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  • Genuine Use of a Registered Trademark – Decision of the Second Board of Appeal of 23 October 2019 in Case R 767/2019-2

    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,…

    ip-iurisdictio abril 8, 2020
  • Informed User and Freedom of Design – Judgement of the General Court of the European Union – T-209/18

    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…

    ip-iurisdictio abril 8, 2020
  • Proteção autoral para modelos de vestuário?

    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…

    ip-iurisdictio abril 8, 2020
  • Use of a registered trademark – Effects of alterations in the form used

    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…

    ip-iurisdictio abril 8, 2020
  • Allocation of Jurisdiction for Online Infringement of European Union Trademarks

    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…

    ip-iurisdictio abril 8, 2020
  • Use of a figurative trademark

    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…

    ip-iurisdictio abril 8, 2020
  • “Domínio público” e direito de patente

    por Karin Grau-Kuntz No centro do direito de patente está a invenção. Invenção é conhecimento novo ou, na ótica do sistema de patente, solução técnica para um problema técnico proposto que satisfaz os pressupostos legias de proteção (novidade, atividade inventiva e aplicação industrial). O conceito de conhecimento, por sua vez, pressupõe a informação, caracterizada, para os fins do presente artigo, como conjunto organizado de símbolos inteligíveis (dados), capazes de aderirem ao patrimônio intelectual de seu(s) receptor(es). A informação – a matéria-prima da invenção – é ubíqua, podendo estar presente em diversos lugares ao mesmo tempo, de modo que é praticamente…

    ip-iurisdictio abril 8, 2020
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ip-iurisdictio

First contours of European Law on damages in IP infringement cases

outubro 9, 2019

by Gert Würtenberger The value of intellectual property rights is determined by the quality of the examination within the proceedings for grant of an exclusive right, the scope of protection as well as by the efficiency of the enforcement system in cases of infringement and the claims given in those cases[1]. The legal system has to care for an effective enforcement of objects of legal protection. If infringements of rights do not have appropriate consequences, not only the leading function of exclusive rights will be lost but their legitimation will also be weakened. [2] Exclusive rights have the purpose to…

Combination of two colours to be protected as trademarks – Regulation No 207/2009 – Article 4 and 7 (1)(a)

setembro 12, 2019

by Gert Würtenberger While the European Union Trademark Regulation mentions in particular colours to be protected as trademarks, it is difficult to achieve their registration due to a number of aspects: – distinctiveness may be a problem as colours very often have a merely decorative or functional purpose; – their limited number, with the consequence that monopolization in view of certain goods or services may be problematic and, above all, – the correct and clear definition of the colour or colour combinations for registration purposes. While single colours may be merely specified by indicating a colour reference of established colourmatching…

Protection of trade secrets and know-how in the European Union: the EU Trade Secrets Directive (EU) 2019/943

agosto 20, 2019

by Gert Würtenberger Introduction Each enterprise owns business data, know-how or other information to its commercial activities. They are the basis to be successful on the market and thus should remain in its domain and be protected against unauthorized use and revelation. Know-how and information are the currency of the knowledge economy providing a competitive advantage.[1] The Commission had recognized that “Trade secrets are one of the most commonly used forms of protection of intellectual creation and innovative know-how by businesses, yet at the same time are the least protected by the existing Union legal framework against their unlawful acquisition,…

Morality and trademarks: the south american approach

agosto 19, 2019

by Pedro Silveira Tavares, Alysa Arcos Ziemer, and Marc John Randazza[1] I. Introduction The Paris Convention and the TRIPS Agreement obligate signatory states to protect trademarks.[2]  Meanwhile, those agreements provide leeway for member states to deny registration if the marks themselves are “contrary to morality or public order.”[3]  This article will discuss the meaning of morality in the trademark area, and when the imposition of a morality based restriction is legitimate or illegitimate.  The United States recently addressed  this issue in the U.S Supreme Court case Matal v. Tam, but this does not change how the rest of the Americas…

Ilegítimas Restrições

fevereiro 13, 2018

por Pedro Marcos Barbosa Harmonia relacional do Estado-Sociedade: o direito ao public hearing A Constituição da República trouxe o direito de petição aos Poderes Constituídos (bem como o acesso à Jurisdição material) como um marco fundamental ao seu Bloco de Constitucionalidade. No tocante à submissão de pleitos junto ao Poder Judiciário, nota-se que o Constituinte foi ainda mais generoso do que a teoria da actio nata disposta no Código Civil, que toma como base – primeiro – a violação do direito para, então – segundo – surgir a pretensão. Ou seja: pela exegese da constituição formal tanto a pretensão reparatória…

O CADE e o exercício da Propriedade Intelectual – O caso das peças de reposição

novembro 18, 2017

por Karin Grau-Kuntz O Conselho Administrativo de Defesa da Concorrência (CADE) está na iminência de julgar um processo que coloca em pauta o exercício dos direitos exclusivos oriundos de registro de desenho industrial das montadoras de automóveis nos mercados secundários de peças de reposição must-match (peças de reposição visíveis). A discussão envolvida no caso, que se arrasta já por quase dez anos, pode ser sintetizada no confronto de entendimentos diversos sobre a essência do viés patrimonial do direito de propriedade industrial. Por um lado, as montadoras de automóveis postulam sua compreensão linear e estática, enquanto os produtores independentes de peças…

A “parábola dos homens cegos e o elefante” e a proposta de norma que introduz o exame simplificado de patentes

novembro 15, 2017

por Karin Grau-Kuntz “Um grupo de homens cegos soube que um estranho animal, chamado elefante, tinha sido levado até à cidade, mas nenhum deles conhecia a sua forma. Cheios de curiosidade, disseram: “Temos que o examinar através do toque”. Assim, foram à sua procura, e quando o encontraram começaram a tocar-lhe. O primeiro deles, cuja mão tocou no tronco, disse: “Este ser é como um tubo de drenagem”. Para outro dos cegos, que tocou na orelha do elefante, pareceu-lhe um tipo de leque. Um outro, que mexeu nas pernas, afirmou: “A forma do elefante parece um pilar”. E aquele que…

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