El juez L. A. Soler Pascual ha publicado el primer artículo en español en INTA Trademark Report (R)
En Salvador Ferrandis & Partners nos ha alegrado mucho encontrar, en el último número de INTA Trademark Report (R), el artículo de Luis Antonio Soler Pascual, magistrado del Tribunal de marca comunitaria en España, titulado «La peculiar función “ciudadela” de la marca renombrada en contratos con restricciones verticales. Estrategia competitiva, marca y distribución selectiva en redes físicas y virtuales«.
Se trata del primer artículo que la prestigiosa revista publica en español. Este es el resumen proporcionado en inglés por el editor: «Selective distribution agreements are occasionally problematic when viewed exclusively through the prism of competition law, since these agreements’ entire purpose is to limit the number of willing dealers, retailers, or wholesalers permitted to sell certain products to only those who meet certain criteria. In this context, trademarks can play an interesting and discrete role in endorsing and reinforcing the terms of selective distribution agreements, resulting in a legitimate competitive tool in the hands of well-known trademark owners. In Europe, Council Regulation 207/09 on the Community trade mark provides additional protection to trademark owners for goods whose condition is changed or impaired after those goods have been put on the market, thus establishing an exception to the principle of the exhaustion of trademark rights. In this role, a trademark can sometimes limit gray market sales when the maintenance of a trademark’s image is at stake. This article presents these ideas and examines relevant European case law that considers aspects of competition law. Also offering a gloss on these particular trademark functions, the article discusses trademarks’ legally justified ability to sustain a product’s restrictedness and to overcome arguments against selective distribution that are solely based in competition law«.