The European Parliament has approved the new European Trademark Directive, which will come into force on March 23. There are some important changes. The registration fees will be paid per class, which would make applications in less than 3 classes more economical than they are now. The same goes for the renewal of European trademarks.

Cartoon figures are regularly used to market child products. Ehrman (a big German dairy products company) launches Monster Backe, a friendly smiling dinosaur, in 2006. The character is being used for packaging’s, advertisements and online computer games. To protect the rights, the cartoon figure is registered as a European Union trademark, distinguishing milk and dairy products. When a third party applies for a European Union Trademark for a similar dinosaur, for among others milk, dairy products, pie, candy and coffee products, Ehrman files an opposition.

Some companies work with a series of brands. Almost all products are offered through trademarks that have something in common. One of the most famous examples is McDonald’s. Next to the name of the chain, nearly all products contain the element Mc (e.g. McCHICKEN, McDRIVE and McNUGGET). Both by using these names and registering them as trademark, the company is trying to monopolize the element Mc for food products. And this proves to be successful.