitute an unlawful evocation of the latter. This was the CJEU’s conclusion in its...more
Since 2013, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has tried to prohibit the Swabian whisky producer Waldhornbrennerei, which is based in Berglen near Stuttgart, from using the trade mark “Glen Buchenbach”. ...more
Are apples different from pears? Or are they both just fruit? Or, as cockney rhyming slang would have it, are they stairs? These are the questions (excepting the last one) that the distinguished judges of the Court of Justice...more
In Textilis v. Svenkst Tenn AB, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) held that the 2015 amendments to the trademark regulation (Article 7(1)(e)(iii) of Regulation No 207/2009), which limited the right for trademark protection...more