Organisation: Vans Inc

The Delhi High Court’s declaration that well-known trademark status does not give the proprietor automatic rights has highlighted the importance of prior common law and registered marks in India. It implies that an appreciation of circumstances – not just similarities between two marks – can determine the outcome of a dispute.

25 July 2024

The recognition of a mark as well known does not give an automatic right to its owner to apply for rectification of other marks that have subsisted on the register for several years. 

05 June 2024

Even when use of another’s trademark is for an expressive purpose, the First Amendment does not cover situations where the mark is still used for source identification. 

04 January 2024

Featured in Litigation landscape

Trademark litigation filings at US district court level are set to increase marginally for the second consecutive year, according to the latest data projections from Docket Navigator.

17 July 2023

The Ninth Circuit BAD SPANIELS ruling should be taken seriously as an immediate problem to be solved, argues Leason Ellis partner Martin Schwimmer, in this week's guest opinion column.

21 May 2022

US sports footwear company Vans Inc has failed in its attempt to prevent the registration of a position mark for footwear based on two earlier figurative marks.

28 September 2021

The Peruvian Trademark Office’s Direction of Distinctive Signs has upheld an appeal by Vans Inc claiming that its internationally famous ‘Checkerboard Slip-On’ design has a high level of distinctiveness and is associated with a specific business origin.

22 January 2021

In <I>Vans Inc v OHIM</I>, the General Court has upheld a decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of OHIM finding that a figurative sign consisting of a wavy line was devoid of any distinctive character and had not acquired distinctiveness through use. This case shows that, in order to claim successfully that a simple sign has acquired distinctive character, the owner must prove that a significant proportion of the relevant public has come to recognise the sign as an indicator of origin.

21 November 2014