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TUESDAY, 6 APRIL 2010
Nicely timed just after Easter - update in the "Easter bunnies' case"
 The Austrian Wiener Zeitung brings us an update in the apparently neverending "Easter bunnies' case". Our readers will recall the ECJ's judgment in Case C‑529/07 (see our report here and summary here), Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG v Franz Hauswirth GmbH, which was a reference for a preliminary ruling from Austria on the question of how to establish bad faith in trade mark invalidity proceedings.
"We are back at the first instance court" Hauswirth's lawyer Harald Schmidt is cited by the Wiener Zeitung. Yes, indeed and hurray - one might add! We even have a new date for court proceedings: on 12 April 2010 there will be (yet) anther hearing in this matter at the Handelsgericht in Vienna, nicely timed just after Easter. A rather resigned Mr Schmidt does not expect a final decision in this matter before 2012 - which would be 12 years after this dispute started.
Wiener Zeitung also kindly reminds us that Hauswirth is still involved in a similar bunnies' dispute with German chocolate maker Riegelein.
To be continued...
Posted by: Birgit Clark @ 08.11
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MONDAY, 5 APRIL 2010
Russia: unusual use of Olympic symbolics
 Limited Liability Partnership ARKADA was found to be in breach of Russian anti-monopoly legislation due to its unauthorised use of Olympic symbolics. In breach of the law, ARKADA did not have the documents, confirming the legitimate use of the mark, and did not pay any money to the Russian "Sochi 2014" Olympic Committee.
The stickers with the images of Olympic rings and Olympic fire were used to close the cash receivers on a number of lottery machines (previously used for gambling) in Koryajma!
For the readers' general information: Koryajma is situated in Arkhangelsk area and had a population of 43,900 people in 1995 (the official statistics on the city of Koryajma's website have not been updated since then).
Original article can be found here (in Russian).
Posted by: Sasha Yelnik @ 09.42
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MONDAY, 5 APRIL 2010
Adidas in Russia: same claims, different decisions
As counterfeit production constituted somewhere between 41.7% and 60% in Russia in 2008, it is not surprising that Adidas decided to take action against those breaching its famous trade mark with 3 stripes. All together the company has started about 40 cases and the retailers Alba and Centrobuv' (meaning "Central Shoes") were the main target.
Adidas complained that women's trainers with diagonal stripes sold by Centrobuv' under the mark CENTRO were confusingly similar to the claimant's product. The court ordered Centrobuv' to pay Adidas 30,000 roubles and the disputed products were immediately confiscated. Note that Centrobuv' disagreed with the decision and is making attempts to appeal against it.
On the other hand, Adidas lost in its claim relating to the sale of shoes with 3 diagonal stripes by Alba. Adidas asked for the disputed shoes to be destroyed and sought a 2.5 million roubles compensation. This time the Moscow Arbitration Court was not convinced by the claimant's allegations of trade mark breach and dismissed the claim.
Original article  in Russian.
Posted by: Sasha Yelnik @ 08.54
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FRIDAY, 2 APRIL 2010
Serbia gets new Law on Geographical Indications
A new Law on Geographical Indications was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia on 26 March 2010 and enters into force tomorrow, 3 April 2010. This law, of which further details are awaited, replaces the Law on Geographical Indications which governed the former State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Source: IP News circular from Petosevic
Posted by: Jeremy Phillips @ 12.54
Tags: Serbia, GIs, |
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THURSDAY, 1 APRIL 2010
Coke goes green in Germany - literally
As Class46 has reported earlier, McDonald's announced that it was going to change its corporate colour to green in Germany to emphasize its commitment to ecological principles. The announcement was later withdrawn, but seems to have inspired Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola spokesperson Stefanie Danne announced that Coca-Cola would market green Coke bottles and cans in Germany in an effort to publicize its new carbon-neutral corporate responsibility commitment.
Details can be found here on Coca-Cola's German website (in German only).
Posted by: Mark Schweizer @ 11.24
Tags: brands, germany, marketing, |
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THURSDAY, 1 APRIL 2010
European Commission opts for "Benelux-first" registration policy
 Commission Regulation 271/2010 of 24 March 2010 amending Regulation 889/2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation 834/2007, as regards the organic production logo of the European Union, was published on the European Union's online Official Journal yesterday.
Recital 8 of the Preamble explains the function of this amending legislation:
"(8) Article 58 of Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 lays down that the code number of the control body or authority should be placed immediately below the Community logo without specific indication about the format and the attribution of these codes. In order to establish a harmonised application of these code numbers, detailed rules about the format and the attribution of these codes should be set out".
What is particularly interesting is the Commission's decision to seek swift protection through the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property as the first port of call. As Preamble 7 explains:
"(7) In order to enable the use of the logo as soon as it is compulsory in accordance with the EU legislation and to ensure the effective functioning of the internal market, to guarantee fair competition and to protect consumer interests, the new organic production logo of the European Union was registered as an Organic Farming Collective Mark in the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property and is consequently in force, usable and protected. The logo will also be registered in the Community and International Registers".
Posted by: Jeremy Phillips @ 10.18
Tags: Organic production logo, |
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WEDNESDAY, 31 MARCH 2010
Finland: City of Turnip Is No More
Those readers who have been following the story of the CIty of Turnip will be delighted to know that the Finnish city of Kuopio has finally changed its logo. As suspected, the new logo includes the city's old coat of arms. The text "Saa olla aito" (translation: one is allowed to be genuine) will not be appearing on final version of the logo.
Posted by: Mikael Kolehmainen @ 06.55
Tags: Finland, Kuopio. logo, |
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