The September edition of our quarterly Advertising | IP | Food Law news is out! Curious what the specialists at Hoogenraad & Haak have noticed in the world of advertising, intellectual property and food law? Then do read on. Please feel free to send us feedback – much appreciated! You can find our quarterly update here.
Read MoreAs of 1 September 2019 attorney-at-law Moïra Truijens is named partner with Amsterdam IP boutique firm Hoogenraad & Haak. Moïra mainly focusses on trademark, design and technology (patent law) issues. She works for both international concerns as for medium small enterprises. Moïra’s clients are primarily active in fashion, design and innovation.
Read MoreNew European rules will be introduced for the marketing of dual quality products: products of the same brand and with the same packaging, but with a different quality per Member State. Are the rules getting stricter, or will it turn out better than expected?
Read More"Up to 30% discount on everything*", "DISCOUNT ON THE ENTIRE SITE*, be quick!". They are familiar slogans on websites, in mailboxes and on leaflets. Does the use of the words "everything" and "ENTIRE" mean that there is actually a discount on everything, or is it still possible to make exceptions?
Read MoreWhere should the packaging say that a product tastes like the depicted fruit? For a moment it seemed that taste could no longer be mentioned at all! The Advertising Code Committee had - unintentionally - clumsily written this down in the Optimel Vanilla custard case, filed by Foodwatch.
Read MoreThe four-year dispute between Louis Vuitton and My Other Bag has finally been settled.My Other Bag sells canvas bags with (simplified) images of designer bags from various luxury brands for $30 a piece. Those of Louis Vuitton are well represented in the My Other Bag collection.
Read MoreNews from Europe: on 17 April 2019 the European Parliament voted to amend the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Most important change: much higher maximum fines for among others misleading advertising.
Read MoreThe recognizability of advertisements is often a point of discussion. For example, brochures on fire safety or the number of burglaries in the neighborhood turn out to be advertisement for smoke detectors and alarm systems. This kind of "informative advertising" is quite common and in the end it is often clear which company is trying to sell you a smoke detector.
Read MoreIt 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 MoreFortunately, it is now clear: when an influencer is being very positive about a product, but the producer of the product has nothing to do with that influencer (the producer did not pay for the positive post,neither is the product sampled), such a positive post falls under the freedom of speech while the strict rules on advertising do not apply. The Advertising Code for Social Media is not applicable. In cases like this, there is no need to mention something like #adv.
Read MoreEvery parent knows the situation: your child wants to buy certain cookies, with the Minions pictured on the packaging, or Dora The Explorer. The Stop Unhealthy Food Marketing to Kids Coalition could not stand it any longer and it is about to change. For a while, there has been regulations on advertising for foodstuffs: they may not be targeted at children of twelve years and younger.
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 MorePlatforms such as Facebook and Instagram contain more and more advertisements. Some of these advertisements come from parties that offer counterfeit goods according to a fixed pattern. Recently, the Preliminary Judge of the District Court of Amsterdam ruled that Facebook is acting unlawfully towards Tommy Hilfiger by allowing advertisements (which meet certain specific characteristics) promoting counterfeit goods on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
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 ‘Edmond de Belamy’ was auctioned by Christie’s in October, nobody asked whether copyright can rest on a portrait made by an algorithm. The main question at the auction was how much the portrait would be worth, knowing that it was not made by a famous painter, but by a computer.
Read MoreGreat news! Our colleague Sarah Arayess was awarded the Wim Mak BMM Award today. Sarah receives this prestigious recognition for her article on food law and trade marks.The Wim Mak BMM Award was established by the Benelux Association for Trademark and Design Law (BMM).
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 MoreDo you remember them? The blue and green tick marks on food packaging. These symbols have been in use since 2006 to help consumers choose healthier products. The party was over after 10 years: the tick marks were about to disappear gradually from the shelves. Products can no longer be produced with the tick marks after 18 October of this year.
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