In the 2021/2022 ranking of commercial law firms in Germany by JUVE, Lubberger Lehment is in the top tier in unfair competition law and the second tier in trademark and design law. JUVE: “The IP boutique has become the first point of contact in trademark and unfair competition law for rights holders seeking to defend their products against platforms.” Further information is available here.

Our colleagues Dr. Rani Mallick and Eva Maierski have published an article in the “World Trademark Review Yearbook: A global guide for practitioners 2021/2022” in which they discuss the benefits of registered design protection compared to other IP rights as well as design-protection strategies. The article can be downloaded here:

The economic value of designs_WTR Yearbook 2021-2022

This article first appeared in World Trademark Review Yearbook: A global guide for practitioners 2021/2022, a supplement to World Trademark Review, published by Law Business Research – IP Division. To view the guide in full, please go to www.WorldTrademarkReview.com.

A survey by the magazine Brand Eins finds: Lubberger Lehment is one of Germany’s top law firms for trademark and design law. We have been given a four star rating, which – unlike hotel ratings – means the top of the league.

Our colleague Eva Maierski has co-authored the German, EU and WIPO parts of a comparative study on design rights that has recently been published as a special edition of “les Nouvelles” by the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI). The study provides an overview of design protection and discusses enforcement strategies. The full issue is available on the LESI website (only available to LESI members).

The European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), by decision of 28 October 2019, at the request of the Spanish fashion company Abasic S.L. (“Desigual”) declared the Registered Community Design No. 003866516-0001 (Decision No. ICD 104819) of Puma, shown below (in part), invalid:

With the Registered Community Design Puma had claimed protection for a sneaker developed in cooperation with the artist Rihanna. On the fashion platform “Lyst” the shoe was the most sought after sneaker in 2017.

The EUIPO has declared the Puma Registered Community Design invalid because of inconsistent views. Within a total of seven views of the design, the Office identified several divergences. These deviations cannot be explained even by objective interpretation, which is why, in the opinion of the EUIPO, it is not possible to identify a single design. Rather, the representation shows several designs, which is contrary to the definition of a “design” pursuant to Art. 3(a) of the Regulation on Community Designs. Only recently, the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had also ruled for the German design that deviations in the various views of the design can lead to its invalidity (judgment of 20 December 2018, docket no. I ZB 25/18).

Lubberger Lehment lawyers Dr. Benjamin Koch (Munich) and Eva Maierski (Berlin) represented Desigual in the invalidity proceeding. The invalidity proceeding was preceded by a preliminary injunction proceeding initiated by Puma against a Desigual sneaker which, in Puma’s view, infringed its Registered Community Design.

The EUIPO decision is not yet final.