On 18 March 2020, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office ("DPMA") has announced the extensions for all time limits granted by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office regarding all pending IP procedures.

When IP rights are infringed, proportionality might have to be considered in litigation in Germany. For which claims are such considerations relevant? Which effects do they have? And which case law plays a role?

The good news is that there is not yet a trademark office in the Metaverse.

In its decision of 15 January 2015, the General Court of the European Union (GC) held that the Principality of Monaco cannot claim protection of the word mark MONACO in the European Union in respect of some of the goods and services applied for.

Germany, as another example, also put some special legislation into place.

On 16 June 2016, the General Court of the European Union rejected an opposition by Fútbol Club Barcelona to the wordmark "KULE" (T‑614/14). The opposition was based on an alleged infringement of the club's Spanish wordmark "CULE," the term culé being a Spanish variation of the Catalan word cul and used as a nickname for supporters of the club.

Künftig gibt es auch für die Qualität gewerblicher Schutzrechte (Intellectual Property / IP) eine DIN-Norm.

In April 2015 the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional political agreement on the trademark reform package.

According to press reports, Berlin Regional Court (Landgericht Berlin) has declared the German word mark "Black Friday" to be revoked for more than 900 goods and services...

The General Court has upheld a EUIPO Board of Appeal decision invalidating an EU figurative trade mark featuring the letters "MK" and the words "MICHAEL MICHELE" (shown below on the left)...

2020 brings significant changes in the field of trademark law for proceedings before the German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO).

The owner of the mark disagreed and filed a complaint against this cancellation decision with the German Federal Patent Court.

Am 17. Oktober 2018 hat der Bundesgerichtshof die Nichtzulassungsbeschwerde von Bigben Interactive GmbH und Bigben Interactive S.A. (I ZR 28/18) gegen die Nichtzulassung der Revision gegen ein ...

On 16 June 2015, the General Court of the European Union (GC) has dismissed an application for a declaration of invalidity in respect of a three-dimensional Community Trademark for the shape of a LEGO figure.

In an October 1, 2019, decision, the Higher Regional Court Frankfurt am Main held that the use of a model name for trousers does not constitute an infringing use of another party's registered trademark for clothing.

A dispute currently pending before the German Federal Supreme Court will determine the destiny and firepower of a few thousand collective marks, which essentially consist of an indication of...

It is quite common in the fashion and beauty industry to use the first name and surname of the owner as a company brand name.

In a newly released case report, the German Federal Cartel Office explains its stance towards the restrictions on the use of third party internet platforms imposed by adidas.

Amazon darf bei der Suche nach bestimmten Markenprodukten – auch wenn diese nicht über Amazon vertrieben werden - Alternativprodukte anderer Hersteller auflisten, solange deutlich kenntlich gemacht ist, ...