ITALIAN CLOTHING TRADEMARK CASE MAKES PRECEDENT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE WORD USAGE
April 1st, 2007
BY KEITH NUTHALLCLOTHING companies cannot assume a high level of linguistic knowledge amongst their consumers when assessing claims that they may confuse different uses of the same foreign word in rival brands, a European Court of Justice (ECJ) advocate general is suggesting. In a case between Italian clothing manufacturer Ponte Finanziaria and compatriots FMG Textiles, ECJ advocate general Eleanor Sharpston has had to rule on whether Ponte's range of 'BRIDGE' marks could be confused with FMG's Bainbridge mark. In her formal opinion, the advocate general said "an ...
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