Famous and well-known marks typically enjoy broad protection in law, but that doesn’t leave any room for complacency, as Clémence Le Cointe explains.
A well-known trademark can be defined as a trademark known by a large portion of the public and that can be immediately recognised as relating to the products and services for which it is used. L’Oréal, Adidas, Intel, and Apple are trademarks that definitely fit this definition.
Protection offered
The international protection of well-known trademarks is governed by Article 6bis of the Paris Convention and Article 16.3 of the Trade-Related Aspects of IP Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. The right of the owner of a wellknown trademark to act against an infringing trademark application can be based on three arguments, one of them at least having to be recognised by the court to obtain the cancellation of the conflicting trademark.
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