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Is the name "NEUSCHWANSTEIN" an indication of geographical origin?     The name of this famous castle, which Ludwig II of Bavaria designed and built, and in which he was arrested on the tenth of June 1886, belongs to the Free State of Bavaria, which has filed it as a European trademark in many classes of goods and services…

GOOD NEWS FOR PARALLEL IMPORTERS “According to the court it could not be considered that the affixing of such a label had affected the specific subject matter of the trademark.” Parallel importation of pharmaceuticals in the EU has, for a long time, raised many issues. National constraints require the parallel importer to…

CAN THE IMAGE OF A BUILDING BELONGING TO THE FRENCH STATE BE FREELY USED?  This question has just been decided by the Conseil d’Etat in a decision of April 13, 2018, related to photographs of Chambord Castle used by Kronenbourg breweries in the context of an advertising campaign for one of their beers in the…

BREXIT : A SIGNIFICANT, BUT PARTIAL, STEP FORWARD FOR EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS Discussion between European authorities and the UK on the future of intellectual property rights once Brexit becomes effective have moved forward, and the alarmist communication of the European Commission on December 1st, 2017, countersigned by…

THE FIGHT AGAINST BIOPIRACY : THE NAGOYA PROTOCOL AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN FRENCH LAW Identifying certain genetic resources of a country and indigenous traditional knowledge that may be linked to their use. Developing them, protecting them through patents and extracting commercial gain without any benefit for the indigenous…