Trade law Part 18

AdWords or Bad Words? A UK Perspective on Keywords and Trade Mark Infringement
JONATHAN CORNTHWAITE
European Intellectual Property Review
Volume 31, Issue 7, 2009 p.347

Few current issues in trade mark law are more controversial than the subject of online advertising by reference to search engine keywords. The spate of judicial decisions that litigation on this vexed subject has elicited seems largely to have by-passed the United Kingdom so far, with only one reported British judgment directly on point. But that may now change with the institution last December of proceedings in the English High Court by Interflora Inc to restrain Marks and Spencer plc from bidding on its brand names in Google’s AdWords program. This article therefore discusses some of the issues thrown up by the Interflora case, reviews how they have been dealt with to date by the English courts, and speculates on how they might be resolved by future decisions applicable in the UK, concluding with a survey of the references to the European Court of Justice for preliminary rulings made by national courts in other member states over the past twelve months.

Bruno Zeller, CISG and the Unification of International trade law
Pascal Hachem
European Journal of Law Reform
Volume 11, Issue 1, 2009 p.123-125

Parallel importing: Who’s using what and when and what happens then?
Mark Davison
Australian Intellectual Property Journal
Volume 20, Number 2, June 2009 p.71

While Australian case law has tended to permit parallel importing of trade marked goods, the precise basis upon which it did so has been uncertain; with some case law suggesting that a parallel importer does not use the trade mark as a trade mark. That view was recently rejected by the Full Federal Court which sought to explain some previous cases by reference to a defence of consent to use of the trade mark. This article analyses the nature of the use of a trade mark by a parallel importer, the defence under s 123 of the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) and consent to use. It also provides an alternative explanation for some previous decisions under the Trade Marks Act 1955 (Cth) that may have incorrectly conflated the separate issues of use of a trade mark as a trade mark, and use of a trade mark that is likely to result in confusion.

Contemporary approaches to market definition: Taking account of international markets in Australian competition law
Daniel Clarry
Australian Business Law Review
Volume 37, Number 3, June 2009 p.143

The scope of Australian competition law is limited, in a geographic sense, to regulating markets that are definable “in Australia”. In economic reality, however, international markets not only exist but the liberalisation of international trade and the interdependence of national economies are reliant upon the existence of those markets. Mindful of the inherent ambiguity in the phrase “market in Australia”, this article considers the legislative and judicial history of markets in Australian competition law and how foreign antitrust regulators have approached the global challenge of international markets and regulating competition in those markets. The article is directed toward resolving, and stimulating debate on, whether Australian competition law regulates international markets at present and, if not, makes recommendations to enhance the regulation of competition in those markets.

Trade Mark Law
International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law
Volume 40, Number 3, 2009

Hungary Sup. Ct. 21 March 2007 Applicable provisions on appellations of origin, such as designation of region, locality or country – Narrow interpretation – Product name may be added to appellation of origin – Does not apply to other statements such as invented designations like brewery location or abbreviation of geographical name – Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and Their International Registration, Arts. 2, 5(4); Hungarian Trade Mark Law, Sec. 118 – Pfv.IV.21.962/2006/5 – Anheuser Busch Inc. v. Budéjovicky Budvar – “Bud”
International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law
Volume 40, Number 3, 2009 p.353

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

International trade law, Trade law, country.