Scope of protection for Hermès' Birkin bag trademarks
30 Sep 2009 - Hermès has failed in two claims for alleged infringement of several registered trademarks depicting its renowned Birkin bag. The court found that the Birkin bag was protected by copyright, but that the importers’ bags were not sufficiently similar for them to constitute copyright infringement. Full text

Burberry defeats Zebra in Supreme Court ruling
01 Jul 2009 - The Supreme Court has issued its final ruling in a dispute between UK company Burberry and Zebra A/S, which operates a number of TIGER stores in Scandinavia. The court held that although Zebra's wallets had a pattern closely resembling Burberry's well-known check pattern, it was unlikely that Burberry's sales had been affected as the two products had different end users. Full text

A CORONA copy?
20 May 2009 - The Maritime and Commercial Court has held that a Danish company that sold online copies of a designer chair produced in China infringed copyright in the chair. However, it remains legal for a Danish individual to import a copy of the same chair if it is produced and purchased in a country where no copyright exists in the original chair. Full text

SPC harmonisation in Denmark
15 Apr 2009 - The Danish guidelines on the examination of supplementary protection certificate applications explicitly state that patents for pharmaceutical compositions cannot be designated as basic patents. This has long been the position of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, but it has now changed its position. Full text

Extended protection for medicinal products
04 Feb 2009 - The EU Medicinal Products for Paediatric Use Regulation made it possible to obtain a further extension of six months in order to study the use of a medicinal product among children. The first application for extension of a supplementary protection certificate pursuant to the regulation has now been filed in Denmark. Full text

IP rights strategy in practice: Arla Foods
03 Dec 2008 - For many years Arla Foods has dealt with IP rights, in particular trademarks, and the company is aware of how important trademarks are to its success. In this article Jakob Balling, Arla's IP specialist, discusses the company’s recently adopted five-year company strategy, in which brands and trademarks play a prominent role. Full text

Patent challenge is finally resolved after 28 years
15 Oct 2008 - On 21st August 2008 the Danish Supreme Court handed down a final ruling in a patent dispute that had been running for 28 years. Even after the presentation of a pertinent French patent, Fritz Amstrup used all the available appeal options - but at no time did he produce anything to justify the granting of the patent. Full text

Do you have permission?
09 Jul 2008 - When a company is considering registering a new trademark for a drug, it should search to check earlier trademarks. However, it must also check whether the trademark will be approved by the Danish Medicines Agency and whether it will be possible to market the medicinal preparation under the chosen trademark. Full text

Fighting for gold
11 Jun 2008 - Team Danmark, the independent public institution charged with developing Danish sport, has enjoyed a 3-1 victory in a fight to protect its trademark. The Maritime and Commercial Court ruled that the later JOBTEAMDANMARK mark for which registration was sought would have diluted everything for which the TEAM DANMARK mark stood. Full text

Requests for limitation or revocation: Danish law versus the EPC 2000
28 May 2008 - The entry into force of the European Patent Convention (EPC) 2000 on December 13 2007 has highlighted the different approaches taken by Denmark and the European Union to the re-examination of issued patents. In contrast to the EPC 2000, Danish rules allow both the patent owner and third parties to ask the Danish patent authority to re-examine an issued patent valid in Denmark. Full text

Appeal board protects well-known PRINCE mark
21 May 2008 - The Patents and Trademarks Board of Appeal has overturned a decision of the Patent and Trademark Office to find that the cigarette trademark PRINCE is so well known that it can prevent registration of the same mark for foodstuffs. The decision, which has been referred to the Maritime and Commercial Court, grants the mark extremely broad protection. Full text

London Agreement should pave the way for lower patent prices in Europe
14 May 2008 - The London Agreement has now come into force, cutting costs for patent owners by providing that only the patent claims, and not the whole patent text, need be translated into the national languages of the countries in which protection is sought. To date, 13 European countries, including Denmark, have joined the agreement. Full text

Design registrations enhance Danish competitiveness
23 Apr 2008 - The ability to create and implement designs is crucial to Denmark’s competitiveness in the global knowledge society. Product designs can benefit from copyright protection or be registered as EU designs, international designs or even trade dress trademarks. It is crucial to understand the IP rights system in order to choose the most appropriate protection for a design. Full text

Record payout for Rolls-Royce as court confirms mark is well known
09 Apr 2008 - A Danish court has awarded Rolls-Royce Dkr250,000, one of the biggest payouts ever awarded in a trademark case in Denmark, over allegations that its famous mark was infringed by PR Chokolade A/S. Contrary to the defendant’s claims, the court found that the ROLLS-ROYCE mark is well known in Denmark, a conclusion that was supported by two surveys. Full text

Putting a price on IP rights
19 Mar 2008 - The focus on valuing IP rights is intensifying, both in Denmark and in the rest of the world. Although putting a price on a company’s IP assets can be a cumbersome and imprecise process, Danish companies would be advised to make some move in this direction, as even a preliminary valuation is better than no valuation at all. Full text

T-shirt design protected as an unregistered Community design
02 Jan 2008 - In Bestseller A/S vs. Coop Danmark A/S and Natex of Scandinavia A/S, the Supreme Court agreed with the Maritime and Commercial Court that the t-shirts were not protected by copyright but enjoyed protection as unregistered Community design. However, it went on to find that Coop and Natex should not have known about Bestseller’s designs when importing the t-shirts to Denmark. Full text

PR device mark constitutes trademark infringement of RR device mark
01 Jan 2008 - In Rolls-Royce PLC and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd vs. PR Chokolade A/S, the Maritime and Commercial Court found that the RR trademark has a reputation in Denmark, and further stated that even though the use of the RR trademark in Denmark is very limited – and perhaps exactly because the use of the trademark is Denmark is very limited - the trademark has become associated with prestige, luxury and quality. Full text

Use of Chanel trademarks on urn constitutes trademark infringement
01 Jan 2008 - In Chanel S.A. vs. Begravelsesservice ApS, the Maritime and Commercial Court found that a funeral service firm had made commercial use of the Chanel’s trademarks, and that such use had been detrimental to Chanel’s reputation. The funeral service firm was ordered to cease use of the Chanel trademarks and to pay compensation with DKK 25,000 (approx. EUR 3,300). Full text

Compensation for patent infringement should be calculated on the basis of the market value of the ad
01 Jan 2008 - In an infringement action against a machine manufacturer, POMI, and a machine pool, Breum, the parties agreed before the Supreme Court on the questions of validity and infringement, and the Court was consequently only to decide on the question of damages and compensation. Full text

Fisherman vodka found to infringe rights in the Fisherman’s Friend lozenge
01 Jan 2008 - The Supreme Court has held that the marketing of Fisherman vodka could be detrimental to Fisherman Friend’s lozenge, which was often marketed in connection with sports. Nortlander was ordered to cease use of the trademark Fisherman for vodka, to cease use of a number of bottle labels and to pay compensation and damages. Full text

Prelude publication is considered copyright infringement of corresponding hymn
01 Jan 2008 - The High Court found the publication of a prelude was a rewriting of the hymn and not exempted by the right to quotation. Further, the Court found no basis to establish that the defendant should be precluded from enforcing its copyrights through an established practice of publishing preludes without the payment of royalties. Full text

Joint rights in software inter partes between a software developer and its customer
01 Jan 2008 - The Maritime and Commercial Court has found that the rights in a piece of co-written software was held jointly by the parties in equal shares. The parties may thus jointly have claimed royalties from third parties, but not from each other without separate agreement hereon. Full text

Sport shoes not found to infringe Puma’s form strip trademark
01 Jan 2008 - In Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport vs. Coop Danmark A/S, the Supreme Court stated that Puma’s shoe has a low degree of distinctiveness and therefore only enjoyed protection against slavish imitations under the Danish Marketing Act. The Court found that the defendant’s shoe differed sufficiently from the plaintiff’s shoe and consequently the sale of the JFY Retro shoe did neither constitute trademark infringement nor a violation of good marketing practices. Full text

Distribution of MP3 players constitutes infringement of Community design
01 Jan 2008 - In Creative Technology Ltd. vs. Garder A/S the Supreme Court found that the design rights belongs to Creative Technology, as to lack of proof to the opposite, that the design of Garder's MP3 player is identical with the design of Creative Technology and that Garder intentionally infringed the design rights of Creative Technology as Garder in the installation guide for its MP3 player referred to the MP3 player of Creative Technology. Full text

Supreme Court rules that employees can listen to music without paying royalties
01 Jan 2008 - The Supreme Court has held that the playing of music via TV, radio and CD players is not to be considered public performance of music, as according to practice transmission of music to less than 40 persons is not considered “public performance". Full text

Use of Mokka following the termination of a license to use AMOKKA constitutes trademark infringement
01 Jan 2008 - In Scanomat A/S vs. Restaurationsaktieselskabet Dag Hammarskjölds Allé af 18/8-2004, the Maritime and Commercial Court did not find that Scanomat had proven either to have suffered any loss or any market disturbance by the infringing use of Dag H. Irrespective of the testimony by an expert witness that comparable royalty rates in the franchise business range from 12-15% of the revenue, the court awarded compensation with DKK 300,000 (about EUR 40,000) corresponding to approx 5% of the revenue of Dag H during the minimum period of infringement. Full text

Domain name ups.dk should be transferred to United Parcel Service of America
01 Jan 2008 - In United Parcel Service of America Inc. vs. Data4u by Jan Normand Andersen, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court found that Data4u did not have a creditable interest in maintaining registration of the inactive domain name ups.dk whereas United Parcel Service clearly had a need in using the domain name. Full text

Linking to diesel.com and use of “supplier” in relation to Diesel constitutes a violation of good ma
01 Jan 2008 - In Diesel Denmark ApS vs. Fabric Denmark ApS, the Maritime and Commercial Court found that the use of the term “suppliers” in connection with DIESEL and the linking to diesel.com was misleading and providing the false impression that the Fabric shops were authorized DIESEL dealers. Consequently, the use of DIESEL and linking to diesel.com was considered a violation of good marketing practice, and Fabric was ordered to pay compensation and damages with DKK 25,000 (approx. EUR 3,300). Full text

Distribution of lamps not a violation of good marketing practice
01 Jan 2008 - In Herstal Lampe Design A/S vs. Hagro by Hans Grove and Silvan-kæden A/S, the Supreme Court found in favor of Hagro and Silvan, stating that 3 of the Herstal lamps did not have sufficient distinctiveness to enjoy protection against product imitation under the Danish Marketing Act. The remaining 2 lamps had sufficient distinctiveness, but the corresponding Hagro lamps were not considered sufficiently close to be considered illegal product imitations. Full text

Use of GALLERI LEGO did not infringe the LEGO trademark
01 Jan 2008 - In LEGO Holding A/S vs. Louise Lego (previously Louise Lego Andersen), the Supreme Court found that the use of LEGO by Louise Lego was not disloyal, improper or detrimental to the LEGO trademark, and Louise Lego was therefore entitled to use the name Galleri Lego, the domain name galleri-lego.dk and use LEGO as a meta-tag and key word on the internet. Full text