Im Falle des Verstoßes gegen eine erste strafbewehrte Unterlassungs- und Verpflichtungserklärung (UVE) nach sogenanntem "Hamburger Brauch", d.h. ohne konkret bezifferte Vertragsstrafe, kann nach einer kürzlich ergangenen...more
Wird ein Zeichen allein in der Werbung markenrechtsverletzend genutzt, kann der Schadensersatzanspruch dennoch im Rahmen der Lizenzanalogie auf Basis einer Umsatzlizenz berechnet werden. Lizenzmindernd könne aber die...more
Rundfunkveranstalter haften nur für Werbung, die grob und offenkundig unzulässig ist. Die Arbeit der Fernsehsender dürfe durch weitreichende Prüfungspflichten im Interesse der Presse- und Rundfunkfreiheit nicht...more
Die Möglichkeit, geografische Angaben als Kollektiv- oder Individualmarke zu schützen, steht grundsätzlich selbständig neben dem System zum Schutz geografischer Angaben und Ursprungsbezeichnungen nach der EU-Verordnung Nr....more
The possibility to protect geographical indications as collective or individual trademarks exists, in principle, independently of the system for the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin under...more
The German Federal Court of Justice recently published a decision (Case No. I ZB 16/20) clarifying that trademark owners bear the burden of proof for public recognition of a trademark within the affected trade circles in...more
Markeninhaber tragen sowohl im Anmelde- als auch im Löschungsverfahren die Feststellungslast für die Verkehrsdurchsetzung einer Marke. Der Inhaber einer Marke sei am besten in der Lage, Beweis dafür zu erbringen, dass sich...more
Eine geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung („g.U.“) kann auch durch eine unerlaubte Benutzung für Dienstleistungen verletzt sein. Der geografische Herkunftsschutz sei nicht ausschließlich auf Benutzungen im Zusammenhang mit...more
A protected designation of origin (“PDO”) may also be infringed by use for services. According to the ECJ in a recently published decision (C-783/19), the protection of geographical indications is not exclusively limited to...more
The typical crack and fizz sound that occurs when opening a carbonated beverage is not registrable as a sound mark as it lacks any distinctive character. This was decided by the General Court of the European Union (GC) in a...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
The German Federal Court of Justice recently issued a decision declaring that the use of a photo of a prominent person for an editorial article infringes upon the right to one's own image if the photo is only used as a...more
3/10/2021
/ Advertising ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Copyright Infringement ,
EU ,
Germany ,
License Fees ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Reputation ,
Personality Rights ,
Photographs ,
Presumptively Relevant ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks
In a recent ruling by the Regional Court Hamburg (Case No. 308 O 431/17), the court awarded the heirs of children's book author Astrid Lindgren a right to information ...more
2/9/2021
/ Books ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Registration ,
Damages ,
EU ,
Germany ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Musical Sound Recordings ,
Publishers
COVID-19 and IT service provider contracts: A checklist for force majeure events -
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the various restrictions that have been implemented in response to it, are causing extraordinary business...more
By judgment of 24 September 2019 (T-219/18), the General Court ruled that the Community design of a scooter registered for a Chinese company does not infringe the rights of a traditional Italian company to its famous...more
The European Commission confirmed the conclusion of these negotiations in a press release issued on 6 November. The agreement takes into account the commitments made at the 2019 EU-China Summit and reflects mutual openness...more
In July, the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO declared the MONOPOLY trade mark invalid to the extent that the underlying application covered goods and services for which the trade mark was already registered. Such filings...more
9/10/2019
/ Appeals ,
Bad Faith ,
EU ,
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ,
Goods or Services ,
Grace Period ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Use of Trademarks ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Cancellation ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks
German courts have been dealing with the Metall auf Metall [song by the German band Kraftwerk] case for two decades. Recently, the CJEU, too, has had to deal with the case and ruled by judgment of 29 July 2019 (C-476/17) that...more
8/5/2019
/ Artistic Works ,
Audio Recording ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Digital Sampling ,
EU ,
Infringement ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Music Industry ,
Musical Sound Recordings
The European Court of Justice (CJEU) has ruled that online sales platforms are not necessarily obliged to always provide consumers with a contact telephone number in order to meet statutory obligations. Other means of...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
7/12/2019
/ Appeals ,
Brand ,
Corporate Branding ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
EU ,
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Logos ,
Trademark Cancellation ,
Trademark Enforcement ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Invalidity ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
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
“Der Grüne Punkt” is a concept that presumably everyone in Germany is familiar with; recently, the financing symbol for participation in the dual collection and recovery systems was the subject matter of proceedings before...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
4/15/2019
/ Beverage Manufacturers ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Descriptive Trademarks ,
Distilleries ,
Germany ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Wine & Alcohol
MARKENRECHTSMODERNISIERUNGSGESETZ (MaMoG) ZUR UMSETZUNG DER EU-MARKENRECHTSLINIE 2015/2436 TRITT IN KRAFT -
Am 14. Januar 2019 trat die Novellierung des Markengesetzes durch das MaMoG in Kraft, mit der eine Reihe von...more
2/1/2019
/ Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Germany ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patents ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Trademarks
The following short posts covering competition issues in influencer advertising, trademark distinctiveness for media services and limitations to the power of reputation are translated from our German language blog. ...more
11/30/2018
/ Advertising ,
Celebrity Endorsements ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Endorsements ,
Germany ,
Influencers ,
Inherently Distinctive ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Marketing ,
Online Endorsements ,
Social Media ,
Trademarks ,
Websites