martedì 18 settembre 2018

OREO vs TWINS - cookies with reputation


In case C‑487/07 the European Court of Justice clarified the European trademarks "with reputation" enjoy a broader level of protection under EU trademark law. Trademark owners that are able to show that their European Trademarks are known to a large portion of the public can not only act against younger identical and confusingly similar trademarks that are used for similar goods or services, but also against younger similar trademarks for goods/services that are not similar. This higher level of protection is only applicable if the use of the allegedly infringing trademark is without due cause and would take unfair advantage of, or be detrimental to, the distinctive character or reputation of the earlier EUTM. Therefore, OREO had gained reputation over the years, consumers will likely consider TWINS to be a possible replacement of the OREO cookies on the grounds of similar quality characteristics. In other words, TWINS is taking unfair advantage of the reputation and investment of OREO as a trademark:
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?docid=75459&doclang=en

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