Infringement on third-party
trademark rights

A registered trademark confers on its proprietor an exclusive right to third parties. That means that a third party cannot use the trademark in the course of trade for the same or similar goods and services without approval of the holder. The scope of protection of the registered trademark covers not only signs that are equal to the trademark for the same goods and services, but also signs that are similar to the trademark, if there is a likelihood of confusion for a relevant class of persons.   

In a first assessment of a potential infringement of third-party trademark right, the seniority, territorial extension and the designated goods and services are identified.

Under certain conditions, the third-party trademark can be destructed, if

• the third-party trademark was not used in a trademark sense within five years from the date of registration and/or

• you present prior trademark rights that collide with the trademark to be destructed. This would be the case, for example, if the colliding trademark is confusingly similar and is used for similar goods and services.

We gladly review the legal status of a third-party trademark to inform you about possible strategies.