EU trademark infringement: Where in the world?

27-11-2019

Jeremy Blum and Marc Linsner

EU trademark infringement: Where in the world?

Jacob Lund / Shutterstock.com

The CJEU recently confirmed that where customers are ‘targeted’ can be the basis for deciding jurisdiction in online EU trademark infringement cases, as Jeremy Blum and Marc Linsner of Bristows explain.

In AMS Neve v Heritage Audio (C-172/28) the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has confirmed that EU trademark owners can issue infringement proceedings in the court of a member state where traders have advertised or made offers for sale displayed electronically, which are directed (targeted) at the public of that member state.

The claimants manufacture audio equipment and alleged that the defendants, who were domiciled in Spain, were advertising and offering for sale on their website audio equipment bearing a sign ‘1073’ that was confusingly similar to the claimants’ UK and EU trademarks. In response, the defendants brought a jurisdiction challenge in the UK Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) disputing the jurisdiction of the English court to hear the claim.

IPEC and the Court of Appeal


Bristows, CJEU, EU trademarks, infringement, IPEC, Court of Appeal, advertisement, Brexit, UK trademark, member states, jurisdiction, websites

WIPR