The ECJ recently provided more protection for trademark owners against parallel importers with three important decisions. In decisions C-147/20, C-224/20 and C-253/20, the question of the need for repackaging was raised against the background of the measures required under Directive 2011/62/EU to control the manipulation of packaging in accordance with Art. 47a of Directive 2001/83…
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The Oxford Dictionary of Marketing defines brand as “A combination of attributes that gives a company, organization, product, service concept, or even individual, a distinctive identity and value relative to its competitor…” Simply put, businesses invest a lot of time, effort and money into building goodwill in the marketplace based on the reputation and recognition…
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On April 13, 2022, the European Commission presented the first-ever EU framework to protect the intellectual property rights associated with unique European handicraft and agri-food products (European Commission – Press release of 31 March 2022). The new system will allow for easy and cost-effective registration of geographical indications by introducing a two-step registration process. This…
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The proper use of a registered trademark is essential to maintaining the right to protection against third party violations, and to insure its continued existence. As a general rule, registered trademarks are subject to compulsory use. Use of the trademark must commence within 5 years. Marking a registered trademark with the ® symbol as a…
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An international trademark registration via the Madrid System is a simple and inexpensive way to achieve trademark protection for many countries with one central application. The underlying Protocol to the Madrid Agreement now has 112 participating countries. Since regional organizations such as the European Union are also members, up to 128 countries can be reached…
Further readingOn April 26, 2019, the German Act on the Protection of Trade Secrets (GeschGehG) came into force. The law is based on the EU know-how Directive 2016/943 of 08.06.2016. The law strengthens the protection of trade secrets. A very important innovation, however, is that “appropriate secrecy measures” must be taken to ensure that know-how actually…
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In the course of the German Trademark Law Modernization Act (Markenrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz, short: MaMoG), a number of amendments to the German trade mark law have come into force on January 14, 2019. As the MaMoG implements an EU trade mark directive from 2015 in Germany, many of the changes made are already known from the EUIPO…
Further readingIn the course of the German Trademark Law Modernization Act (Markenrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz, short: MaMoG), a number of amendments to the German trade mark law have come into force since January 14, 2019. As the MaMoG implements an EU trade mark directive from 2015 in Germany, many of the changes made are already known from the EUIPO…
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The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU (Brexit) took place on 31 January 2020, which in part has implications on property rights. Patents With regard to European patents, nothing changes, since the United Kingdom remains a member of the European Patent Convention, which is not Union law but an international treaty to which, for example,…
Further readingWith the WIPANO funding measure, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi) offers small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) support in the patenting and exploitation of their innovative ideas by reimbursing the costs of patent consultation and registration in the form of a subsequent grant of 50% of the costs incurred. The grant is divided…
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