IP Cases & Articles

An appeal from OHIM’s Board of Appeal to the General Court resulted in the ruling on 2 June 2010 that PROCAPS is confusingly similar to PROCAPTAN in respect of pharmaceutical preparations.

On 16 June 2010 the General Court issued its judgment in Kureha Corp v OHIM, concluding that there exists a likelihood of confusion between the trade marks KREMEZIN and KRENOSIN in respect of pharmaceutical products.

Obviousness and sufficiency are two of the most important criteria for judging validity of a patent under UK and European law. Both are assessed through the eyes of the nominal ‘person skilled in the art’. In a decision handed down…

The European Court of Justice has recently provided another ruling in yet another case concerning the use of trade marks as adwords.

Omega Engineering Inc v Omega SA: The American engineering company Omega Engineering Inc and the Swiss watchmaker Omega SA both operate under the trade mark OMEGA.

Opposition by Cofra Holding AG to UK 2379969: The applicant (Toppy Trademarks Ltd) applied for the mark, shown below, for clothing, footwear and headgear in class 25.

Numatic had sold the Henry vacuum cleaner in the UK since the early 1980s. There were a number of distinctive features about the cleaner: a black “bowler hat” top; red lower half; smiling face, including suction hose nose; and the…

This case is another example to appellants of the very narrow remit which now exists for appeals from a UKIPO hearing officer’s decision.

At present, OHIM (and other member states of the EU) consider that Nice class headings include all goods and services in that class. However, the UKIPO believe that the interpretation of the goods and services claimed may only be made…