Region: Germany

Featured in World Trademark Review Yearbook 2022/2023

Wilful trademark infringement is a crime and may be punished. The local public prosecutor’s office is empowered by the Federal Act of Criminal Procedure to commence proceedings on its own initiative or upon receiving a complaint. The possibilities of the rights holder to influence the investigation, including the speed at which it is conducted, are limited.

21 October 2022

Featured in WTR Special Report Q3 2022: Brand protection 2027: Why trademark practitioners must prepare for the future now

Taylor Wessing’s Christian Tenkhoff and Sylvia Burgess-Tate delve into the metaverse and virtual reality to see what brands have been doing, what the online world could look like by 2027, how it could affect trademark law and what rights holders can do to prepare

27 September 2022

With the Puma IP department being named Fashion, Cosmetics and Luxury Goods Team of the Year at the WTR Industry Awards, they look ahead to the sportwear brand entering the metaverse.

01 August 2022

ResMed’s Michael Pinczuk and Keira Moore tell WTR how the patent and trademark teams collaborate for success.

27 July 2022

In our latest round-up, we look at Chinese trademark registrations reaching 40.4 million, the USPTO and US Copyright Office studying NFTs, and much more.

15 July 2022

Featured in Anti-counterfeiting and Online Brand Enforcement: Global Guide 2022

A substantial problem in certain sectors (eg, fashion) is the rise of fake websites that are technically devised in a way that makes determining the acting party extremely difficult; the trail often leads to servers in opaque, faraway locations. In a number of such cases, the WHOIS registration records use of false or stolen identities.

15 April 2022

In our latest round-up, we look at BBC Studios joining the International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy, INTA hosting the entreprenuHERship legal clinic, and much more.

22 February 2022

The forthcoming CJEU definition of the ‘visibility criterion’ by German courts could have significant implications for the relevance of characteristic design features not visible during normal/intended use in EU design infringement cases.

13 January 2022

Featured in World Trademark Review Yearbook 2017/2018

The following are enforceable in Germany: German trademarks, EU trademarks, German trademarks based on international registrations, names and non-registered trade designations. German trademarks are governed by the Trademark Act, which implements the EU Trademark Directive (89/104/EEC) and the Regulation on Trademark-Related Administrative Proceedings.

27 December 2021

The German Federal Court of Justice has recently clarified that trademark owners bear the burden of proving the public recognition of a trademark within the relevant trade circles in both cancellation and trademark application proceedings.

01 December 2021