Judge Soler Pascual publishes first article in Spanish in INTA Trademark Reporter (R)
In Salvador Ferrandis & Partners, we are glad to see that L.A. Soler Pascual, judge of the Spanish Community Trademark Court has published the first article in Spanish in the last issue of the INTA Trademark Reporter (R). The article in entitled “The Peculiar “Citadel” Function of the Well-Known Trademark in Contracts With Vertical Restrictions: Competitive Strategy, Trademarks, and Selective Distribution in Physical and Virtual Networks“.
This is the summary provided by the prestigious journal: “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”.
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