Organisation: Lidl

In <I>Lidl Stiftung & Co KG v OHIM</I>, the General Court has annulled a decision of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM in which the latter had found that A Colmeia do Minho Lda had proved that its national Portuguese marks GLOBO had been put to genuine use for a number of goods in Classes 29 and 30. The decision shows that the requirements to prove genuine use for everyday consumer goods are high and increasing.

31 October 2014

<i>World Trademark Review</i> presents its annual focus on the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, polling users to gauge sentiment on its performance, assessing the impact of upcoming legislative changes and presenting updates direct from Alicante.

31 August 2014

In <I>Lidl Stiftung & Co KG v OHIM</I>, the General Court has upheld decisions of the First Board of Appeal of OHIM finding that there was a likelihood of confusion between the marks LIDL EXPRESS and LIDL on the one hand, and the earlier mark LIDL MUSIC on the other. In doing so, the court followed a less restrictive approach to genuine use in accordance with the combined provisions of Articles 15(1), 42(2) and (3) of the Community Trademark Regulation (207/2009).

06 March 2014

In <i>OHIM v riha WeserGold Getranke GmbH & Co KG</i>, the ECJ has found that distinctiveness - enhanced or otherwise - is not relevant to the assessment of likelihood of confusion between dissimilar trademarks. The decision shows that, if there is no identity or similarity between the marks at issue, a finding of likelihood of confusion is impossible, irrespective of whether the earlier mark has enhanced distinctiveness.

07 February 2014

In <i>Lidl Stiftung & Co KG v OHIM</i>, the General Court has upheld a decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of OHIM finding that there was a likelihood of confusion between the marks BELLRAM and RAM. Among other things, the court held that, although the board had based its assessment of the likelihood of confusion on a mark that the Opposition Division had not taken into account, the opponent had relied upon such mark in support of the opposition.

01 February 2013

In <i>Yilmaz v OHIM</i>, the General Court has upheld a decision of the Second Board of Appeal of OHIM finding that there was no likelihood of confusion between the mark TEQUILA MATADOR HECHO EN MEXICO for tequila and the earlier mark MATADOR for beer. Among other things, the court held that, due to the differences between the goods, the relevant public was unlikely to believe that the same undertaking produced and marketed the two types of beverage at the same time.

18 October 2012

A recent article in the UK’s <i>Daily Telegraph</i> shone a light onto the seemingly recession-proof performance of fixed-price budget chains, including Poundland. One way in which it pulls in the punters is by marketing so-called ‘phantom brands’ to create a more appealing shopping experience. Other retailers have also deployed phantom brands to increase market share – setting alarm bells ringing for name-brand owners already facing massive competition from supermarkets.

24 September 2012

The Sofia City Administrative Court has reversed a decision of the Bulgarian Patent Office in which the latter had cancelled the word mark ОПТИСАЛ (OPTISAL) for goods in Class 5 on the grounds that it was confusingly similar to Lidl Stiftung & Co KG’s Community trademarks OPTISANA, which also covered goods in Class 5.

05 September 2012

A number of Australian supermarket chains have sought to expand their offerings of cheaper private label or ‘own-brand’ products in response to increased demand due to the recession. While a familiar challenge to many international brand owners, Australian retailers have been warned by one industry heavyweight that there is a limit to how far they can go.

18 June 2012

In <i>McNeill v Colthurst</i>, the hearing officer has revoked the registration of the trademark BLARNEY under Section 51(1)(a) of the Trademarks Act 1996. Among other things, the hearing officer noted that the marketplace must be protected by not allowing trademarks to change hands as a defensive mechanism or justifiable reason for staving off potential attacks.

13 December 2011