Legal Intelligence for Brands

Real cases. Real risks. Real protection.

April 6, 2026

Louboutin v YSL: when a famous trademark has limits

Strong brands enjoy broader protection, but even they cannot monopolise aesthetic or functional elements. Louboutin v YSL is a classic example of those limits.

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International influencer campaigns: legal traps no brand wants

General practice – IP conflicts in international marketing

NFTs and intellectual property: what you actually buy when you acquire a digital token

Hermès v Mason Rothschild – MetaBirkins (USA, 2023)

Parallel imports in the EU: when you may sell a genuine product without the trademark owner’s consent

Bristol-Myers Squibb v Paranova (CJEU C-427/93) – practical application

AI and brand names: the risk of 'inventing' a trademark that already exists

Practical cases – start-ups v proprietors of earlier trademarks

Influencers and intellectual property: risks many still ignore

General practice – relevant cases: Chiara Ferragni v Guess (2019)

Tiffany v eBay: is an online platform liable for sellers’ counterfeit goods?

U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit | 600 F.3d 93 (2010)

Intel v CPM: how far a famous trademark must be protected against dilution

CJEU C-252/07 | 27 November 2008

Bristol-Myers Squibb v Paranova: when repackaging a genuine product becomes infringement

CJEU C-427/93 | 11 July 1996

Apple v Samsung: the visual similarities that cost billions

U.S. District Court, N.D. California | No. 11-CV-01846-LHK

Google and advertising based on competitors’ trademarks: who is liable and who is not

CJEU C-236/08 – C-238/08 | 23 March 2010

L'Oréal v Bellure: imitating a luxury perfume and boasting about it is infringement

CJEU C-487/07 | 18 June 2009

Can the shape of the LEGO brick be a trademark? The European Court says no

CJEU C-48/09 P | 14 September 2010 | Lego Juris v OHIM

Budweiser, beer and geographical indications: when two rights collide

CJEU C-478/07 | 8 September 2009

Can Google be complicit in trademark infringement? The case of Interflora v Marks & Spencer

CJEU C-323/09 | 22 September 2011

Adidas v Fitnessworld: when you no longer need to prove confusion

CJEU C-408/01 | 23 October 2003

Canon v MGM: the principle of interdependence that changed trademark analysis

CJEU C-39/97 | 29 September 1998

What you must prove when you accuse someone of infringing your trademark

Rolex v EUIPO (T-726/21) – the evidential standard in opposition

Louboutin v YSL: when a famous trademark has limits

Second Circuit Court of Appeals, USA | 11-3303-cv

Why the “average consumer” is the main character in every trademark dispute

Sabel v Puma (CJEU C-251/95) – application of the principle of global assessment

Rolex lost an opposition. Here is why similarity of signs is not enough

General Court | T-726/21 | 18 January 2023

Can a colour be a trademark? The red sole case, Louboutin v YSL

U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit | No. 11-3303 | 2013

How do we determine whether two trademarks are confusingly similar? The lesson of Sabel v Puma

CJEU C-251/95 | 11 November 1997

NFTs and intellectual property: what you actually buy when you acquire a digital token

Hermès v Mason Rothschild – MetaBirkins (USA, 2023)

Samsung v Apple before the Supreme Court: how much is a patented design worth?

U.S. Supreme Court | 580 U.S. 53 (2016)

Dyson v Vax: design protection does not extend beyond what is shown

Court of Appeal of England and Wales | [2010] EWCA Civ 1206

Which product features are protected? Easy Sanitary v Group Nivelles

CJEU C-361/15 P | 21 September 2017

PepsiCo v Grupo Promer: how two designs are compared

CJEU C-281/10 P | 20 October 2011

The fashion industry and unregistered design: Karen Millen v Dunnes Stores

CJEU C-345/13 | 19 June 2014

When the shape of a product cannot be protected: Doceram v CeramTec

CJEU C-395/16 | 8 March 2018

Apple v Samsung: the most expensive design dispute in history

U.S. District Court, N.D. California | No. 11-CV-01846-LHK | 2012–2018

SEPs and FRAND licences: how the CJEU resolved the conflict in Huawei v ZTE

CJEU C-170/13 | 16 July 2015

You bought second-hand software: is it legal to resell it? The case of UsedSoft v Oracle

CJEU C-128/11 | 3 July 2012 | UsedSoft GmbH v Oracle International Corp

Can the shape of the LEGO brick be a trademark? The European Court says no

CJEU C-48/09 P | 14 September 2010 | Lego Juris v OHIM

Samsung v Apple before the Supreme Court: how much is a patented design worth?

U.S. Supreme Court | 580 U.S. 53 (2016)

Are software applications patentable? The answer of the U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court | 573 U.S. 208 (2014) | Alice Corp v CLS Bank

The doctrine of equivalents: what a patent protects and what it does not cover

U.S. Supreme Court | 339 U.S. 605 (1950) | Graver Tank v Linde Air Products

Podcasts and copyright: which licences are actually required

Relevant cases: Joe Rogan Experience / Spotify, general practice

International influencer campaigns: legal traps no brand wants

General practice – IP conflicts in international marketing

User-generated content (UGC): rights, liability and the Content ID dispute

YouTube Content ID disputes – general practice

Deepfakes and image rights: Tom Hanks and the danger of stolen digital identity

Unauthorised deepfake campaigns – Tom Hanks and other actors, 2023–2024

NFTs and intellectual property: what you actually buy when you acquire a digital token

Hermès v Mason Rothschild – MetaBirkins (USA, 2023)

Influencers and intellectual property: risks many still ignore

General practice – relevant cases: Chiara Ferragni v Guess (2019)

Music on social media: a like can become expensive without a licence

Warner Music v commercial TikTok/Instagram accounts

AI generates an image: who owns the rights? Getty Images v Stability AI

USA and UK, 2023–present

British Horseracing Board v William Hill: the sui generis database right

CJEU C-203/02 | 9 November 2004

YouTube and Cyando: when is a platform liable for pirated content?

CJEU C-682/18 and C-683/18 | 22 June 2021

Musical sampling: two seconds of a song and a lawsuit with Kraftwerk

CJEU C-476/17 | 29 July 2019 | Pelham v Hütter

Does a press photograph enjoy copyright? The case of Painer v Standard Verlags

CJEU C-145/10 | 1 December 2011

Can 11 words from a press article be protected by copyright? The Infopaq case

CJEU C-5/08 | 16 July 2009 | Infopaq International v Danske Dagblades Forening

A media player with add-ons for illegal streaming: selling it is infringement

CJEU C-527/15 | 26 April 2017

Is a link to a press article an infringement of copyright or not? The Svensson case

CJEU C-466/12 | 13 February 2014

SAS Institute v World Programming: copying software functionality is not infringement

CJEU C-406/10 | 2 May 2012

You bought second-hand software: is it legal to resell it? The case of UsedSoft v Oracle

CJEU C-128/11 | 3 July 2012 | UsedSoft GmbH v Oracle International Corp

Podcasts and copyright: which licences are actually required

Relevant cases: Joe Rogan Experience / Spotify, general practice

International influencer campaigns: legal traps no brand wants

General practice – IP conflicts in international marketing

User-generated content (UGC): rights, liability and the Content ID dispute

YouTube Content ID disputes – general practice

Deepfakes and image rights: Tom Hanks and the danger of stolen digital identity

Unauthorised deepfake campaigns – Tom Hanks and other actors, 2023–2024

NFTs and intellectual property: what you actually buy when you acquire a digital token

Hermès v Mason Rothschild – MetaBirkins (USA, 2023)

Parallel imports in the EU: when you may sell a genuine product without the trademark owner’s consent

Bristol-Myers Squibb v Paranova (CJEU C-427/93) – practical application

AI and brand names: the risk of 'inventing' a trademark that already exists

Practical cases – start-ups v proprietors of earlier trademarks

Influencers and intellectual property: risks many still ignore

General practice – relevant cases: Chiara Ferragni v Guess (2019)

Music on social media: a like can become expensive without a licence

Warner Music v commercial TikTok/Instagram accounts

AI generates an image: who owns the rights? Getty Images v Stability AI

USA and UK, 2023–present

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