EU

Safeguarding product designs via national, EU and international systems can provide companies with an important and cost-effective route to IP protection. However, systems for registering design rights do come with specific rules and restrictions.

Negotiations between the EU and Mexico on an updated Free Trade Agreement could potentially open the door to non-agricultural geographical indications (GIs). Time will tell if the EU is ready to embrace protection for handicrafts however.

When budgets are tight, IP expenditure will naturally come under scrutiny, with patent annuity payments often one of the first areas to be identified for cuts.

It takes time, resources and money to create and launch distinctive and effective brands. But how can you be sure that the brand name you have chosen is really yours to use?

Frequently bloated with unused registrations or starved by gaps in coverage, a thorough audit of your trademark assets could help you to identify ways to streamline and exploit your portfolio, saving you money while also improving the efficiency of your assets.

Priority is an essential element of patent law and its application by the European Patent Office (EPO) has been clarified through case law, as Stéphane Roux explains.

From registering “non-traditional” trademarks to proving “genuine use” of a mark, Chantal Koller shares strategies for protecting and enforcing brand assets across Europe.

A brand’s use of colour can be a strong identifying element, but registering colours as trademarks remains a challenge. Léa Chenain offers some advice.

Novagraaf’s Chantal Koller on how businesses can adapt their trademark registration strategies to make best use of the opportunities offered by the EU trademark system.

The General Court of the EU has annulled an earlier ruling that found Louis Vuitton’s ‘Damier Azur’ trademark pattern to be invalid. But, the Court did not yet answer the all-important question of whether the luxury brand's pattern had acquired distinctive character through use.

In 2018, the General Court of the EU ruled that ‘Perfect Bar' was too descriptive and thus insufficiently distinctive to be registered as a trademark, but the brand owner wouldn’t take no for an answer, as Frouke Hekker explains.

In Brompton Bicycles, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled that products that are shaped in such a way as to obtain a technical result are eligible for copyright protection. Casper Hemelrijk outlines the implications.