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THURSDAY, 29 JULY 2010
Christian Louboutin: there is no business like (fake) shoe business
 Nowadays, it sadly has become a cliché to state that most companies have seen or will see counterfeits of their products appear on the market. When a firm has to deal with fakes, managers involved at the commercial strategy, legal and financial departments should feel concerned and coordinate their efforts to take actions.
How about the communication department? Rarely would a firm openly communicate on being the victim of counterfeiters, other by way of commenting court decisions (which might at a certain level become a delicate art).
This is why Christian Louboutin's "Stop Fake" web site stands out. The high-heel escarpins maker has indeed launched this web site to inform the public of its "zero tolerance" approach. It features an impressive list of third parties web sites selling fake Louboutin products. Notice the "next page link" before you think it's over! The list is even longer than Mr Louboutin's emblematic oversize heels height.
Posted by: Frédéric Glaize @ 17.19
Tags: fake, websites, shoes, fashion, counterfeit, |
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THURSDAY, 29 JULY 2010
Butter: not that unique
The self-governing body of the Swiss advertising industry held in a recently published decision that the above depicted advertisment for butter contravenes fair advertising standards.
The tag-line reads "Butter. The rest is'nt natural". The advertiser argued that the ad is directed at margarine, which they consider, unlike butter, to be an "unnatural" product. Subjectively, that may be true, but the Lauterkeitskommission correctly pointed out that the ad said "the rest" was not natural, and olive oil, for example, was a wholly natural substitute for butter (and, according to some, even healthier...). The ad may not be shown in Switzerland any longer.
Posted by: Mark Schweizer @ 09.06
Tags: Switzerland, false advertising, |
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THURSDAY, 29 JULY 2010
Pigs and protection: Old Spots get the TSG treatment
Commission Regulation 675/2010 of 28 July 2010 entering a name in the register of traditional specialities guaranteed (Traditionally Farmed Gloucestershire Old Spots Pork (TSG)) confers protected status upon pork produced in accordance with the Gloucester Old Spots process, which you can read about here.
In case you should ever think that the registration of GIs and TSGs is just a matter of form-filling and that you're unlikely ever to litigate a protected name, take a look at Axle Associates Ltd v Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig Breeders’ Club, a decision of the UK's Trade Mark Registry, on 13 October 2009 last year (Decision O-316-09). There, an attempt was made to oppose a UK trade mark application on the strength of this TSG application, but before it had been granted. The attempt failed. According to the headnote in the European Trade Mark Reports:
"Even if a registered Traditional Specialty Guaranteed was, in principle, capable of constituting an earlier right under s.5(4) Trade Marks Act 1994, the opponent did not have an earlier right. Such a mark would only be protected from the date of publication, which would occur after registration, and this had not yet taken place. It was in any event unlikely that live pigs were a similar agricultural product to pork products, such as to fall within the scope of protection of the proposed Traditional Speciality Guaranteed mark".
Posted by: Jeremy Phillips @ 08.30
Tags: TSGs, |
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WEDNESDAY, 28 JULY 2010
Poland: observations, oppositions, invalidations - who's the party?
 The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw in its order of 28 June 2010 case file VI SA/Wa 808/10 ruled that according to article 143 of the Polish Industrial Property Law (IPL), the Polish Patent Office shall publish a trademark application immediately after the expiration of three months from the date of filing of that application. As from the date of publication any third parties may acquaint themselves with the trademark determined in the application and with the list of the goods for which the mark is intended. They may also submit to the PPO their observations as to the existence of grounds that may cause a right of protection to be denied. Therefore, anyone has the right to submit comments to a trade mark application, but filing such comments does not make someone a party to the examination proceedings. These observations are only material that will be taken into consideration when examining the trade mark application
The VAC also noted that according to article 246 of the IPL any person may give reasoned notice of opposition to a final decision of the Patent Office on the grant of a right of protection within six months from the publication in "Wiadomości Urzędu Patentowego" of the mention of the grant of a title of protection, and according to article 164 of the IPL, the right of protection for a trademark may be invalidated in whole or in part at the request of any person having a legitimate interest therein, provided that that person is able to prove that the statutory requirements for the grant of that right have not been satisfied. In such cases, the person is a party to the proceedings.
Posted by: Tomasz Rychlicki @ 15.08
Tags: Polish Act on Industrial Property Law, Polish Patent Office, Voivodeship Administrative Court, legal interest, trade mark invalidation, party, |
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WEDNESDAY, 28 JULY 2010
A brief update on Paul
A very brief update on Paul, the psychic octopus of World Cup fame (see our reports here, here and here) that - somewhat bizarrely - still finds itself in the international news.
While Class 46 found yet another trade mark application related to the German based Octopus that correctly predicted the outcome of several World Cup games (see below), Paul has also made an enemy: The Telegraph today reports that Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated Paul symbolizes the "decadence and decay" of the Western world. According to the report Mr. Ahmadinejad mentioned Paul several times during a speech in Tehran last weekend.
Class 46 can't help but wondering whether this news item might not prompt more PAUL trade mark applications?
Posted by: Birgit Clark @ 12.24
Tags: Paul, |
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WEDNESDAY, 28 JULY 2010
German Federal Patent Court: ALLFAcolor v ALPHA
 In an advance publication of 20 July 2010 the German Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht) has published the headnote of its recent decision in ALLFAcolor v ALPHA. Please find below Class 46's unofficial translation.
ALLFAcolor v ALPHA
1. When considering the similarity of trade marks in the case trade marks that consist of one word, the overall impression is still the decisive factor, so that even in cases where the earlier mark is encompassed by the opposed mark, this will not coercively result in a likelihood of confusion (differentation to BGH GRUR 2008, 905 “Pantohexal”).
2. “ALLFAcolor” and “ALPHA” are not confusingly similar for goods in Class 2.
Case reference: Bundespatentgericht 28 W (pat) 8/10 of 9 June 2010. Please click here to read the court's "Eilunterrichtung" in its German original.
Posted by: Birgit Clark @ 12.14
Tags: Bundespatentgericht, |
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TUESDAY, 27 JULY 2010
Spain reduces penal sanctions in the hope of more condemnatory orders
This June, some amendments to the Spanish Criminal Code, which take effect on December 23 2010, were published in the Official State Gazette. These amendments will substantially reduce criminal sanctions on unauthorised retailers of goods protected by IP rights and retailers of counterfeit products of low monetary value (ie, whether the profit element does not exceed €400). At present, such offences are punishable by a six-month prison sentence and an equivalent fine (a certain sum of money being payable every day for the duration of the term); they may also be increased where aggravated circumstances exist.
Once the new provisions are in force, in the absence of aggravating circumstances apply the judge may impose a fine equivalent to three to six months or a community service order of 31 to 60 days. According to the author of the article from which this note is derived:
"This reform results from the current social climate, in which the courts are reluctant to incarcerate individuals (for the most part, immigrants) and to issue condemnatory rulings in such cases. It is hoped that the reduction in criminal sanctions will overcome the reluctance of the courts and that they will deliver more condemnatory rulings in cases involving the infringement of IP rights".
Source: article for World Trademark Review by Juan José Caselles Fornés, Elzaburu, Madrid, which you can read in full here.
Posted by: Jeremy Phillips @ 22.25
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