Europe’s trademark litigation hotspots revealed

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2024

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Europe’s trademark litigation hotspots revealed

darts-teaser-comp.jpg

Using exclusively sourced data, Managing IP analyses trademark litigation filings in five major European countries and looks at some of the reasons behind the numbers

Where were the most trademark litigations filed in Europe over the last five years? Where are cases growing, and where are they declining? Which are the top 10 courts?

Managing IP has dug into trademark litigation filings in the UK, Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands from 2015 to 2019 and answered these questions and more.

Using statistics from the Darts-IP database, we have provided a breakdown of five-year trends in each country, with insight from sources on the ground. You can read the full report here (note: you will need a subscription or to take a free trial).

We can reveal that nearly 7,000 disputes were filed from 2015 to 2019, with the UK and Germany leading the pack in the number of cases.

However, there have also been some notable declines. In France, for example, trademark litigation cases have dropped by 64% since 2015.

In fact, Italy was the only country of the five that saw an increase in cases – albeit a small rise of 4%.

Sources suggested that national and EU court decisions might have influenced litigation strategies, as have general perceptions of some countries’ judicial systems.  

We chose not to analyse case filings from 2020 (which are not available in full) because we believed they were likely to muddy the waters. Although many courts handled virtual litigation last year (and still are), there was significant disruption to court cases – and to enforcement too. We will report on the data when it becomes available.

With thanks to Darts-IP, which is part of Clarivate, for supplying the data. And again, the full report is here

We will be publishing more data from Darts-IP in due course. The next instalment will focus on patent litigation hotspots across Europe. 

more from across site and ros bottom lb

More from across our site

The High Court’s decision in WaterRower v Liking could have signalled the start of a new approach to determining whether designs can benefit from copyright protection
Maohua Wang, head of the IP group at King & Wood Mallesons in China, explains how the firm’s Eversheds deal affected the IP team and how his team meets clients’ litigation needs
Firms that advise generics businesses reflect on whether they’re seeing more aggressive tactics from innovators and how they’re managing their practices
Suspicions concerning AI in the legal space, and another copyright win for Ed Sheeran were among the biggest IP developments this week
Michael Sitzman, a life sciences litigator, explains how McDermott’s busy schedule at the UPC convinced him to join
The UK’s top court will hand down the decision next week, 17 months after hearing arguments in the crucial trademark dispute
Ceyda Maisami explains why HP is becoming more vocal in its SEP arguments and reveals why the company has transformed the way it engages with outside counsel
In the latest UPC update, we examine a ruling on director liability, another on the Gillette defence, and look ahead to cases concerning medical devices
Burak Yüceel outlines six characteristics that make a successful IP practitioner and explains why Alan Turing is an inspiration
Lawyers at Dentons unpick the findings of a survey that revealed that businesses tend to focus on reactive rather than proactive use of AI when performing IP evaluations
Gift this article