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I. General facts on color marksColor marks are marks that consist either of one color only or of a combination of colors (without outlines). As with all forms of trademarks, distinctiveness is required for the…

When a striker acts as a defender: EU General Court’s decision “NEYMAR” (T-795/17)With its decision dated 14 May 2019, the European General Court confirms a decision of the European Union Intellectual Property…

The European General Court (GC) – quite surprisingly – overruled a decision of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) Board of Appeal with its decision dated 3 October 2018 and ruled that the 3D…

On 15 August 2018, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) published its Information Notice No. 12/2018. In this Notice, WIPO released a new version of the 11th edition of the International…

On 26 June 2018, the General Court (GC) upheld the decision of the Board of Appeal (BoA) and confirmed that the word and device trademark “France.com” cannot be registered in the EU due to a likelihood of…

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…

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…

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…

On 20 February 2018, the General Court of the European Union (GC) upheld the previous decision of Board of Apeal of EUIPO (BoA) when it found the trademark “BEPOST” and the trademarks “POST” and “ePOST” to be…

On 18 January 2018, the General Court of the European Union (GC) upheld the decision of the Board of Appeal in the case T-804/16. LG´s application for the EU word mark “Dual Edge” was found to lack distinctive…

On 18 January 2018, the Intellectual Property Office of the European Union (EUIPO) published its opinion paper answering the most burning questions concerning the impact of the UK´s withdrawal from the EU…

On 20 December 2017, the Court of Appeal in Sweden sentenced some of the scammers from the Uppsala trademark scam case to serve a prison sentence. They were found guilty of fraud for sending misleading invoices…

After the European General Court’s (EGC) ruling on September 2015, the battle of the reptiles continues in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). As Lacoste protects their famous crocodile…

With the CJEU´s ruling on 17 February 2016, a lengthy saga concerning Adidas might have come to an end. After contesting everything from two to five stripes, creating and using an abundance of case law, logging a…

The EU trademark reform package was approved by the European Parliament on 15 December 2015. The amendments are expected to come into force in March/April 2016. The reform package brings changes to the Community…

The reform of the EU trademark system has been ongoing since 2008 and is finally ready for publication. The updated rules aim for a more efficient and cost effective trademark registration process. The dual…

The General Court (EGC) dismissed HP’s appeals in both cases and confirmed that the Community Trademarks (CTM) ELITEDISPLAY and ELITEPAD are descriptive for the goods in respect of which registrations were sought…

On 1 August 2015, the second part of OHIM's (Office of Harmonization in the Internal Market) updated Guidelines entered into force.

Since 2013, the Knowledge Circles of OHIM which involves staff from different…

The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) celebrated its 20th anniversary on 17 November 2014 in the new auditorium of OHIM's premises, in Alicante, Spain. On this day OHIM commemorates 20 years…

As and from 1 October 2014, the Office of Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) will begin examining the classification of international registrations designated in the European Union (EU), for vague terms.…