The relevant non-English speaking public does not recognise the geographical reference "Kerry" as a geographical indication of the origin of the product. Likelihood of trade mark confusion. KERRY v. KERRY:

BACKGROUND TO THE DISPUTE Ornua Co-operative Ltd (hereinafter 'Ornua') is an Irish company which, since 1961, has been engaged in the production and export of Class 29 goods (dairy products), in particular butter, under various trade marks, including 'Kerrygold'. The use of the distinctive sign of its trade mark 'Kerrygold' dates back to 1962, when it began marketing butter under that sign in the United Kingdom, where it has a very significant presence. In addition, now, Ornua markets these…


Industrial design. Damages prior to rei vindicatio proceedings

BATH COLLECTION SL, as plaintiff, filed a statement of claim against BATHFORTE SL AND OTHERS, defendant, in which the main actions for claiming registration of the industrial design and infringement of the same, and subsidiary actions for unfair competition, were deducted. The First Instance Judgment partially upheld the claim, but did not accept the claim for damages. In order to make those rulings, the judgment was based on the fact that the defendant acted in bad faith in obtaining…


Word element of a figurative mark is not decisive in determining whether there is a likelihood of confusion if that element is descriptive. Escuela de doblaje de Asturias.

The plaintiff, bringing actions for infringement of trade mark rights under Article 41 of Law 17/2001, of 7 December 2001, on Trade Marks ("LM"), and actions arising from unfair competition for committing acts of obstruction and acts subsumable under Articles 6 and 12 of Law 3/1991, of 10 January 1991, on Unfair Competition. The plaintiff uses as its title the mixed mark consisting of a representation of a desktop microphone and the word element "ESCUELA DE DOBLAJE DE ASTURIAS", registered for…


Patents. Rei vindicatio proceedings. Dismissal due to substantial differences between the patented and claimed technology.

The relevant facts of this judgement are as follows: 1) ICMA Sistemas, S.L. (hereinafter ICMA) entered into three research projects with the University of Vigo, financed by ICMA and partially subsidised by the Xunta de Galicia: (i) The first, entitled "Modelling, simulation and experimental study of a geothermal system for small and medium consumers", was directed by Arcadio, started on 10 July 2007 and had a duration of 12 months. (ii) The second, entitled "Design and experimental development…


Similarity of signs and goods. RUBIO chips

SUMMARY OF THE FACTS RUBIO SNACKS S.L., the appellant, is a company which is the proprietor of both the Spanish trade mark nº2.150.852 “RUBIO” and the EU trade mark nº 17.427.725 “RUBIO”, registered for goods in Class 29 of the International Nomenclature: "Potato crisps (English fries)";- "Potato crisps; soya and cassava crisps; potato crisps in bags; potato crisps in snack form; potato crisps in stick form; low-fat potato crisps; potato chips; dried fruit snacks; dates; dried figs.” On 20…


Similar domain name for the online sale of perfume and cosmetic products. Confusing acts.

BRASIL Y BELLEZA S.L., from now referred as B&B, is a company which is dedicated to the online wholesale of hairdressing and cosmetic products. On April 25, 2019, B&B filed before the Commercial Courts the following combined lawsuits: declaratory action of disloyalty, cessation of the disloyal conduct, removal of the produced effects, and action for damages against the defendant MY WAY BARCELONA, from now referred as MYWAY, a limited company dedicated to the sale of hairdressing and…


Advertising of alcoholic beverages on the public road from a private plot of land. Larios Rosé case

BACKGROUND The organisation ASOCIACIÓN DE USUARIOS DE LA COMUNICACIÓN brought an action at first instance for declaratory relief and cessation of unlawful advertising and unfair competition against the company "BEAM SUNTORY SPAIN, S.L.", a company engaged in the distillation, rectification and blending of alcoholic beverages. The action was based on the advertising of the trade mark "LARIOS ROSÉ", carried out by means of the installation of a billboard on a private plot of land located in…


CJEU considers that the evidence provided by EOS to prove distinctiveness through use in the European Union was not sufficient

The CJUE has recently rejected the admissibility of the appeal filed by Eos Products (hereinafter EOS) against the decision of the General Court (case C-672/21) dated 8 September 2021; considering that the evidence provided was not sufficient to prove distinctiveness, as a result, EOS has not been able to register the egg shape of its lip balm as a three-dimensional trademark. We proceed to a brief summary of the decisions issued by the various judicial authorities regarding the EOS…


Risk of confusion between "VITABLOCS TriLuxe forte" and "TRILUX"

BACKGROUND TO THE DISPUTE On December 9, 2015, Vita Zahnfabrik H. Rauter GmbH & Co, KG obtained international registration No. 1346271 with designation in the European Union, for the word trademark "VITABLOCS TriLuxe forte". The trademark was filed for the following classes: Class 5: “Dental ceramic composition in the form of blocks for preparing ceramic restorations; ceramic dental materials; dental ceramics for preparing dental prostheses; ceramic material for stopping teeth and dental…


Prohibition of offering the goods under the registered sign. Customs warehousing. Acts proving that the deposited goods were destined for illicit distribution within the European Union. Havaianas Case

The relevant facts in this case are as follows: Alpargatas, S.A. is the proprietor of the various figurative and mixed trademarks with the word element HAVAIANAS to identify, among other goods in class 25, clothing, footwear and headgear. Alpargatas Europe, S.L.U. is the exclusive distributor and licensee of these trademarks in the territory of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Marcas por Menos, S.L., in 2015, acquired in Panama 21,480 original Alpargatas sandals, identified with these…