Making the earth happier…
A brochure for a sustainable solar boiler contains an environmental claim. In summertime, the solar panels heat the solar boiler. For the winter months, a log fire helps to heat the water in the solar boiler, reducing gas consumption by 70%. The brochure's text is enthusiastic, with a quip: "This makes the whole Dutch environment, even the earth, happier". The complainant found this unacceptable: logs give off particulates and are therefore harmful rather than environmentally friendly. A full debate ensued.
Read More
Mathijs Peijnenburg promoted to advocaat
Following 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 More
NEWS 2018-04
Our latest NEWS has just been published! An easy-to-read overview of developments in advertising law, intellectual property and food law in the Netherlands and Europe.
Read More
No copyright protection for chocolate sticks and curls
Chocolate 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 More
Menarini v Biofarma: high level of attention to trademark for painkillers
In 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 More
PR agency receives high fine for violation of advertising ban for medicines
In the Netherlands, it is prohibited to advertise medicines to the general public. The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport enforces strictly and imposes fines up to EUR 450.000 for each violation. A recent judgement proves that this fine cannot only be imposed on the manufacturer, but also on the PR agency that acts in the interests of the manufacturer. Agencies beware!
Read More
CBD oil to combat exam stress
In a television commercial, a cool teenager confides that he is extremely tense about his final exams. Luckily, he has Original Clear Mind, ‘which helps me concentrate better and improves my academic performance’. The applicant considered touting this product to minors to be a grave mistake. The applicant was confusing ordinary CBD oil with the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis: THC.
Read More
The perfect actor(s) for the job?
The Shawshank Redemption without Morgan Freeman, Forrest Gump without Tom Hanks, both inconceivable. In most movies there is only one perfect man or woman for the job. However, this is different in the world of theater. It is not unusual that instead of the acclaimed Tony Award winner, you get to see a so called alternate in the lead. Not everyone is aware of this system though. And so, a visitor of the Dutch musical “Was getekend, Annie M.G. Schmidt” filed a complaint with the Dutch Advertising Code Committee (ACC).
Read More
The applesauce comparison with a 'random' A-brand
A video produced by Servero, an apple sauce producer, was posted on YouTube. A presenter asks passersby to take part in a taste test. Sample A is Servero’s 100% apple sauce without added sugar. Sample B is a ‘random’ leading brand with a purple lid that contains ‘no less than seven cubes of sugar’. Eight of the ten participants preferred the Servero 100% apple sauce. According to competitor HAK, it is abundantly clear that Sample B is its own HAK apple sauce.
Read More
Gas-fuelled tabletop fireplace survives thanks to its wood-like veneer
Now 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 More
(Surreptitious) advertisement for a medication
The Dutch Advertising Code Committee (Reclame Code Commissie, RCC), received a complaint about communications in a brochure and on the website of the Stichting Bewegen Zonder Pijn (SBZP). The communications referred to a specific combination of ingredients. They seemed to be purely informative. But according to pharmaceutical industry association Neprofarm, they actually involved surreptitious advertising, partly originating from Synofit, a manufacturer of dietary supplements, for its product Synofit Premium
Read More
The Witte Wieven, everyone knows who they are!
The Witte Wieven (“Women in White”)…are mythical creatures. They are thought to be the spirits of wise female herbalists that remained on earth. They appear in epic stories, sometimes to help, sometimes to hinder. … the Witte Wieven are often referred to in connection with witches and ghosts. This is what the English version of Wikipedia has to say about ‘witte wieven’.
Read More
What does ‘Skinny Orange’ mean?
What ingredients do you think are in the product below on the left? No, don’t keep reading, I really want your opinion. Go on. I can wait. You can also share your thoughts with me by email. Done? The applicant felt he had been misled. He thought that the product only contained orange juice and so felt cheated when the rest of the packaging revealed that the product contained 33% water. Misleading!
Read More
Wine grower Ilja Gort left empty-handed in fight against Dutch Tulip Vodka
Wine grower, writer, and television presenter Ilja Gort is the co-founder and owner of the Chateau de la Garde winery. One of the winery’s best-known and best-selling wines is ‘La Tulipe’, which graces the shelves of Albert Heijn supermarkets. Chateau de la Garde has multiple registrations for the word mark LA TULIPE. Last summer, De la Garde successfully defended its trademark against a Hema brand wine bearing a tulip on the label.
Read More
NVWA 2018: focus on misleading claims and publishing sanctions
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit, NVWA) has just recently published its annual plan, providing an interesting look behind the scenes. The NVWA lists as its core values: reliability, independence, transparency, and professionalism. Stemming from these is its clarification about where its priorities lie.
Read More
Jaguar Land Rover blocks JAGUAR trademark for leather goods
An 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 More
NEWS 2018-03
Our latest NEWS has just been published! An easy-to-read overview of developments in advertising law, intellectual property and food law in the Netherlands and Europe.
Read More
Maarten Haak speaks in Antwerp about resolving trademark conflicts
On 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 More
Removing trade marks? Don’t you Du(ma) it!
It 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 More
My paper is on… COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!
Who 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 More
