News & opinion

A recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union has clarified the design concepts of creation and individual character.  

In response to a preliminary question referred by the French Court of Cassation, the CJEU has clarified the principle that a trademark bearing a designer’s name may become deceptive due to its use after the designer’s departure.

The priority rule is an essential tool for EU trademark owners, since it allows applicants to obtain protection retroactively. However, a recent judgment by the EU General Court has reaffirmed that its use cannot be stretched indefinitely (at least in EU trademark law).

Is a sign consisting of a date sufficiently distinctive to be registered as a trademark in the watch and jewellery sector? In September 2025, the General Court of the European Union answered this in the negative regarding the application by watchmaker Montres Tudor SA to register ‘1926’ as a trademark right.

The UK Intellectual Property Office has announced that fees across its patents, trademarks and registered designs services will rise by an average of 25% from 1 April 2026, subject to parliamentary approval.

In the recent Lost Mary UDRP case, the Czech Arbitration Court ventured a reinterpretation of the long-established Oki Data criteria. Koen de Winder recaps the basic principles of UDRP domain name disputes and the Oki Data criteria, and explores the possible implications of this latest decision.

The addition of a secondary element, such as ‘by’, is not enough to differentiate a mark from a well-known trademark even in a different market, as Clarisse Merdy explains in the context of a recent dispute between oil giant OMV AG and a feminine hygiene brand.

Haribo's EU trademark application for its Goldbears teddy bear was rejected by the EUIPO due to a lack of distinctiveness. Now the EU General Court has confirmed that the two-dimensional figurative trademark is too simple and too decorative to qualify for trademark protection, as Armelle Blachier explains.

As of 1 October 2025, the European Patent Office (EPO) formally permits the electronic filing and processing of colour and greyscale drawings in European patent applications. We outline the key changes and their legal implications.

With Halloween just around the corner, it can be fun to get spooked. However, when it comes to trademark protection, you don't want to be...

Premier Inn has successfully defended a trademark infringement case brought by easyGroup concerning the use of the phrase ‘rest easy’, highlighting the limits of trademark protection where commonly used language is involved and reinforcing the importance of context and consumer perception in brand disputes. 

In June 2025, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled in favour of luxury watchmaker Rolex in a longstanding dispute with Pinel et Pinel over its watch winders, finding Pinel liable for unfair competition, misleading commercial practices and parasitism, as Florence Chapin explains.