Organisation: Gucci

The Supreme Court has made a number of alterations to decisions of the Maritime and Commercial Court ordering fashion houses Gucci and Bottega Veneta to pay compensation to an importer that they had accused of marketing counterfeit goods and trademark infringement. Among other things, the court found that Gucci's rights had not lapsed due to passivity, even though the imitations had been in the market for a number of years.

12 February 2013

In <i>Guccio Gucci SpA v OHIM</i>, the General Court has partially annulled a decision of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM in the context of opposition proceedings filed by Gucci against a CTM application for GUDDY. Among other things, the court held that the board's decision did not make it possible to understand the reasons why the documents provided by Gucci were insufficient to prove the distinctive character of the GUCCI mark in relation to certain goods.

26 July 2012

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision of a first instance court in which the latter had ruled that the application for GUECCA, which covered goods and services in Classes 18, 25 and 35, was confusingly similar to the well-known GUCCI marks. Among other things, the lower court had stated that, as GUCCI is a well-known trademark in the textile and fashion sector, there was no doubt that the application had been filed in bad faith.

06 July 2012

Leading the list of the most-read <i>WTR</i> Premium Updates in June was coverage of the long-awaited <i>IP TRANSLATOR</i> decision. The Court of Justice of the European Union’s judgment in <i>Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys v Registrar of Trademarks</i> (Case C-307/10) dealt for the first time with important questions regarding the specification of goods and services.

05 July 2012

While Marques is often thought of as a European organization, it necessarily has an international outlook, and last week the association held its first ever meeting in China. Representatives from some of the country’s physical and online markets had their say about the counterfeiting issue, and attempts to clamp down on illicit trade.

19 June 2012

The Court of Patent Appeals has rejected Korean car manufacturer Kia Motors’ application for the registration of a trademark for its auto repair and maintenance services based on a sole trader’s business name registration with the Companies Registration Office. The decision appears to contradict the preparatory works of the new Trademark Act and recent case law concerning the level of protection of business names in relation to trademarks.

11 June 2012

In <i>Gucci America Inc v Guess? Inc</i>, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York has ended a long-running dispute between Guess and Gucci over the use of certain 'G'-related trademarks. The court found Guess and certain of its licensees guilty of trademark infringement and dilution and awarded profits based on Guess’ (and its licensees’) sales. The court based its findings on the theory of 'post-sale confusion'.

08 June 2012

Last night, taking a short break from receptions organised by others, WTR turned host and celebrated the best in-house trademark counsel in the industry at the sixth annual Industry Awards ceremony. Among those honoured were teams from adidas, Mars and BMW, with Alan Drewsen picking up the Lifetime Achievement award.

09 May 2012

Almost 1,500 nominations and two months of extensive research later, the shortlist for this year's WTR Industry Awards can now be revealed. The awards recognise the vital work of in-house trademark counsel and identify those teams and individuals that are performing their functions to the highest standards. The winners will be announced next month at an exclusive reception in Washington DC.

19 April 2012