by Gert Würtenberger A Union trademark that has been registered for more than five years is subject to the user requirement in order to safeguard its enforceability in opposition and/or infringement proceedings (as regards proof of use in opposition proceedings, see Article 47(2) EUTMR). Whether genuine use has occurred is, according to established case law, to be established by a global assessment that takes into account all relevant factors of the particular case. That assessment entails a degree of interdependence between the factors to be taken into account, one of which is the commercial value achieved under the trademark. Thus,…
Posts published in “Jurisprudência”
by Gert Würtenberger One of the requirements to have a design protected under the Community Design Regulation (CDR) is its individual character. According to Article 6 CDR, a design has individual character if the overall impression produced by it on the informed user differs from the overall impression produced on such a user by any design that had been available to the public earlier (in case of an unregistered Community design, before the date of which the design for which protection is claimed had been first made available or, in case of a registered Community design, before the date of…
by Gert Würtenberger General Aspects Monopolization of a sign is only justified if its proprietor intends to use the sign. For this reason, following the expiry of a 5-year grace period starting with the registration of the sign as a trademark, it is no longer enforceable if it is not used to the legally required extent. Moreover, third parties may seek the revocation of the EUTM either in its entirety if it has not been used at all or in relation to the goods and services for which it has not been used. One of the requirements for a trademark…
Acórdão do Tribunal de Justiça da União Europeia no caso Cofemel/G-Star (C-683/17) de 12.09.2019 por Karin Grau-Kuntz O caso 1. As empresas Cofemel (Portugal) e G‑Star (Países Baixos) são sociedades que operam no setor da criação, confeção e comercialização de vestuário. A G-Star explora, desde a década de 1990, as marcas G‑STAR, G‑STAR RAW, G‑STAR DENIM RAW, GS‑RAW, G‑RAW e RAW. O vestuário criado, confecionado e comercializado sob estas marcas inclui, nomeadamente, um modelo de calça jeans denominado ARC, bem como modelos de blusão de moleton e de camiseta denominado ROWDY. A Cofemel, a seu turno, também cria, confeciona e…
by Frank Tyra The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in its judgment of 5 September 2019 in Case C-172/18 (see here), clarified that the EU legislators created an alternative place of jurisdiction. This allows the proprietors of European Union trademarks (EUTMs) to file an infringement action either with the EUTM Court (national courts that have been designated by the respective Member State to deal with disputes related to EUTMs) with jurisdiction for the place of domicile and/or establishment of the infringer or with the court of the (sovereign) territory in which the act of infringement has been…
by Gert Würtenberger According to the observations of the author of this contribution, cancellation proceedings in relation to Union trademarks having been registered for more than 5 years are steadily increasing. This is not astonishing bearing in mind that the Union trademark system exists now for more than 20 years. A Union trademark registration is subject to the owners’ use after a period of 5 years following its registration unless proper reasons for non-use exist. Otherwise, a trademark cannot be enforced. Moreover, it is subject to cancellation request to be filed by third parties because of non-use. The use must…
por Karin Grau-Kuntz Em 23 de maio de 2017 o Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden (Tribunal de Recurso de Arnhem‑Leeuwarden, Países Baixos) apresentou ao Tribunal de Justiça da União Européia um pedido de decisão prejudicial versando sobre a interpretação dos artigos 2.o a 5.o da Diretiva 2001/29/CE do Parlamento Europeu e do Conselho, de 22 de maio de 2001, relativa à harmonização de certos aspectos do direito de autor e dos direitos conexos na sociedade da informação. O pedido foi apresentado no âmbito de um litígio que envolveu duas empresas produtoras de alimentos, Levola Hengelo BV e Smilde Foods BV e que versou…