05/2018

Lionel Andrés Messi Wins
Lionel Andrés Messi wins at the General Court of the European Union (EGC) and succeeds in getting his trademark M.E.S.S.I registered. Filed in 2011 a third party owning an older trademark „MASSI““ had objected against the registration. The „soccer player’s fame counteracts the visual and phonetic similarities“.

UK Ratifies UPC Agreement
The British Government has announced on April 26, 2018 that it has ratified the UPC Agreement. This means it will be bound also to the UPC’s Protocol on Privileges and Immunities (PPI). Concerning issues of EU law the UPC system will need to refer to the ECJ. A cheap price to pay for by the UK considering, that estimates say the move will bring the British legal system as much as 300 Mio Euros worth of business a year. Whether this ratification means the Court will remain in London, outside of the EU after BREXIT, is to be seen though.