You may be familiar with Hyundai as a car brand but did you know that there is also a Hyundai Technology, a Hyundai Motor Company and an HD Hyundai Co.? The first company is located in Puerto Rico, while the other two are South Korean. Hyundai Technology filed an opposition against an application for the wordmark ‘Hyundai’ for computer monitors and systems from the two South Korean companies on the grounds that its older European and German trademarks bear the same name. 

Can anyone realistically claim exclusive trademark rights to a golden champagne bottle? After all, gold is often used to enhance a product's upscale image. However, conflicts do arise from time to time, as we recently saw in an interesting case before the European Trademarks Office. The case concerned a shape mark consisting of a golden bottle from Sensi Vigne & ViniS.r.l., an Italian wine and champagne producer.

Some people wear Crocs as a fashion statement in the city, while others wear them strictly in the privacy of their garden and hide them behind the door the minute they go back inside. The Crocs shoes below aren’t everyone’s thing. However, we are talking about Crocs here − aren’t we? Sufang Yan, a Slovakian company, registered the shoes shown above as a European design in 2022.

T-Mobile has always been upfront about protecting its color trademarks. One of its trademarks specifies one specific magenta shade. The company acted quite fiercely against attempts to infringe on its color mark in the past, not only in Benelux countries but also in other countries.

'They say that Duvel is named after the Devil, but drink and you will see God'. Duvel is a strong, blonde Belgian beer with a firm head and a fresh citrus flavour. It is brewed by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, a Belgian family brewery founded in 1871. Duvel has remained unchanged since 1923. The brewery has built a solid reputation and now exports its products to 72 countries.

The chocolate drink brand CHOCOMEL (in Belgium: Cécémel) is still largely popular in the Benelux countries. The CHOCOMEL products are available in the Benelux since 1932 and according to FrieslandCampina, the colour yellow (PMS 116U) has been consistently used on its products and in advertisements since.

Last year, the Crompouce® croissant made headlines in the Netherlands. This cross between a tompouce (a sort of Dutch mille-feuille) and a croissant was such a hit with consumers that many bakeries expanded their range to include the pink delicacy. Media interest intensified when it appeared that Crompouce® is actually a registered trademark that no one else is allowed to use.

Luxury brands rely upon exclusivity and a sense of superiority. Buyers of a luxury product invest not only in a product but also in the status and prestige associated with a particular brand. Obviously, image protection is of the utmost importance for luxury brands, prompting them to go to great lengths to defend their intellectual property rights. That is not all, however, as potential buyers must also comply with the brand’s rules of conduct.

Practically everyone has heard of Tarzan, the fictional hero who was raised by apes in Africa. A British company, JT Agro applied to use ‘Tarzan’ as a trademark for medical aids and nutritional supplements. Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc., the company behind the writer of Tarzan, filed an opposition against this application. But, is Tarzan, a fictional character, a trademark?

The new branding of airline company Lufthansa meant a switch from the familiar yellow-blue to white-blue. This new corporate identity was not welcomed by everyone with enthusiasm. According to the Polish airline LOT there is a risk of confusion with its white-blue logo and aircraft tail. The European Trademarks Office disagreed and ruled that there is only a conceptual similarity, which is insufficient to assume likelihood of confusion. The opposition from the Polish airline was rejected. You can find more information about this in our earlier blog post: A Tale of Two Tails.

While EU trademark law lacks a precise definition of bad faith, recent case law from the European Court of Justice clarified the interpretation. Aiming for consistency across Europe, a new common approach for IP Offices of EU Member States is introduced to address bad faith in trademark applications: Convergence Program 13 or simply CP13.

There is a current trend towards granting legal personality to nature. The idea is that this makes it possible to grant nature rights that can be explicitly taken into account when decisions are being made, or even enforced on nature’s behalf. This is already happening in Spain, where the Mar Menor lagoon has acquired legal personality. In the Netherlands, a politician has started lobbying to grant rights to Limburg’s hilly landscape.

A Japanese economist by the name of Yoshida recently published a calculation showing that subject to certain conditions and assumptions, everyone in Japan will have Sato as their last name by 2531. Why? Well, Japan is the only country in the world where spouses must have the same last name. Yoshida raised the issue − with success − to draw attention to what he considers to be an outdated law.

Back in the day, trademark applications in bad faith used to be a common occurrence in China, but this amount seems to have declined by recent more stringent Chinese legislation. Western brands stood for quality and status, and what could be easier than copying such established trademarks? Although it was very clear that the parties weren’t the rightful owners of the copied trademark, this still often happened.

Trademark cases can become deeply personal, and a recent Cancellation action before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) regarding the ‘Rubettes’ trademark is a striking example of this. The Rubettes are an English pop/glam rock band that achieved significant success with “Sugar Baby Love.” However, their history since then has been marked by conflicts within the band and legal battles. In 1999, Bill Hurd, one of the original founding members, established a separate band using the name “The Rubettes.” This led to litigation in the United Kingdom between him and Alan Williams (lead singer), which was settled in 2002.

Kwantum, a Dutch retail chain specializing in home furnishings and decorations known for its affordable prices, introduced a new, furry mirror. The ‘Teddy Wave’ mirror, with its wavy shape and soft frame of teddy-bear fabric, bears a suspicious resemblance to exclusive designer mirrors that costs much, much more. A lyrical client shared the tip on her TikTok account, and the video of the mirror was viewed more than a million times within a day.

It sounds like a picaresque novel, a small snack bar in Zeeland hindering a major American fast food chain’s plans to open up in Benelux, but it does show just how important trademark registration can be. If Wendy’s snack bar had not been registered in Benelux, it would never have had the power to exclude American Wendy’s from the region.

Obelix, Asterix’s best friend, is one of the main characters in the Asterix comic books. The Asterix & Obelix series is popular all over the world and has been translated into many languages. There is a huge range of Asterix merchandise: mugs, bags and wigs to name a few. There’s even an Asterix theme park in France. We’ll start with a spoiler: the fate of our comic hero Obelix takes a turn for the worse in this blog.