Dr Martin Wirtz discusses current issues in trademark law in the Mitteilungen der deutschen Patentanwälte German patent attorney bulletin (1/2020)

/in

An article by BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT partner Dr Martin Wirtz was published in Issue 1/2020 of the Mitteilungen der deutscher Patentanwälte German patent attorney bulletin (p. 9 ff.), entitled “Aktuelles aus dem Markenrecht” (“Current issues in trademark law”). In this piece, attorney Dr Wirtz addresses a number of recent rulings and new developments in the field of trademark law.
Although the author’s article, in his own words, “does not purport to be exhaustive”, he does take a detailed look at new developments within the field in 2019.

The following topics of trademark law are discussed:
Registration/cancellation procedures, absolute grounds for refusal, identity protection/risk of confusion/protection based on reputation/protection of geographical origin, usage that preserves rights, infringing usage, proceedings.

The aforementioned article is the author’s 24th consecutive piece to be published. Dr Martin Wirtz has been writing reports about new rulings in the field of trademark law for the Mitteilungen der deutschen Patentanwälte German patent attorney bulletin for twelve years; these articles are published in the bulletin twice a year.

Read the whole article here (only available in German).

Dr. Sebastian Engels in WirtschaftsWoche: Trademark law in Beethoven’s anniversary year

/in

This year he would be 250 years old: Ludwig van Beethoven, eternal superstar of classical music and formative composer to the present day. Therefore, the efforts of numerous manufacturers to advertise their own products with “Beethoven” are undiminished. There is Beethoven beer, Beethoven tea, even a computer centre is adorned with the name of the famous composer. The list of entries in the trademark register is long. So the question remains, in what way the name of this unique musician may still be used without committing trademark infringement?

BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT attorney Dr. Sebastian Engels was interviewed on these topics by WirtschaftsWoche in the context of the article “Beethoven Anniversary Year – Who benefits from the Beethoven brand”.

Read the complete article here!

Dr Florian Schwab discusses current trademark case decided by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) regarding TESTA ROSSA in WTR Daily

/in

Attorney Dr. Florian Schwab reported on the decision of the European Court of Justice in Hesse / EUIPO (TESTA ROSSA) in the online portal of the World Trademark Review (cases T-910/16 and T-911/16). In its decision from April 2019, the ECJ dealt with the procedural requirements for proof of use in the context of an application for revocation with regard to the trademark TESTA ROSSA registered for various goods.

Read the whole article here.

This article appeared on 30.04.2019 in the WTR Daily (part of the World Trademark Review).

Prof. Dr. H. Goddar and Dr. C.-R. Haarmann with contribution in “Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice”

/in

In the “Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice” (jpz109, 04.09.2019) the article “The myth of the ‘small patent for the small inventor’-strategic motives to use second-tier patent systems (utility models) in selected European countries” was published. The authors are all specialists in the field of utility model law, including patent attorney Prof. Dr. Heinz Goddar and attorney Dr. Carl-Richard Haarmann, both BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT.

In this article, the team of five authors explains the strategic use of utility models in the European context and possible adaptations: “There are at least six major parameters of first-tier patent systems that can be changed to create a UM-system. While this makes national UM systems highly heterogeneous, we found that changing certain parameters (like lowering the maximum term of protection compared to first-tier patents) may be in practice less problematic than changing others (like lowering the inventive step threshold).”

The whole article can be read via this link.

Dr. Florian Schwab discusses current brand case in WTR Daily

/in

Writing in the online portal of the World Trademark Review, attorney Dr. Florian Schwab reports on the brand conflict of the eponymous motor vehicle manufacturer MAN regarding the Union trademark application MANDO. The European Court of Justice essentially held that there was no likelihood of confusion between the EU word mark MANDO and the higher ranking marks(Case T-698/17, 12 July 2019).

Read the entire article here.

This article appeared on 08.08.2019 in the WTR Daily (part of the World Trademark Review).

Dr. M. Schaefer comments on copyright in “Wandtke/Bullinger”, 5th edition

/in

As in the previous editions, BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT attorney Dr. Martin Schaefer commented on recording company law in the German Copyright Act in the revised 5th edition of the now published “Practical Commentary on Copyright” by Wandtke/Bullinger (ed.).
The Wandtke/Bullinger commentary is regarded as a distinguished commentary by practitioners due to its strongly application-oriented approach.

The publication can be obtained from Beck Verlag.

Wandtke/Bullinger (ed.), Praxiskommentar zum Urheberrecht, 5th edition, Munich 2019, 5th, newly edited and extended edition 2019. ISBN 978-3-406-71159-6

“Mitteilungen der deutschen Patentanwälte” (2/2019) with contribution from Dr J. Krauß.

/in

BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT Patent Attorney Dr Jan B. Krauß has contributed an article entitled “Current Developments in Biotechnology: Supplementary Protection Certificates on Fixed-Dose Combination Drugs “Combine: No clarity in sight!”” to the German-language publication “Mitteilungen der deutschen Patentanwälte” (2/2019, page 52 et seq). The article discusses recent case law from the ECJ on the question of when combinations of active substances are protected by a basic patent, as well as the possible impact of this jurisprudence to the practice of pharmaceutical patent registration.

“Mitteilungen der deutschen Patentanwälte” can be subscribed to here.

New edition: “Research Handbook on Patent Law and Theory: Second Edition” by Prof T. Takenaka, et. al.

/in

BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT Partner Dr Jan B. Krauss is co-author of the “Research Handbook on Patent Law and Theory” published in April 2019. The handbook provides a comprehensive comparative analysis and a current overview of pharma patent law in the US and European legal systems. The handbook, published in English, can be ordered as hardback (512 pages, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd; 2nd Revised edition (26 April 2019), ISBN 978-1785364112).

Dr. M. Schaefer with article in “Manual for the Music Industry”

/in

C.H.Beck Verlag Munich has published the completely new 7th edition of the “Manual for the Music Industry” by Moser/Scheuermann/Drücke (ed.). BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT lawyer Dr. Martin Schaefer has written the article “Collective rights management in an international context” for this work. The manual is regarded as the standard work of the music industry; a total of 80 well-known authors provide an overview of all areas of the German music industry and its market participants as well as industry-specific legal issues and contract types.

The publication can be obtained from Beck Verlag.

Collective Rights Management in an International Context, In: Moser/Scheuermann/Drücke (Ed.), Handbook for the Music Industry, 7th ed. Munich 2018, pp. 228-246. ISBN 978-3-406-72028-4

Commentary on EU Portability Regulation published and accessible here

/in

The English-language edition of the commentary on the EU Portability Regulation (2017/1128) has just been published. The authors, Prof. Dr. Jan Bernd Nordemann and Dr. Sebastian Engels, are attorneys at BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT. They already contributed the German-language commentary for the 12th edition 2018 of the renowned Fromm/Nordemann Copyright Commentary.

The freely accessibly online magazine Journal of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and E-Commerce Law (JIPITEC) has now published the English-language commentary. Like every article in the JIPITEC, this is also freely accessible.

The comment can be accessed here; a pdf of the article can be found at the end of the page.