A success for GESSEL’s intellectual property team

The lawyers of GESSEL’s intellectual property practice represented Gino Rossi S.A. in a court case brought against the producer of wristwatches labelled “gino rossi” seeking cessation of unfair competition acts and of violation of trademarks and rights to the business name.

The dispute lasted several years and involved complex issues from the field of intellectual property law. It turned on the question of whether, if the subsequent user of the mark secured permission and registered trademarks incorporating that mark, such user may freely use marks which had previously been used by the Company as its business name and as a label for its products.

The verdict handed down by the court of second instance on 20 January 2016 affirmed the original ruling that the very fact that permission and registration had been secured for marks previously used by our client does not, in and of itself, exempt the defendant from liability for subsequent unlawful actions, in particular as regards violation of the fair competition rules.

The GESSEL team involved in this case, headed by Dorota Bryndal – partner, comprised Marta Grabiec, advocate and Adam Kraszewski, managing associate.