The Class 46 blog on trade mark developments now has nearly 5,200 subscribers and the Class 99 blog on designs has more than 2,600.
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Russia Liberalises Law to Accede to International Agreements
... at least in the field of design law. We thank the ladies of IPStyle for the news that Russia has acceeded to the Hague Agreement. Keep your shirt on - you cannot designate it yet, but it won't be long coming; watch the WIPO website.
Read more: https://marques.org/class99/Default.asp?XID=BHA787
Benelux copyright in old designs - the EU rules
It has taken us a while to note Case C-169/15, Montis Design BV v Goossens Meubelen BV, the latest from the EU Court of Justice on design copyright. The case concerns copyright in two Montis chairs, the Charly armchair and the Chaplin dining chair - in both cases, the current versions are from the Montis website. Their designs were registered at WIPO in 1988 as DM/010786, which expired in 1993 since Montis did not pay the first renewal fee. This was unfortunate for them, as Goossens brought out a copycat product. Montis sued them for breach of copyright. The case found its way to the Benelux Court, which referred it to the CJEU. The Benelux Opinion and referring Decision (in French and Flemish) are here.
Read more: https://marques.org/class99/Default.asp?XID=BHA786
The three-striped saga continues
In Case R 1515/2016-2, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) recently found the European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) on the right to be invalid, because the mark did not enable consumers to identify clothing items as originating from a particular producer. As readers may (or may not) recognise, the mark is part of a group of "three-striped marks" owned by the German sportswear manufacturer Adidas AG. For several years, the three stripes have kept the European Courts and members of the Class 46 Blog, among many others, quite busy (see, for instance, here, here and here).
Read more: https://marques.org/class46/Default.asp?XID=BHA4485
Issue 076
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