It is not often that the passing of a new EU directive is considered world news, but you couldn’t have missed the passing of the new DSM directive. Large news websites and programs and countless blogs and vlogs discussed Article 17 (before: Article 13) and the so called “upload filter”.
Read MoreMathijs Peijnenburg was sworn in as a lawyer on 13 February 2019 at the District Court of Amsterdam and will continue his career as an associate at our firm. After a successful student internship, Mathijs Peijnenburg continued to work as a paralegal at Hoogenraad & Haak.
Read MoreFor years, Gaos B.V. has owned the domain name < ok.nl >: a beautifully pithy domain name which it hopes to put to good use in the future. For example, a positive website full of descriptions of beautiful things: there is already so much negativity in the world. It's just that Gaos’ director hasn't had the time to actually make good on this intention.
Read MoreWhen you sit in a restaurant, you're surrounded by copyright protected works: the art on the walls, the restaurant's logo on the menu and in some cases even the dining tables and chairs. But what's the situation with copyright protection of the most important thing in that restaurant - the flavour of the food and drink? This question has led to a lot of scratching of heads in IP land recently. The EU Court of Justice made its pronouncement on the matter on 13 November: flavour is not protected by copyright.
Read MoreShall we take an Uber (taxi)? That celebrity definitely used Botox (a toxin to treat facial wrinkles from Allergan Inc)! I gave my daughter a Barbie for her birthday (doll). It's so easy for these terms to creep in. You come up with a new product or service, it's a great success and, before you know it, the generic product or service comes to be designated by that brand name.
Read MoreFollowing a successful student internship at our office, Mathijs Peijnenburg has stayed on as a legal assistant with Hoogenraad & Haak. He has quickly made himself indispensable in that position. Mathijs will continue his career as an advocaat with our firm from 2019. He will be working across the full range of our practice areas. Mathijs studied in England, the Netherlands and Australia. He worked for a number of law firms while he was studying and also gave courses in pleading at Leiden University. In his spare time, Mathijs enjoys turning out on the hockey field.
Read MoreChocolate is available in all shapes and sizes: from ‘zeebanket’ (typical Dutch chocolates in the shape of shells) to chocolate letters during Sinterklaas (a ‘saint’ that brings presents to children in the Netherlands, similar to Santa Claus). Chocolate in certain shapes can be protected by copyright if it has an ‘own, original character’ (‘eigen, oorspronkelijk karakter’) and ‘the personal stamp of the creator’ (‘persoonlijk stempel van de maker’).
Read MoreIn trademark law, the public's level of attention is often critical. For instance, when buying luxury products (cars or watches, say), the public generally pays more attention than when making everyday purchases in a supermarket (dishwasher tablets, lighters). This difference in levels of attention means that a risk of confusion is more likely to arise between two brands of dishwasher tablets than if there were a similar conflict between car brands.But what about the level of attention for painkillers?
Read MoreNow that the days are gradually getting shorter and the temperature is dropping, people will be able to light their fireplaces more often. For those who do not have a fireplace, the gas-fuelled tabletop fireplace will be a wonderful addition to the home. And there is something for everyone here, because they are available in many different models and colours.
Read MoreAn Italian company saw an opportunity to use a JAGUAR lookalike trademark for products that included umbrellas, bags, and leather goods. Naturally, Jaguar Land Rover filed an opposition. A standard defence in claims relating to older trademark registrations is a request for ‘proof of use’: a trademark that has not been put to genuine use for a period of five years for the goods for which it was registered cannot be effectively invoked, and may even be cancelled.
Read MoreOn 7 september Maarten Haak held a lecture in Antwerp to 20 trademark consultants who follow a training to become a Certified Trademark Attorney of the Benelux Trademark and Design Association (BMM). The subject: how to act in case of a trademark conflict. About strategy, resolving conflicts, proceedings before the Dutch Court, the Benelux Court of Justice and the Court of Justice of the European Union. And, of course, the potential reputation management issues connected to proceedings.
Read MoreIt is a well known fact that you will infringe the Coca-Cola trade mark if you use it to sell your own cola, but does the removal of someone’s trade mark (even before the product is imported in the EU) constitute an infringement?
Read MoreWho didn’t liven up their school papers with images from Google or from books of the school library when they were young? Unaware of any harm, you’d copy and paste pictures of hamsters, football players and cities just to reach that minimum page count of that annoying school paper.
Read MorePuma often invokes the broader protection for trademarks with a reputation: protection against dilution, damage to reputation, and freeriding. Of course Puma will need to prove that its left-jumping cat marks indeed have a reputation. Yet is it really necessary that this evidence is provided in each and every procedure?
Read MoreBlack pumps with a red sole are a very well-known phenomenon in the world of high heels: they originate from the Frenchman Christian Louboutin. But successful trademarks are copied, and so, i.a. Van Haren also decided to release pumps with a red sole. Louboutin, the owner of a Benelux trade mark for his red sole since 2009, went to the court of The Hague.
Read MoreThe law on design always creates friction between the technical (functional) aspects of a user model and freedom of design. The law on design offers no protection for external features that are solely dictated by their technical function. This rule is unclear and generates a lot of debate.
Read MoreEven on appeal from a preliminary relief ruling, Mollen and Bakker concentrated their efforts on the design of grab buckets for mobile cranes and earth moving machines. The most important point at issue was whether Bakker's bucket, the RBOX, had its own place in the market for grab buckets.
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