IP News

News from the industry

Our attorneys are also involved outside the workplace – as members of leading associations, authors in the press, and active stakeholders in legislative developments. To see what we’ve been doing in Intellectual Property, find news from our area of expertise in which we played a role, read on.

The Cantonal Court of Bern recently dealt with an unusual trademark dispute: the Swiss army sued the manufacturer of the famous Swiss army knife, Victorinox, on the grounds of the latter’s registration and use of the "Swiss Military" brand in the United States.

Once again, Dr. Carsten C. Albrecht recommended from Chambers in Intellectual Property: Trade Mark & Unfair Competition (Germany) and Prof. Dr. Jörg Kupjetz in Real Estate: Finance (Germany) as 'Leaders in their Field'.

May manufacturers of brand-name products dictate to sellers which online platforms they may use for distribution? This question was addressed by the European Court of Justice. An online seller of perfume products had sued a manufacturer of perfume products that did not wish its products to be sold on certain platforms.

That Berlin is the number one startup metropolis in Germany is not disputed by anyone, even in Frankfurt. However, the city that is home to the European Central Bank claims one industry as its own: young, dynamic FinTech companies gather in the city along the Main River and shape the future of this financial center.

A well-known soft drink manufacturer sought to register as a color trademark the color combination blue and silver that had been used by the manufacturer for a long time. A Polish company filed suit in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to oppose trademark protection.

German Brand Award 2017 - Gold

The business law firm of FPS won GOLD from the German Brand Award 2017 in the Corporate Services category. The prize is given to companies with successful, groundbreaking branding in Germany. After its comprehensive brand relaunch, this was the second time FPS won an award of this kind in recent months.

What can service provider Uber do in Europe and what regulations is it governed by? The European Court of Justice is currently reviewing the issue. dpa spoke to Askan Deutsch, antitrust law expert from FPS’s Hamburg office, about the opinion of the Advocate General who has classified Uber's services in the transport sector.

The Regional Court of Hamburg has awarded Michael Schumacher’s family damages for false reporting by a major magazine. Dr. Andreas Freitag from FPS's Hamburg office spoke about the case and its implications with kress media service.

On April 6, 2017, the appeal hearing on the suit that Bundesverband Deutscher Versicherungskaufleute (National Association of German Insurance Professionals) filed against Check24 took place in the Higher Regional Court of Munich. Askan Deutsch from FPS's Hamburg office wrote a guest opinion for Versicherungswirtschaft heute on the case.

Daily newspaper Die Welt spoke with trademark expert Christian Hertz-Eichenrode from FPS's Hamburg office about a conflict of trademark rights for the famous Swiss Army knife and the Swiss cross logo it bears. Two companies had filed for trademarks on nearly identical product areas and merchandise segments at almost the same time.

In its ruling on ARD Buffet magazine, the Federal Court of Justice has defined stricter rules for cooperation between public broadcasters and private media companies. WuV spoke with Askan Deutsch, a media and antitrust law expert from FPS's Hamburg office, about this verdict.

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