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ARTICLE · 07 OCTOBER 2008

Comparative Advertising And Trademark Protection

Portolano Cavallo
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On June 12 2008 the European Court of Justice issued judgment in O2 Holdings Limited and O2 (UK) Limited v Hutchinson 3G UK Limited [2008] C-533/06 and set out some interpretative principles on the questions of trademark protection and comparative advertising for identical or similar products.

ItalyIntellectual Property
Cristina Romano
Cristina Romano

On June 12 2008 the European Court of Justice issued judgment in O2 Holdings Limited and O2 (UK) Limited v Hutchinson 3G UK Limited [2008] C-533/06 and set out some interpretative principles on the questions of trademark protection and comparative advertising for identical or similar products.

O2 Holdings Limited and O2 (UK) Limited carry out business as suppliers of mobile telephone services and advertise their products using bubble images. They own two national figurative trademarks, each consisting of a static picture of bubbles.

In 2004 Hutchinson 3G UK Limited, which is also a provider of mobile telephone services, launched an advertising campaign in which it compared the prices of its services to those rendered by O2 and O2 UK. The television advertisement began by using the name O2 and moving black-and-white bubble images, followed by imagery relating to H3G and a message about H3G's comparatively cheaper services.

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