Free-Riding on Taglines – Red Bull … Gives you wings
Taglines are a popular means of communication for companies. But when are they registrable as a trade mark and when can they be infringed?
Likelihood of confusion with sustainability brand – FAIR ZONE
Under what conditions can descriptive elements such as FAIR in a composite sustainability brand give rise to a likelihood of confusion?
Protectability of sustainability brands – GREEN CHOICE
Every company wants to present itself as sustainable and environmentally friendly. Brands that suggest this, or that can validly make this claim, benefit from greater popularity. Brands that score highly in terms of sustainability often achieve more sales. Yet why do these projects so often fail? And why do they fall short of providing the necessary value, given the money that has been invested in them? That’s what a well-known shirt manufacturer has recently had to find out.
Risk in simple sustainability brands – Strong like Nature
Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security when forming a brand, just because ‘everyone else’ is using the same descriptive terms. What’s important here?
Refresh of descriptive organic brand – Bio MARKT
The word and figurative mark with the new word “Biomarkt” is registered several times as a European Union trade mark. However, after an update of the graphic, its renewed registration failed. Find out why the refresh of a descriptive organic trade mark requires the utmost care and intensive legal examination.
Trademark protection for special quality? – Quality mark
You want to draw attention to the sustainability or exceptional quality of your products or services by means of a quality mark that may only be used with your consent? Be careful if you hope to achieve this via a trade mark.
Trade mark for patented product – Global Yoshikin
In addition to time-limited patent protection, can indefinite trade mark protection be sought for the product shape of the Global Yoshikin knives?
Trademark protection for design product – Gömböc
Your product has an extraordinary design and a special technical function. The Gömbök is such a product. Is trade mark protection for such products easy to achieve?
Failed extension of protection with pattern mark – adidas
Who wouldn’t want a simple logo for their company that also best embodies the company’s goodwill while being recognised everywhere? adidas is the owner of such a logo. You know, the three stripes. However, adidas has failed in its attempt to extend the three-stripe protection.
Trade mark for simple figurative signs – adidas
Under what conditions can simple figurative signs be protected as trade marks? Even 12,000 pages of evidence of use were insufficient to prove the registrability of an additional adidas three-stripe mark in this important case.