Piqued by Nestlé’s blocking of its purple colour trade mark application, Cadbury challenged the Kit Kat owner’s attempt to register the shape of its four bar product. Who won in the recent CJEU judgment? Opinions differ but Varuni Paranavitane reports.
Retail chain Cora had used “Large volumes= low prices” as an advertising slogan for 25 years. Could it stop competitor Auchan using “mini prices for large volumes” in its catalogues? Claire Bouchenard of Osborne Clarke Paris reports.
Not all the 50 footballers in advertising for Nike’s training program alongside the phrase “Improve your game with Nikefootball+” on a shoebox were sponsored by Nike. Some used shoes by Adidas, who sued. Stephan Bahner of OC Cologne reports.
Gama Healthcare sued competitor Pal International over allegedly confusing similarities between the design of Pal’s “Medipal” wet wipe packs and Gama’s own Clinell wipe packs. Vicki Hawkins compares the packs and reports on Gama’s attempt to widen its claims.
The botched commissioning of a design agency to create a logo led to a dispute. Equitable ownership of the IP rights turned out to be potentially vital. Legal assignee Atelier Eighty Two was the claimant, but who won? Chloe Deng reports.
The tort of passing off recently rode to the rescue of two UK brands whose fight against alleged interlopers looked cooked when their trade mark registrations were held invalid. Astrid Bulmer and Stephen Groom report
Join the first choice for single travellers,” said a flyer and brochure for holiday company Solitair. Small print said the claim was “for trade mark purposes” and “did not imply to any sales or revenue.” What did it all mean? Fiona Schneider reports on the ensuing ASA case.
“Felix raspberry and vanilla adventure” tea packs with “natural flavourings” and “raspberry and vanilla taste” and raspberry and vanilla pod artwork contained neither. Did the ingredients list save the day after German consumers sued? Mark Nathan and Stephen Groom report
The EU General Court recently considered a claim by US-based Giovanni Cosmetics, Inc that its “GIOVANNI” CTM should prevent the registration of “GIOVANNI GALLI” for the same goods by Vasconcelos & Goncalves SA of Spain. Varuni Paranavitane reports.
EU Ministers have published the final compromise text of the amended Trade Marks Directive. With formal adoption expected in early 2016 what are the key changes European brand owners can expect by the likely 2019 transposition deadline? Abby Minns reports
The Court of Appeal has recently considered cases involving major brands Asos and Scrabble pitted Assos and Scramble respectively. Did one letter make that much difference? Varuni Paranavitane reports.
