Our news on intellectual property

In a decision of April 21, 2021 (Case T‑663/19), the EU General Court upheld the decision which invalidated the EU trademark over the sign MONOPOLY. In particular, the Court found that the trademark owner, the company Hasbro, had “intentionally sought to circumvent the proof of use rule to derive an advantage.” The new trademark was therefore cancelled insofar as it covered the same goods and services as the previous trademarks. As stated last year by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Sky v Skykick case, filing a trademark without intention of using it constitutes bad faith. Refiling every five years, namely at the expiry of the grace period, is therefore not a sound strategy. Rather, efforts should be put on collecting and storing evidences of use.