Bringing you monthly news of key developments in intellectual property law.
TRADE MARKS
Roche Products v Kent Pharmaceuticals (Court of Appeal)
The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal brought by Kent, a parallel importer, against a High Court summary judgment decision to the effect that the presence of a CE mark on a pharmaceutical product did not indicate the manufacturer’s consent to the sale of the product within Europe. The case confirms the difficulty in proving the trade mark owner’s consent to importation and highlights the problems faced by importers who may purchase stock in good faith. However, given that the trade mark owner had expressly provided the goods for a trial in South America, demonstrating consent was never likely to have been easy on these facts.
