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Drew & Napier look at how effective a weapon trade mark law is for doing battle in cyberspace

Alexander Vogele, Partner, Andreas Grohn and Michael Pinkus, Attorney at KPMG Frankfurt look at e-commerce and permanent establishments, and the economic connection between them.

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Organizations from retailers to charities are continually looking for new ways to exploit their brands.

Enzo Biochem Inc v Calgene Inc, 52 USPQ2d 1129 (Fed Cir September 24 1999), is a case which illustrates that the patent practitioner´ s well-nigh intuitive impetus to obtain the broadest possible patent claims should at times be checked. The Court found invalid for non-compliance of the accompanying disclosure with 35 USC §112, ¶1 broad claims covering the application of so-called antisense process technology to both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and the resulting modified cells. (Eukaryotic cells are those from complex life forms, including plants, animals and fungi; prokaryotic cells are from simple, including unicellular, life forms, eg the common bacterium, E.coli, is a prokaryotic.)

Trade marks which, either intrinsically, or because they are popular on the market, have a clear distinctiveness, enjoy a broader degree of protection than trade marks which are less distinctive. This criterion emerged from the ruling handed down by the ECJ on November 11 1997 in the Puma v Sabel case. The question of when a trade mark is well-known has remained unanswered for some time. However, although this question has a bearing on the application of Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the Trade Mark Directive and of Section 13A, Subsection 1 under c of the Uniform Benelux Trade Marks Act which stipulates that the owner of a well-known trade mark can oppose the use thereof or of a similar sign for dissimilar goods or services if such use can result in an unfair advantage being derived from the trade mark or the distinctiveness or reputation of the trade mark being impaired.

UK & Netherlands: European law firm Eversheds and leading Netherlands practice Boekel De Nerée merged on January 1 2000. The new firm combines Boekel De Nerée's 250 staff and Eversheds' 3,300 staff.

If a major corporation appends its famous house mark to a registered mark owned by another party, is there a conflict? In the appeal case of Registrar of Trade Marks v Woolworths Ltd, the Full Federal of Australia, by a margin of two to one, allowed an application for WOOLWORTHS METRO to be accepted, notwithstanding several earlier METRO marks each of which related to similar goods or services. The Court, at trial and appeal, rejected the Registrar's contention that the marks were deceptively similar.

Customs - the INTA's perspective

The use of the Internet in Romania is still in its infancy. So is the legal structure for registering domain names. Daniel Plosca and Lucien Enescu, of Rominvent in Bucharest, look at existing structures and explains what action businesses should take.