THEME AND VARIATIONS; FRESH PIS FOR DISCERNING READERS

VW Variant CTM application hits a Spanish obstacle

The Curia website has today posted, in French and German only, the decision of the Court of First Instance in Case T-317/03 Volkswagen AG v OHIM, Nacional Motor, SA.

The IPKat thinks VW applied to register as a CTM the word VARIANT for goods and services in Classes 7, 12 and 37. NM opposed, citing its earlier Spanish registrations of the words DERBIVARIANT, DERBI VARIANT and VARIANTDERBI in the same Classes. It looks as if the Opposition Division dismissed the opposition (no likelihood of confusion; there was also some issue as to title to two of NM's marks) but the Board of Appeal annulled that decision, finding a likelihood of confusion with DERBIVARIANT. The CFI appears to have dismissed VW's appeal with costs, although it found on VW's behalf on one issue.

If any French or German speaker could post a clarificatory Comment below, the Kat would be most grateful.


Taking the PIS

The most recent issue of Product & Image Security has just fallen into the IPKat's paws. Published by EPI (part of the ECI International Group), it is an attractively-produced bimonthly magazine that focuses on the problems of counterfeiting, forgery, product piracy, substitution and diversion as well as retail theft and product tampering, providing a forum for discussing available solutions and technologies. Topics that might just excite the interest of IP owners include holograms, product identification, authentication, traceability, brand image protection, security labels, tags, tickets and packaging seals.

The January/February 2006 issue reports on the first Authentication Connections Forum, subtitled "Linking anticounterfeiting strategy with authentication technology". This forum will be held in Florida at the end of March. Sounds as if quite a few people there will be blessing the bad men whose illicit activities have resulted in their being sent there. Merpel adds, have you noticed where in Florida this forum is being held? It's Tampa - which to anyone involved in authentication technologies is a homophone of "tamper".