The Interaction with Other Areas of the Law

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Mühlendahl ◽  
Dimitris Botis ◽  
Spyros Maniatis ◽  
Imogen Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Competition Law ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
Bad Faith ◽  
Trade Marks ◽  
Domain Names ◽  
The Third ◽  
Trade Mark Law ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Relationship

Competition law and the free movement of goods principles have guided the development of trade mark law in Europe. This chapter will examine other relationships. The first part considers the use of trade marks in comparative advertisements. We have seen in Chapter 7 how comparative advertising has delineated the limits of trade mark law. Here the other side of the relationship is examined. Chapter 5 considered whether a geographical name can function and be protected as a trade mark and the limits of such protection. The second part of this chapter gives a flavour of the system of protecting product designations as geographical indications of origin. The third part looks at the clash between trade marks and domain names and the catalysing role of the concept of bad faith. The fourth part is a good example of how one dispute between distinguishing signs can become the common theme of distinct plots performed before different European audiences;

27. Trade marks—European and international aspects

2019 ◽  
pp. 489-514
Author(s):  
Paul Torremans
Keyword(s):  
Competition Law ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
Free Movement ◽  
Registration System ◽  
Trade Marks ◽  
Trade Mark Law ◽  
Free Movement Of Goods ◽  
International Aspects ◽  
Paris Convention ◽  
The Eu

This chapter discusses the international and European aspects of trade marks. Trade mark law is based on the Paris Convention and the TRIPS Agreement, with the Madrid system offering an international registration system. Inside the EU, one can also register a single trade mark for the whole of the Community by means of the Community Trade Mark Regulation. Trade mark law also has a substantial interaction with the Treaty provisions on the free movement of goods, but minimal conflict with competition law.

28. Tortious protection of intellectual property rights

2019 ◽  
pp. 515-550
Author(s):  
Paul Torremans
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
Trade Marks ◽  
Passing Off ◽  
Trade Mark Law ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Law

This chapter discusses the ways in which the common law, in the form of the law of tort, creates rights of action. It focuses on the torts of passing off and malicious falsehood, although attention is also paid to the ways in which defamation can assist. These rights are supplementary, and complementary, to the statutory formal rights. In particular, trade mark law and passing off closely overlap, although s. 2(2) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 preserves passing off as a separate cause of action.

Trade Marks and Competition Law

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Mühlendahl ◽  
Dimitris Botis ◽  
Spyros Maniatis ◽  
Imogen Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Competition Law ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
European Market ◽  
Trade Marks ◽  
Market Dominance ◽  
Competition Rules ◽  
The Common ◽  
Scope Of Protection ◽  
Article 102 Tfeu

In this chapter we will examine briefly the formal interaction between trade marks and competition law. We have seen that competition questions were raised in the previous chapter in respect of the potential function of trade mark rights as tools for compartmentalizing the common European market into national markets. We have also highlighted the competition arguments and rationale considered by the Court first in determining what constitutes a protectable trade mark and second in delineating the scope of protection. Here, the focus shifts to how trade mark rights and agreements involving trade marks are weighed up by competition law. The two primary competition rules that are described below deal with anti-​competitive collusion (Article 101 TFEU, previously Article 81 EC) and abuse of market dominance (Article 102 TFEU, previously Article 82 EC).

Trade Marks in Europe and the Court of Justice of the European Union

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Mühlendahl ◽  
Dimitris Botis ◽  
Spyros Maniatis ◽  
Imogen Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trade Marks ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Trade Mark Law

The purpose of this chapter is to offer an introduction on the role of the Court of Justice and its effect on the development of trade mark law in Europe.

scholarly journals Facing the 'Bad Faith'

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-127
Author(s):  
Tamar Khuchua
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Bad Faith ◽  
Trade Marks ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Trade Mark Law ◽  
Legislative Changes ◽  
The Eu

The Court of Justice of the European Union has suggested that when the concept set out in the EU regulation is not defined by that regulation, it should be understood according to its usual, everyday meaning. There is no doubt that the understanding of ‘bad faith’ might differ from one person to another and especially from one firm to another. Indeed, ‘bad faith’ in trade mark law might take many different forms which are not easy to detect as the large number of cases concerning the issue of ‘bad faith’ in relation to national and EU trade marks illustrate. By analysing the current legislative framework as well as the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the paper suggests that in order to maintain and even extend the smooth functioning of the EU trade mark system, legislative changes should be introduced. In particular, it is argued that it is reasonable to examine the intention of trade mark applicants already at the application stage in order to avoid the waste of resources and the burden of dealing with the trade marks registered in ‘bad faith’ in the invalidity proceedings post factum and to provide a non-exhaustive list of what elements the ‘bad faith’ can consist of. These amendments should also do good in terms of serving the broader goals of the EU law, which amongst others include, undistorted competition, legal certainty and sound administration.

scholarly journals Protecting Trade Mark Proprietors Against Unfair Competition in EU Trade Mark Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 152-163
Author(s):  
Gea Lepik
Keyword(s):  
Competition Law ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Unfair Competition ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Trade Marks ◽  
Unfair Competition Law ◽  
Trade Mark Law ◽  
Eu Trade Mark Law ◽  
The Eu

With aims of protecting trade mark proprietors against commercial practices of third parties that could hinder the use of the trade mark in informing and attracting customers, negatively influence its selling power, or exploit its attractive force, the EU legislator and the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) have broadened the protection afforded under trade mark law to cover such acts. At the same time, the CJEU has sought appropriate balance between the exclusive rights of trade mark proprietors and the interests of third parties, in allowing those practices that can be deemed acceptable as part of fair competition. The author argues that, in consequence, EU trade mark law is becoming ever more an EU law of unfair competition with regard to practices that involve the use of trade marks. The article represents an attempt to explain these developments by looking at specific policy choices and decisions of the CJEU on the protection of trade marks, alongside the wider context of EU law dealing with unfair competition. A key conclusion is that, in light of the lack of harmonisation of unfair competition law in the EU (at least pertaining to practices that affect businesses), the widening of the scope of protection under trade mark law helps to ensure the necessary degree of harmonisation while avoiding a parallel system of protection. When compared to pre-existing EU instruments of unfair competition law that prohibit certain uses of trade marks, this approach provides trade mark proprietors with a more efficient mechanism for enforcing their rights. In the course of elucidating this finding, the article gives the reader an understanding of how EU law addresses the protection of the commercial value of trade marks.

Four Dimensions of Diamond T: Combination Trade Marks of Colours And Shapes

2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 583
Author(s):  
Michael McGowan
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
Fourth Dimension ◽  
Trade Marks ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Trade Mark Law ◽  
Dimensional Shape ◽  
Three Dimensional Shape

This article examines the relatively new fields of colour and shape trade marks. It was initially feared by some academics that the new marks would encroach on the realms of patent and copyright.  However, the traditional requirements of trade mark law, such as functionality and descriptiveness, have meant that trade marks in colour and shape are extremely hard to acquire if they do not have factual distinctiveness. As colour and shape trade marks have no special restrictions, it is proposed that the combination trade mark theory and analysis from the Diamond T case should be used as a way to make them more accessible. The combination analysis can be easily applied because every product has a three dimensional shape and a fourth dimension of colour.

The Trade Mark, Other Product Designations, and Goodwill

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Pila
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
Geographical Indication ◽  
Passing Off ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Essential Properties ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers the meaning of the terms that appropriately denote the subject matter protectable by registered trade mark and allied rights, including the common law action of passing off. Drawing on the earlier analyses of the objects protectable by patent and copyright, it defines the trade mark, designation of origin, and geographical indication in their current European and UK conception as hybrid inventions/works in the form of purpose-limited expressive objects. It also considers the relationship between the different requirements for trade mark and allied rights protection, and related principles of entitlement. In its conclusion, the legal understandings of trade mark and allied rights subject matter are presented as answers to the questions identified in Chapter 3 concerning the categories and essential properties of the subject matter in question, their method of individuation, and the relationship between and method of establishing their and their tokens’ existence.

Women’s Liberation and the Agrarian Question: Insights from Peasant Movements in India

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-40
Author(s):  
Archana Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Social Transformation ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Class Consciousness ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Agrarian Question ◽  
The Third ◽  
Peasant Movements ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
The Relationship

This article explores some questions arising from recent debates on patriarchy and capitalism. The focus is on the role of women in communist-led peasant movements in India and the implications of such struggles on the project of women’s emancipation. The first section lays out a framework for discussing the interface between class consciousness and the anti-patriarchal project, whereby patriarchy is located within the structural contradictions arising out of the contestations within the process of accumulation. The second section documents the historical context, focusing on the relationship between land reforms and social transformation in semi-feudal and early capitalist contexts, and analyzes the extent to which communist-led struggles are anti-patriarchal in character. The third section turns to the participation of women in the contemporary struggles of both agricultural workers and peasant movements and underlines the new emerging dialectics between women’s and peasant organizations under a neoliberal state and with deepening agrarian distress.

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