How does the court view whether someone else’s trade name or logo appears to be too similar to your trade name and/or brand? Manita Hamberg, a lawyer specialised in trademark and intellectual property law, discusses this based on a recent lawsuit brought by Loods 5 against a company called Loods G.
A brand or trademark can be registered with the European Union’s Bureau for Intellectual Property (EUIPO). The brand-holder then enjoys protection in all member states of the EU in a single go. But the holder of a brand must indeed “maintain” his brand; otherwise his rights may lapse under certain circumstances. In recent summary proceedings, the judge had to assess whether the brand name for a type of hair extension product was indeed still valid. Trademark law attorney Hidde Reitsma explains the defendant’s claim of validity.
Since 14 April 2016 the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG) has been adopted in the Netherlands. This means that starting from 25 May 2018 only one privacy law applies throughout the whole EU, instead of different national laws. Dutch lawyer for intellectual property law Manita Hamberg explains the most important changes and indicates what to look out for.
We previously published a blog about an IP action involving the same issue as in this action, namely: is it unlawful to promote one’s company under the same brand name as another company via Google Adwords? The District Court of The Hague recently gave a judgement about this in a legal action. Dutch Intellectual Property lawyer Martijn Kesler explains.
Lingerie company Victoria’s Secret discovered that imitations of their products bearing their logo were being offered on the Dutch classified advertising site, Marktplaats.nl, by an advertiser calling itself ‘Victoria’s Secret Lady.’ Behind this name was a ‘welfare mother’ trying to earn some extra cash. Is this circumstance relevant to the case? Dutch Intellectual property rights lawyer Hidde Reitsma discusses the judgement in this trademark infringement case.
The success of a business depends (among others) on its reputation. Reputation damage can have very serious negative consequences and can sometimes even destroy a company. It is therefore not surprising that in recent preliminary relief proceedings the court rightfully reprimanded the responding party for his wrongful remarks about the claimant. Dutch media lawyer Thomas van Vugt summarizes this case.
A trademark owner who wants to act against infringement of his trademark rights will normally ask the court to impose a prohibition against further trademark infringement. But there are various other claims that the trademark owner can use to enforce his rights. Dutch intellectual property lawyer Hidde Reitsma discusses the possibility of damage compensation for trademark infringement based on a classical case about counterfeit designer clothing.
There is a case of bad faith, for example, if another party officially registers the trademark that you use for your business, behind your back. Recently there was a court case about a similar issue at the Court of Preliminary Relief Proceedings in The Hague. Dutch Intellectual property lawyer Martijn Kesler explains.
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