Facts
Dairy Partners was a British producer of kneaded cheeses (eg, mozzarella) for the business market in 23 countries, including the Netherlands. It was a large and well-known player in this market and had been trading under the trade name Dairy Partners since 2007. This phrase also appeared in its logo and in its domain name, dairypartners.co.uk .
DOC was a Dutch company which was the result of a 2016 merger between a Dutch cheese producer and a German dairy producer. It focused on the Benelux and French markets. Since 2016 DOC had been trading under the trade name DOC Dairy Partners. This phrase also appeared in its logo and in its domain name, docdairypartners.nl .
In November 2020 the Supreme Court issued a decision significantly affecting the review of arbitration clauses by the Czech courts. The court touched on situations when an arbitration clause leaves the appointment of arbitrators to an independent appointing authority (private arbitration centres).(1)
Facts
The case concerned an arbitration clause which stated that all disputes arising from the contract would be resolved by a single arbitrator appointed by the agent of a specified limited liability company. The first-instance court nevertheless refused to refer to arbitration a dispute based on the underlying contract, stating that appointing authorities such as private arbitration centres cannot be considered independent. Unlike permanent arbitration courts, these centres organise arbitration hearings
The Central Board of Direct Taxes recently attempted to provide relief to individuals who are stranded in India due to the ongoing travel embargo and may be subject to double tax in India. The clarification sought by way of this circular was highly anticipated by individuals who have been stranded in India during financial year 2020-2021 and qualify as tax residents of India under the Income Tax Act. However, the circular offers no respite to individuals, unlike that issued in 2020.
Facts
Inner Mongolia Blue Ocean Mineral Water Company Limited registered 阿尔山 (a Chinese transliteration of
aershan , which means hot spring in Mongolian) as a trademark in Class 32. Inner Mongolia Yunlu Water Industry Company Limited, a mineral water manufacturer located in Aershan, China, cited Articles 10(2) and 11(1)(2) of the Trademark Law to file an invalidation claim against the trademark.
Key legislative issues
Article 10(2) of the Trademark Law provides as follows:
No geographical names of administrative divisions at or above the county level or foreign geographical names known to the public may be used as trademarks, except where geographical names have other meanings or constitute part of a collective trademark or certification trademark…
In
Daimler AG v Leiduck, the Court of Appeal recently reviewed what appears to have been a novel point regarding which party in civil proceedings has the burden of proving that a witness is competent to give evidence at the time of giving evidence.
(1) At first instance, the judge had decided that the burden is on the party that calls the witness (in this case the defendant), as opposed to the party that challenges the competence of the witness. The defendant applied for permission to appeal aspects of the judge s ruling regarding some of the evidence ruled to be inadmissible. In considering and refusing the defendant s application, the Court of Appeal appears to have gone out of its way to confirm that the judge had been correct as a matter of principle and common sense.