Trademarks & Domain Names

A recent judgement by the District Court of The Hague shows the importance of documenting comprehensive and consistent evidence of trademark and trade name use.

Such has been the success of the comedy movie Fack ju Göthe, its production company sought to register the title as a word mark. Casper Hemelrijk examines the public policy and morality objections within both the European and Benelux trademark contexts.

Celebrities are advised to protect their names as trademarks if they are to take action against unauthorised use by third parties, as Megan Taylor explains.

As Liverpool Football Club recently discovered, there are barriers to registering the name of a town, city or other geographical place name as a trademark.

A recent judgement by the Court of Justice of the EU has considered whether failing to specify goods and services clearly and precisely in trademark applications is a sign that the applicant acted in bad faith.

Service offering customers the opportunity to pay to name a star, in return for a certificate, found to be misleading for the purposes of trademark registration, as Louise van de Mortel explains. 

Controlling use of your brand online can be a daunting task. That’s why clever planning, time-saving tools and automated enforcement procedures are critical to success.

Trademark enforcement is critical to brand protection strategies, but taking too heavy-handed an approach can often do more damage than good, as backcountry.com recently learned to its cost.

While “natural wine” is growing in popularity with consumers, there is currently no official label, legal definition or regulation to describe what makes a wine “natural”, says Manon Brodin.

Trademark law allows brand owners to take action against a trademark applied for ‘in bad faith’. But, what is meant by ‘bad faith’, and what is the process for bringing such a claim?

While every business is different, certain recommendations apply to the proactive management of a trademark portfolio no matter your industry or business goals. We set out a 10-point strategic plan for streamlining operations in 2020.

The question of whether plant variety denominations can be protected under Article 7(1)(m) of the European Trade Mark Regulation was addressed by the EU General Court for the first time in the dispute over ‘Kordes’ Rose Monique’. Louise van de Mortel sets out the ruling.