Archive for March, 2008

2007 a Record Year

Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), 2007 was a record year for international trademark filings.  According to the organization, 39,945 international trademark applications were filed in 2007. 

Applicants from Germany, for the 15th consecutive year, led the list of top filers, followed by users in France, the United States of America (USA) and the European Community (EC). China remained the most designated country in international trademark applications reflecting increasing levels of trading activity by foreign companies in China.

Filings from U.S.-based applicants increased by 18.8% (9.4% of all filings) – making the U.S. the third top filer of WIPO applications in 2007.

Top country filers were:

1.  Germany

2.  France

3.  U.S.A.

4.  Italy

5.  Switzerland

6.  Benelux

7.  China

8.  U.K.

Posted in Business of TMs, International, Trademarks, WIPO | No Comments »

French Skiing Trademarks

Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

This judgment comes from the Grenoble (France) civil appeals court.  So, this article has meaning since I spent a good deal of time in Grenoble in the 1990s.

The trademarks “Écoles de ski internationale” and “ESI snowboard award école de ski internationale” were registered in 1994 by Michel Vachez an independent ski instructor based at l’Alpe-d’Huez.  Mr. Vachez created the first ski school independent of the Ecole de Ski Francais (ESF) in 1974.

SIMS was a federation which changed its structure to a union in 2001.  Mr. Vachez disagreed with the changes made at SIMS and demanded that the organization cease using his trademarks.  It did not.    The Grenoble civil appeals court ruled in favor of Mr. Vachez.

The judgment will mean that other independent ski schools will have to change their brochures, update websites and even alter the medals they award. The SIMS has 1700 instructors in 84 ski schools in France.

Posted in International, Litigation, Trademarks | No Comments »