Jana Bogatz
IP practitioners around the world have been following the many legal questions around Easter bunnies – ranging from the manifold aspects of 3D trademark protection and enforcement to the latest dispute over an alleged monopoly for the colour gold in relation to Lindt chocolate bunnies (the latter currently pending before the German Federal Supreme Court).
With Easter around the corner, we take a closer look at how the unconventional background of the Easter bunny has led to the latest chapter in the gold bunny saga.
The origins of the Easter bunny
While the exact origins of the Easter bunny are generally unknown, there may be some German connection. In a custom first mentioned in 1682, each Easter the imaginary rabbit lays and decorates eggs, before hiding them with sweets in the garden for children to find. Thus, the Easter Bunny has a similar role to Santa Claus, as both characters judge whether children have behaved
January 14, 2021
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic taught the world another lesson about the unpredictability of life. Each country responded to the challenges posed by the pandemic in its own way. The German Government in its familiar technocratic and sober approach quickly unlocked massive financial resources to mitigate any immediate economic damage. It supported a further relaxation of the purse strings at EU level and put legislative acts in place that helped manage the uncertainty in the most affected industries for now. Hit by a second wave of the pandemic in an unexpectedly hard way, Germany is now left wondering whether the country really was smart in the spring or just lucky. The new year 2021 will provide the answer to this question.
Europe s Top Five (Non-Patent) IP Developments of 2020 ipwatchdog.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ipwatchdog.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Switzerland opens consultation on prohibiting online booking platforms from including price parity clauses in contracts with hotels
On 11 November 2020, the Swiss Federal Council opened a consultation procedure for an amendment (article 8a) to the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (
UCA), which would prohibit price-fixing clauses, including price-parity clauses, in the general terms and conditions of online-booking platforms for accommodation services. According to the Swiss Federal Council, the objective of this new provision is to ensure that hotel pricing is not dependent on online-booking platforms. As a consequence, hotels will be in a better position to promote direct sales, particularly via their own websites.