Articles on the subject of brands
OLG, Urt. v. 03.05.2021, Frankfurt 6 W 31/21 – Asconi If the trademark proprietor makes extensive use of his unused trademark for the purpose of legal prosecution, it may be possible to infer from this a primary intention to generate...
Sound brands: Sound as part of the brand strategy In the course of the Trademark Modernization Act in Germany (January 2019), new trademark forms were included. Since then, sound marks, motion marks, hologram marks and multimedia marks can also...
New Federal Court of Justice (BGH) case law on the revocation of a trademark BGH, Urt. v. 14.01.2021, I ZR 40/20 – STELLA The case-law according to which, in the case of an action for revocation of a trademark, the period between the date...
EuG, Urt. v. 16.12.2020, T-118/20 – Voco GmbH/EUIPO The more the 3D shape applied for approximates the shape in which the product in question is most likely to appear, the more likely that shape is to lack distinctive character. In those...
BPatG, Beschluss vom 12. 3.2020, 25 W (pat) 29/19 – Mädelsabend Signs which are per se devoid of distinctive character in relation to the goods and services claimed cannot acquire distinctive character through any kind of use on the goods...
Protect colour marks The obstacle in the protection of colour marks Since 1995, colours and colour combinations (§ 3 Abs. 1 MarkenG) can be registered as trademarks at the German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO) and are therefore legally...
Trademark preliminary searches It is strategically important for the success of a company to secure trademark rights. The intention should be to avoid a trademark dispute and one should thus ensure that no third-party property rights are...
The Trademark Law Modernization Act New forms of presentation From mid-January, in addition to the familiar trademark forms, sound marks, motion marks, hologram marks and multimedia marks in digital form (JEPEG, mp3, mp4), i.e., for example, as...
Trademarks When considering combining a high recognition factor and quality with a product without losing sight of the commercial aspect the registration of a Trademark is the suggested solution. In general a Trademark serves the purpose of...