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Christian
Schumacher
Partner
austria vienna
Michael
Woller
Partner
austria vienna
Dominik
Hofmarcher
Partner
austria vienna
blog
Just fill out a form? – Be diligent when filling out the trademark application
To file a national trademark application with the Austrian IP Office, mandatory information must be entered in an online form. While this sounds simple, several aspects should be considered to avoid problems.
blog
Problems with EUTMs? Conversion might be a solution!
Unlike national applications, which are protected only in a single country, the EU trademark offers protection in all member states of the European Union. Even if an obstacle to protection exists in only one member state of the EU or if owners of prior rights in a single country feel disturbed by the application, protection for the entire EU trademark is at risk due to the unitary effect. Thus, applicants for trademarks in the European Union often face a problem when the Office refuses to grant protection to a trademark based on absolute or relative grounds or when third parties file an opposition or cancellation request against the trademark.
blog
Recordals in the register – Keep records updated
Have you recently acquired another company or some assets like a trademark or even an entire trademark portfolio? Has your company merged with another company? Or has it changed its name or address? Then don't forget to enter the change in the corresponding Trademark Register.
blog
Priority principle in trademark law and intermediate rights
The priority principle in trademark law states that in the event of a conflict between two trademarks, the older right always prevails. As a rule, therefore, a trademark owner cannot defend themselves by claiming to be the owner of a later trademark.
blog
Do I have to register my brand or can I use it without registration?
You are well advised to, but in principle there is no legal requirement to register your trademark in the European Union. There are several good reasons to file a trademark application.
blog
The principle of replacement
Are you aware that some of your national trademark registrations might already have been replaced by designations of International Registrations? You may be wondering how this could have happened and whether you need to worry? Here is a brief explanation of the principle of replacement.
blog
Trademark application in the fast lane: Austria's fast-track application
In our last blog, Michelle Duchon and Christian Schumacher reported on mandatory information for a national Austrian trademark application.
But how quickly can you get a trademark registered? With the fast-track application, it is possible to register a trademark within 10 working days.
roadmap
New Principles for the Assessment of Genuine Use of Community Trademarks
The CJEU decision in the case Leno Merken1 leads to legal uncertainty concerning the territorial extent to which a Community Trademark must be used in order to avoid vulnerability due to lack of use.
roadmap
ESG labels protected as certification marks: five years of practice with this new kind of trademark
roadmap
Austria: Trademarks – The New Concept of Intervening Rights
With the EU trademark law reform, the possibilities to defend a later trademark against an earlier trademark have been significantly expanded due to the establishment of so-called intervening rights.
roadmap
EU Trademark Law Reform – What Will Change?
The EU trademark law system has undergone reform, and the revisions of the EU Trademark Directive and the Community Trademark Regulation will modernise and clarify the regime.
roadmap
Latest developments regarding registered IP rights
Whenever a company starts doing business – or extends its business – it should consider whether its assets, competitive advantage and unique selling proposition will be protected by registered IP rights. Likewise, an existing business scope should be regularly reviewed or audited to identify whether adequate IP protection is in place, in line with the company's evolving needs and the currently available legal protection options. And registering registrable IP rights is usually a precondition for considering them as intangible assets of the company.
publication
Heimwerk Orange
Ein Baumarkt beantragte Schutz für die Farbe Orange zur Kennzeichnung seiner Waren und Dienstleistungen; diese Farbe ist in diesem Marktsegment durchaus beliebt.
roadmap
Needs for Change in CEE National Laws to Comply with the Revised EU Trademark Directive
The EU trademark law reform brings several substantive and procedural changes for the national laws of EU member states. The table below sets out the needs for change in the Schoenherr EU jurisdictions.
publication
17 May 2017
bulgaria czech republic hungary moldova poland romania slovakia serbia slovenia türkiye belgium / EU austria
C.Schumacher D.Hofmarcher G.Irsa-Klingspiegl M.Woller P.Halwa V.Tomov
Every IPR starts with a secret
The impact on the new European Trade Secrets Directive on trademark strategy.
media coverage
Sky gegen SkyKick: EuGH entscheidet in Markenstreit
Zwischen dem Pay-TV-Anbieter und einem IT-Dienstleister war ein Streit entbrannt – unter anderem, weil Sky seine Marke auch pauschal für Computersoftware angemeldet hatte. Die Sache landete beim EuGH, sein Urteil lässt nun viele Markeninhaber aufatmen.
press release
Austria: Schoenherr enforces rights of well-known brand Jägermeister against discount private label before Supreme Court
Schoenherr has obtained an EU-wide preliminary injunction before the Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) against the imitation by a discount private label product on behalf of the manufacturer of the herbal liqueur Jägermeister. The preliminary injunction enforces Jägermeister's rights arising from its well-known trademarks and on the grounds of unfair exploitation of its reputation.
press release
EU/Serbia: Schoenherr wins bad faith EU trademark cancellations at EU General Court
Schoenherr successfully represented Tehnoexport, a Serbian manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning products, in trademark cancellation proceedings against four trademarks before the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). In the proceedings, Tehnoexport claimed that its competitor filed several trademarks in bad faith, since these contained signs which had been used by Tehnoexport. The EUIPO decided that the trademarks must be cancelled due to bad faith and these decisions were confirmed by the Fifth Board of Appeal of the EUIPO.
publication
marken.schutz – systematischer kommentar zum markenschutzgesetz
Änderungen im Widerspruchsverfahren, Multimedia- und Gewährleistungsmarken, Schaffung von Zwischenrechten usw – die Markenrechtsreform auf Unionsebene, die Umsetzungsnovellen 2017 und 2019 sowie eine reiche Judikatur haben das Markenrecht durchgreifend neu geformt.
press release
Austria: Schoenherr advises Erste Bank on implementation of first AI based financial tool in Austria
Schoenherr advised Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG on the legal implementation of the 'Financial Health Prototype'. The 'Financial Health Prototype' is a text-based chatbot that combines Erste Bank’s financial expertise with AI technology from OpenAI and ChatGPT to answer 24/7 financial-related questions.
press release
Austria: Schoenherr successfully represents Austrian wine cask crafter in groundbreaking Supreme Court proceedings
Schoenherr successfully represented an Austrian wine cask crafter in groundbreaking Austrian Supreme Court proceedings.
press release
Austria: Schoenherr awarded 2022 Austrian Impact Case of the Year by Managing IP
Schoenherr received the prestigious "2022 Austrian Impact Case of the Year" award from Managing IP, an international IP law magazine, for the successful representation of an Austrian wine cask crafter in groundbreaking Austrian Supreme Court proceedings.
press release
Austria: Schoenherr 's IP practice takes two prestigious IP awards
Schoenherr's IP practice has been honoured in two categories at the Managing IP Awards 2021 which were announced at the virtual award ceremony on 30 March 2021.
press release
Schoenherr registers first ever certification mark for Styria vitalis' "Grüner Teller"
Schoenherr advised the Styrian association Styria vitalis on the registration of its quality seal "Grüner Teller", Austria's first registered certification mark.
media coverage
Wie der Big Mac verlorengehen kann
First published on Der Standard, 29.01.2019
Der Streit von McDonald's mit der irischen Fastfoodkette Supermac's zeigt die Schwierigkeit, die Benutzung einer Marke nachzuweisen.
media coverage
Markenanmeldungen sind eine Kunst
Wer Marken vorsorglich für Tätigkeiten anmeldet, ohne sie zu nutzen, muss nach fünf Jahren mit der Löschung rechnen. Ein EuGH-Urteil zeigt die Rechtsrisiken auf.