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The community trade mark (CTM) for the shape of the famous Rubik’s cube puzzle has been found valid this week by the General Court. Simba Toys sought cancellation of Seven Town’s CTM on various grounds including that the mark consisted exclusively of the shape of goods “which is necessary to obtain a technical result” and that “it was devoid of distinctive character”. The court disagreed.
It found the representation of the mark only shows a cube, the surfaces of which bear a grid structure. A cube made up of elements with a rotatable function couldn’t be inferred from that. Furthermore a cube bearing a grid structure was not, at the application date, commonplace for three-dimensional puzzles (which exist in a multitude of shapes) and was inherently distinctive.
The narrow interpretation of the technical function grounds for invalidity applied in this decision is open to challenge. It will therefore be interesting to see if this decision is appealed to the CJEU.
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the wording of a service charge clause precluded a tenant from challenging the sums claimed by a landlord.
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Break rights have proved a fertile source of litigation over the last few years. Courts have consistently required strict compliance with the terms of those rights.
Judgement has been handed down for the seminal case of Cardtronics UK Ltd and others (Respondents) v Sykes and others (Valuation Officers) (Appellants) [2020] UKSC 21.
Following an MP debate on 5 November 2019, the government is due to release long-awaited guidance as to how it intends to protect workers in the retail industry against violence, harassment and abuse.
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