Office Freylinger participates in the CEIPI Job Fair!

Office Freylinger is proud to participate in the CEIPI Job Fair on February 16th, 2023.

Lawyers, engineers, IP professionals in the making, do not hesitate to send us your applications !

BIG MAC’s big victory before the EUIPO Board of appeal

McDonald’s has recently obtained a decision in its favour from the EUIPO Board of Appeal, overturning the original decision of the Cancellation division which revoked the EU trademark “BIG MAC” in its entirety in 2019.

You certainly remember the 2019 EUIPO Cancellation Division decision that cancelled the “BIG MAC” EU trademark on the basis-of non-use.

This decision had surprised the public for whom it was inconceivable to imagine McDonald has lost the BIG MAC trademark in the EU.  Indeed, who does not know the BIG MAC mark? How could it be therefore considered that the BIG MAC mark had not been used in the European Union?

This case is the perfect example of the difference between the perception of the use of a mark by the public and EUIPO’s application of the legal requirements in a revocation action. EUIPO’s position can be sometimes considered too strict on this subject by the owners of widely-known marks which think that EUIPO’s decisions are not in line with reality.

However, there is a simple principle in trademark law: a trademark should be used for the goods and services covered after registration in order to remain protected and upon request at the competent trademark office by a third party, the trademark owner has to prove the genuine use of the trademark. The indications and evidence of use must establish the place, time, extent and nature of use of the trademark for the goods and/or services for which it is registered. Therefore, the EUIPO cannot rely on facts that are not submitted to it.

In the decision of 11th January 2019, the Cancellation Division found that the evidence provided by McDonald’s was insufficient to establish genuine use of the BIG MAC trademark.

The EU trademark BIG MAC was revoked in its entirety.

Following this decision, McDonald’s has lodged an appeal before the EUIPO Board of Appeal.

The EUIPO Board of appeal overturned the original decision in a decision dating from 14th December 2022.

The following relevant points should be noted:

  • McDonald has submitted a lot of additional evidence which have been accepted by the Board of Appeal, including consumer surveys, advertising materials, Google Analytics data and a financial audit report prepared by an independent auditing firm to demonstrate genuine use of its trademark
  • The Board of Appeal has been more accurate in its assessment of the submitted documents than the Cancellation Division, which has led to the acceptation of some documents which have been initially disregarded, including the printout from Wikipedia and affidavits signed by representatives of McDonald’s.

Big MAC lovers can be therefore reassured at least for now because the decision can be appealed to the General Court.

In the meantime, there are important lessons to be learned:

  • It is not because the mark is widely known that its genuine use will be automatically recognized by the EUIPO. Proof of use should be submitted as for any other trademarks. Proof of the use of a trademark must be provided according to certain criteria, the EUIPO not being able to rely on facts that are not submitted to it
  • This case is an opportunity to remind trademarks owners of the importance of collecting regularly relevant documents showing the use of their trademarks to be able to defend their rights within the scope of a non-use cancellation action.

Do not hesitate to reach out to Office Freylinger’s trademark team to discuss the best way to prepare your files and to check if your trademark rights might be affected by a revocation action for non-use.

Eugénie Desmet

Fonds PME 2023

Fonds PME 2023

Bonne nouvelle ! En 2023, l’Office de l’Union européenne pour la propriété intellectuelle (EUIPO), conjointement avec la Commission européenne et les offices nationaux de la propriété intellectuelle de l’UE, réitère son aide financière aux petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) de l’Union européenne.

Le Fonds pour les PME, intitulé « Ideas Powered for business », est un programme de subventions qui vise à améliorer l’accès à la propriété intellectuelle des petites et moyennes entreprises de l’UE et leur faire ainsi gagner en compétitivité.

Cette aide financière permet de demander le remboursement d’une partie des taxes officielles payées dans le cadre d’un dépôt de marque ou modèle. Selon le territoire désigné dans la demande, il est possible de prétendre à un remboursement de 50 à 75 % du montant total des taxes officielles déboursées, avec un plafond de 1000 EUR par subvention.

Cette aide ne concerne pas uniquement les dépôts effectués directement auprès de l’EUIPO ; elle s’adresse également aux demandes déposées dans un pays membre de l’Union européenne ou auprès de l’Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI).

Afin d’être éligible, le demandeur doit être une micro, petite ou moyenne entreprise établie dans l’un des États membres de l’UE et correspondre à la définition d’une PME telle que développée dans la recommandation 2033/361/EC de la Commission du 6 mai 2003.

Cette année, il sera possible d’introduire des demandes de subventions du 23 janvier 2023 au 15 décembre 2023. Attention, le Fonds est limité et disponible selon le principe du « premier arrivé, premier servi ».

Veuillez noter également que les demandes de subvention doivent être introduites et acceptées AVANT de procéder aux dépôts. Mieux vaut donc ne pas tarder !

N’hésitez pas à nous contacter pour obtenir davantage d’informations sur les modalités pratiques de cette subvention. Tout comme en 2022, l’équipe d’Office Freylinger se fera un plaisir de vous accompagner dans cette démarche !

Connexion | SME Fund (europa.eu)

Benelux Court of Justice re-confirms dissimilarity in signs despite identical word elements

We, Office Freylinger SA have been delighted to assist our client, ACCESSIT SARL in the opposition proceedings in relation to their trademark against .

We are very happy to announce that the Benelux Court of Justice rendered its decision in our client’s favour by following our submitted observations emphasising that despite the similarities between both signs regarding the descriptive verbal element “LUXAUTO, the signs differ in many aspects including the typeface used, the choice of colours, the designs, the number, position and size of the graphic elements.

The Court confirms the BOIP’sopposition decision that these different elements are more decisive for the overall appreciation of the sign of the trademark than the common descriptive word element and thus no likelihood of confusion could be determined. 

The decision of the Benelux Court of Justice can be accessed in full here.

Philippe Ocvirk recognized as World´s Leading IP Strategists by IAM

Philippe Ocvirk recognized as World´s Leading IP Strategists by IAM

Congratulations to Philippe Ocvirk for being recognized as the World´s Leading IP Strategists by IAM Strategy 300 – 2022 

Nouveau Comité de Direction

Nouveau Comité de Direction

Office Freylinger est heureux d’accueillir au sein de son Comité de Direction Marie-Christine Simon, Directeur Marques, ainsi que Pascale Vandorpe, Directeur Formalités.

Marie-Christine fait partie de notre Office depuis plus de 16 ans et était depuis octobre 2019 notre Head of Trademarks.  Elle est European Trademark and Design Attorney, Luxembourg IP Attorney (Conseil en Propriété Industrielle).  Elle est autorisée à exercer devant l’Office Benelux de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OBPI), l’Office de l’Union européenne pour la propriété intellectuelle (EUIPO) et l’Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OMPI). 

Pascale Vandorpe, qui a rejoint notre office en 2002, était depuis 2019 responsable des Formalités et en charge du développement de toutes les formalités (brevets, marques, dessins, annuités, traductions, enregistrements), de l’application de la politique commerciale, du respect des délais, de la qualité et des procédures.

Nouveau site internet !

Nouveau site internet !

C’est avec plaisir que nous vous informons de la publication de notre nouveau site internet.

Après plusieurs mois de développement, nous sommes heureux de pouvoir vous présenter la vitrine de notre société sur la toile.  

Ce site a été pensé pour nos clients, pour nos partenaires mais aussi pour toute personne intéressée par la PI.

Nomination de Marie-Christine Simon au poste de Directeur Marques

Nomination de Marie-Christine Simon au poste de Directeur Marques

Office Freylinger a le plaisir de vous annoncer la nomination de Marie-Christine Simon au poste de Directeur Marques.  

Marie-Christine fait partie de notre cabinet depuis plus de 16 ans et était depuis octobre 2019 notre Head of Trademarks.

Marie-Christine est European Trademark and Design Attorney et Luxembourg IP Attorney (Conseil en Propriété Industrielle).  Elle est autorisée à exercer devant l’Office Benelux de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OBPI), l’Office de l’Union européenne pour la propriété intellectuelle (EUIPO) et l’Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OMPI). 

Marie-Christine et son équipe se tiennent à votre entière disposition, en français, en anglais et en allemand, pour vous conseiller dans la stratégie de dépôt de protection, les litiges liés aux marques, dessins et noms de domaine, des audits des portefeuille de droits de PI ainsi que des recherches de marques.

Leurs domaines d’expertise sont les suivants : Marques, Dessins & Modèles, Contrat de licences, Noms de domaines, Logiciels et droits d’auteurs.

Départ à la retraite

Départ à la retraite

Après 30 ans au sein de notre cabinet, Monsieur Pierre Kihn prend sa retraite en date du 1er aout 2022. Nous le remercions pour sa contribution au développement d’Office Freylinger et lui souhaitons tout le meilleur dans sa nouvelle tranche de vie.

« Ideas Powered for business » – Financial support to SMEs for trademarks, designs and patents

This year again, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has launched its grant scheme designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are defined according to the following criteria: fewer than 250 employees, less than EUR 50 million in turnover and an annual balance sheet total of less than EUR 43 million.

The terms and conditions of the SME Fund running until 16 December 2022 have somewhat changed compared to the previous year.

For a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) established in the European Union, it is now possible to be granted a voucher of EUR 1500 to cover 75% of the trademark and/or design fees at national or regional level within the EU, 50% of the non-EU trademark and design fees filed via the Madrid or Hague system (i.e. international trademarks and designs), as well as a voucher of EUR 750 to cover 50% of the fees for national patents.

Since the available funds are limited, applications first received by the EUIPO will be given priority.

The process is made of 4 steps:

  • Submit the application for obtaining a grant
  • Obtain the grant award notification from the EUIPO and the corresponding voucher
  • Request and pay for the IP activities that may be reimbursed
  • Apply for reimbursement

While applying for such a grant, you should be aware that you will have to wait before proceeding to the IP activities (filings, payment of fees etc.), possibly for several weeks, in order to obtain the grant award for reimbursement from the EUIPO.

Our firm will be pleased to assist you with all the administrative steps which are required for this grant application.

Documents to be provided are as follows:

a. Your company’s VAT certificate

b. Bank statement of the company containing the name of the company, the complete IBAN number with the country code and BIC/SWIFT code

c. Signed “Declaration of honour” enabling us to represent you in this procedure

Do not hesitate to contact us for any further information on this grant scheme.

Nathalie Cailteux

EPO 2022 fee increases

The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced a rise in many of its official fees (EPO Official Journal). The timing is in line with previous fee increases taking place biennially; most of the affected fees are increased by around 3%.

The new rates will apply to official fees paid on or after 1st April 2022 and so for some fees where the applicant has a choice over the timing of payment, savings may be made by proceeding before April.

Consider anticipating payments

We would particularly recommend clients to consider the savings that can be made by anticipating payments for:

Renewal fees: fall due on the last day of the month containing the anniversary of the date of filing of the European patent application. The payment can be made 6 months in advance in respect of the third year and 3 months in advance for the other years.

EPO regional phase: consider anticipating the fee payments in respect of pending PCT applications. It should be kept in mind that without an explicit request for early processing, the EPO will wait until the 31-month period has expired to process the international application. Accordingly, the payments can be made early without actually anticipating the prosecution of the application.

Divisional applications: make a decision on the opportunity of filing a divisional application before April and save on filing and search fees as well as on the (often many) back renewal fees due for the divisional application.

For more information on the increase in fees, and to discuss your options in filing early to save costs, please get in touch with your usual Office Freylinger attorney, or contact us here.

Philippe Ocvirk

Office Freylinger participe à la Job Fair du CEIPI !


Office Freylinger est fier de participer à la Job Fair du CEIPI ce 23 février 2022.

Juristes, ingénieurs, professionnels de l’IP en devenir, n’hésitez à pas à nous envoyer vos candidatures !