Trademark – Page 10 – IP Law Watch

When the Designer Using his Patronymic Infringes Third Parties’ Rights

Jun 16 2016

The Italian Supreme Court Finally Stated on the Long-Standing Fiorucci Case

On 25 May 2016, the Italian Supreme Court released an interesting decision on the use of patronymic as a trademark, which might have significant impact for many fashion and design firms which identify themselves with the name of their founders.

Edwin Co. Ltd., Edwin International and F. Design Office, which had previously acquired from Mr. Elio Fiorucci the ownership and the right of use of several trademarks containing the name ” Fiorucci”, filed an action against the designer because he was using and applying for registration of the trademark “Love Therapy by Elio Fiorucci” to identify a wide range of goods.

Italian Supreme Court on Secondary Meaning: When a Registered Generic Sign can Become a Trademark

Jun 14 2016

On 19 April 2016, the Italian Supreme Court passed on secondary meaning, overruling two sets of proceedings of the courts of merits which declared the invalidity of a trademark.

The case arose some debate among professionals since the trademark declared invalid was registered by a very well-known bathroom tissue producer which invested substantial efforts for decades to ensure that its registered generic sign (“Rotoloni” which literally means big toilet roll) had acquired distinctiveness by way of secondary meaning.

As a result of its efforts, the defendant offered a public opinion survey evidencing that 51% of interviewed consumers were recognizing the generic sign at issue as distinctive of products coming from a specific company. Read More

Tag:Trademark