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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…

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…

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 a period of worldwide financial instability German SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), the so-called Mittelstand, are leading the way in Europe’s largest economy and are the answer to financial…

On 20 December 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave its opinion on the “Champagner Sorbet” case. The Court stated the conditions of using the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for…

On 11 January 2018, Melchior Wathelet, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), published his opinion about the dispute concerning the Neuschwanstein EU trademark. In his…

We have often talked about the correlation between a brand and intellectual property. In the simplest of terms, one can hardly go without the other. Recognizing the importance of brands for the economy,…

You probably thought that the Adidas saga reached its end with last year´s European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling (case C‑396/15 P, summary). As it seems, the reality is different. In fact, with the latest EUIPO…

After a worrying OECD report last year (more on that here), this year the fight against pirated goods continued with a letter addressed to the president of the European Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker.More…

Trademark Use in Germany and the EU - Why brand owners must use their trademarksTrademarks present a link between a brand owner and its consumers. They are the easiest way to differentiate one product from…

The color red means energy, strength, power and passion. Shoe-wise, for most women it means one thing: Louboutins. However, the road was not easy for the French designer. In-and-out of courts for years now, the…

A trademark can be any sign capable of distinguishing the products of one company from those of another. If you own a trademark, you have exclusive rights to use that trademark on the products you have protected…

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 European General Court (EGC) ruled that the shape of the new Coca-Cola bottle cannot be protected as a three-dimensional trademark because it is devoid of any distinctive character (Case T-411/14, Judgement…

The European General Court (EGC) rejected the application for registration as a Community Trademark (CTM) of a three-dimensional sign of the shape of a rectangular games box consisting of a system of sliding…

The European General Court (EGC) upholds the registrations of the shape of the Lego mini-figures as Community Trademarks (CTMs) (Judgments dated 16 June 2015; Cases T-395/14 and T-396/14). Background of the Case…

The European General Court (EGC) dissmissed the appeal of the Swatch AG against the Community Trademark (CTM) application “SWATCHBALL“ by Panvision Europe Ltd (Judgment dated 19 May 2015; Case No.: T‑71/14).…

The European General Court (EGC) decided that the decision of the BoA has to be annulled, but not altered   because it did not mention an earlier decision of a Community Trademark (CTM) court (Judgment dated 25…

In February 2015 the Brand Finance Banking 500 ranking was published in “The Banker” magazine. This annual ranking of the 500 most valuable brands in the banking business is created by Brand Finance. Brand value…