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Christian Harmsen, of Wessing & Berenberg-Gossler examines what impact the Yplon case will have on trade mark protection in Germany

Elvis is a powerful brand, maybe the most powerful. In the battle to exploit it, one man has travelled the world and questioned the limits of trade mark protection. James Nurton tells Sid Shaw’s story

According to the Benelux Trade Marks Act, the owner of a trade mark can in principle not prohibit the use of his trade mark in respect of goods that have been put into circulation within the European Economic Area either by himself or with his permission. (exhaustion principle). This means that in principle the owner of a trade mark right cannot invoke this exclusive title in respect of the further trade in goods originating from him. The Benelux Court of Justice has recently explained the exhaustion principle in more detail in its Kipling/GB Unie judgment (The Benelux Court of Justice, December 6 2000).

They have a saying in the north of England, where IP lawyer Anthony Gold plies his trade: "Where there's muck, there's brass."

The 9th Circuit has upheld a $5.4 million award against singer Michael Bolton, the largest ever music copyright infringement case. On May 9, the court unanimously agreed that Bolton's 1991 hit 'Love is a Wonderful Thing' infringed the rights of the Isley Brothers 1964 song of the same name.

The world's biggest selling drug is under attack on both sides of the Atlantic as its patent expiry looms. AstraZeneca, maker of Losec, has been accused of breaching European competition rules, and is also facing litigation to stop US companies bringing out generic versions of the drug.

In the rapidly developing software market questions often arise regarding proper protection of program names. Of course, program names can be registered as trade marks. On the other hand, many software developers are not aware of the fact that program names may enjoy protection in Germany as titles of works. Titles of works are defined as designations of printed publications, cinematographic works, musical and dramatic works, or other comparable works which, according to German case law, include computer programs.

Michael Bolton was represented by Robert G Sugarman of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York and Russell J Frackman of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp in Los Angeles.

A Bill amending the present Czech Patents Act No 527/90 was discussed in detail in the Patent Yearbook 2000. To our satisfaction the Bill was passed and entered into force on May 10 2000, as Act 116/2000, amending some Acts on Industrial Property Rights. For the purposes of this international briefing, I will cite the most important changes: