The Confusion Test In European Trade Mark Law

Introduction: The Likelihood of Confusion --Similarity of Marks --Composite Marks --Similarity of Goods and Services --Distinctiveness of the Marks --Assessing Likelihood of Confusion --The Timing of Confusion --Non-Traditional Marks and the Likelihood of Confusion.

A clear, complete and systematic account of the confusion test within the European trade mark system, analysing the subject's theoretical underpinnings and providing practical guidance on the relevant case law.

A clear, complete and systematic account of the confusion test within the European trade mark system, analysing the subject's theoretical underpinnings and providing practical guidance on the relevant case law.

Since 1994 European Union (EU) case law touching on trade mark confusion has become so diverse and has grown so numerous that it is difficult to see the wood for the trees. This is the first book to give a complete synthesis of the thousands of decisions that have been handed down over the past decades, illustrated with many examples and images. Providing a highly structured and complete overview of the confusion test and all assessment criteria as determined by the General Court and Court of Justice, the authors unravel the concept of likelihood of confusion and establish a sound and thorough methodology for resolving confusion in any trade mark case. Among the practical features offered by the analysis are the following: consideration of the constituent criteria of the confusion test through a simple three-step test examining the similarity among goods and services, similarity between different trade marks and global appreciation of confusion; the identification of the ‘relevant consumer’, including from territorial and linguistic points of view; guidance on procedural aspects of the confusion test before the EU courts, as well as before the EU Intellectual Property Office and its Boards of Appeal; identifying the dominant and distinctive components of a trade mark – phonetic, visual and conceptual; the concept of similarity and the Nice Agreement; the principle of ‘partial use’; effect of the terms of sale of the goods or services; consideration of the existence of a family or series of trade marks; and consideration of the effects of coexistence on the confusion test. Numerous illustrated examples of trade marks involved in confusion cases enhance the presentation. Any practitioner dealing with trademark confusion in infringement proceedings before EU or national courts, or in opposition proceedings before national offices or the EU Intellectual Property Office, will be enabled to approach each case with full awareness of applicable criteria of assessment. This much-needed synthesis of case law will quickly become a standard work among lawyers, examiners and judges acting in trade mark matters.

This book contends that, with regard to the likelihood of confusion standard, European trademark law applies the average consumer incoherently and inconsistently. To test this proposal, it presents an analysis of the horizontal and vertical level of harmonization of the average consumer. The horizontal part focuses on similar fictions in areas of law adjacent to European trademark law (and in economics), and the average consumer in unfair competition law. The vertical part focuses on European trademark law, represented mainly by EU trademark law, and the trademark laws of the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The book provides readers with a better understanding of key aspects of European trademark law (the average consumer applied as part of the likelihood of confusion standard) and combines relevant law and practices with theoretical content and other related areas of law (and economics). Accordingly, it is an asset for policymakers and practitioners, as well as general readers with an interest in intellectual property law and theory.

European Trade Mark Law provides a coherent and authoritative commentary on both the substantive and procedural aspects of European trade mark law. It presents an integrated picture of the two major trade mark law provisions at EU level: the Community Trade Mark Regulation (CMTR), which provides for the registration and protection of a Europe-wide mark; and the Trade Mark Directive (TMD), which aims to harmonise national trade mark laws. The book's core focus is the Community texts and case law, and it offers a detailed analysis of the CMTD and TMD, as well as practical discussion of the procedure for registering, maintaining, and challenging a trade mark through the European Trade Mark Office and at the national level. It considers how national laws have been successfully harmonised by the TMD, and where they differ significantly from others in their implementation of the Directive. Written by one of the leading trade mark lawyers in Europe, this is an invaluable reference for both academics and practitioners in this complex and rapidly developing area of law.

Trade mark law practitioners agree that Ulrich Hildebrandt’s Trade Mark Law in Europe hugely enhances their work. This fourth edition follows the same well-known, intensely practical, time-saving format, with each provision of current law (Directive 2015/2436) reproduced in its original English wording and annotated with relevant passages from all relevant decisions of the European Court of Justice, as well as relevant provisions of the Community Trade Mark Regulation and the national trade mark acts of all Member States implementing the Directive. The author’s expert commentary on each provision expressly marks major changes to previous versions of the Directive, highlights when case law concerning a previous version remains relevant and translates passages that lack an official English text. Among the fundamental questions addressed are the following: When is it possible to register a geographical indication as a trademark? Are colours and sounds capable of registration? When may the reputation of a mark be invoked to protect it? How mundane could a sign be and still claim to be distinctive? When can it be said that there has been no genuine use of a trade mark? Where does the Court’s function theory influence the trademark law? Given a topic or keyword, appendices assist in the quick finding of any provision of the Directive and relevant case law. There is no other resource presenting the original wording of ECJ case law, broken down by specific points of law and directly related on an article-by-article basis to EU and Member State trade mark legislation. As a highly organized presentation of key information, this is an ideal initial tool that makes any research into European trade mark law fast and easy, whether for academic purposes or actual legal practice. Lawyers, in-house counsel, judges, and academics will all welcome this new edition.

When a mark acquires a reputation, it becomes a means of attracting consumers by communicating to them various messages going beyond the indication of commercial origin of goods or services. Thus, trade marks familiar to the general public enjoy a special legal protection regime above and beyond that afforded trade marks in general, allowing them to benefit from enhanced protection against reproduction or imitation detrimental to, or taking unfair advantage of, the distinctive character of the mark or its repute. This richly researched book, the first comprehensive guide to current European Union (EU) law and practice concerned with reputed trade marks, conducts an in-depth analysis of this extended protection provided by Regulation 2017/1001 on EU trade marks and Directive 2015/2436 under which it is mandatory across all Member States. Using a practical approach, focused on identifying and analysing the criteria for infringement of trade marks with a reputation in proceedings before civil courts and in administrative proceedings before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) or national trade mark offices, the author addresses such elements of the special protection regime as the following: prerequisites for infringement of the right to a reputed mark common to all recognised forms of infringement; how to demonstrate each type of infringement of the right to the trade mark with a reputation (blurring, tarnishment and unfair advantage); proof of reputation; distinguishing the concept of well-known trade mark; legitimate versus questionable justifications of the ‘due cause’ exception within the meaning of EU law provisions; use of a disputed sign falling under freedom of expression; identifying the role of likelihood of confusion under the special regime; and how to prove the existence of a link between the signs in dispute. The author pays detailed attention to the case law of the Court of Justice and General Court of the EU, as well as cases before the EUIPO and national courts. He takes into account research from a number of Member States (plus Switzerland), thus widening prior work in the field from its predominant English-language context. With this book practitioners will confidently approach cases before courts, the EUIPO and national EU trade mark offices involving enhanced protection of trade marks with a reputation. In addition, the book will help judges and trade mark offices examiners to interpret the EU provisions and assess claims regarding such reinforced protection. For scholars and students of intellectual property law, this book will prove a cornerstone volume in the field.