Region: Israel

Featured in World Trademark Review Yearbook 2019/2020

The courts have recently addressed the registration of 3D trademarks and slogans as trademarks – ruling that in certain cases, the shape of a product may be protected as a 3D trademark if it has acquired distinctiveness and is used as a trademark, and that a slogan which is filed for registration should be examined in the same manner as any other mark and should not be a priori considered inherently non-distinctive.

29 March 2017

Featured in World Trademark Review Yearbook 2017/2018

The courts have recently addressed the registration of 3D trademarks and slogans as trademarks – ruling that in certain cases, the shape of a product may be protected as a 3D trademark if it has acquired distinctiveness and is used as a trademark, and that a slogan which is filed for registration should be examined in the same manner as any other mark and should not be a priori considered inherently non-distinctive.

29 March 2017

The Central District Court has held that the judge-made right of publicity in respect of the name of Salvador Dali had survived the death of the artist for at least 25 years and devolved on the artist's estate, which was awarded compensation for the unauthorised use of the artist's name. Appeals to the Supreme Court are pending.

26 January 2017

In <I>The National Aluminium & Profile Co (foreign company) v Extal Ltd</I>, the Jerusalem District Court has affirmed the deputy trademark registrar’s refusal to register a mark consisting of a lengthwise slit along aluminium profiles following an opposition by the owner of a long-used similar mark.

18 January 2017

The Israel Internet Association – the registry responsible for running the '.il' namespace – recently announced that the registration and management of '.il' domain names would move to a registrar model. The move took effect this month, when ISOC-IL transferred the registration and management role for all '.il' domain names to accredited registrars.

18 November 2016

One of the more challenging aspects of trademark practice is seeking to restore the validity of an expunged registration.

19 September 2016

The Israel Patent Office has refused registration of the word marks LUBAVITCH and CHABAD, holding that they are names of a religious movement which cannot be monopolised.

12 September 2016

The recent (non-precedential) decision by the US Trademark Trial Appeal Board regarding the registrability of the word ‘Zero’ raised an evidentiary question regarding foreign registrations that merits further attention.

27 July 2016

The Tel Aviv District Court has held that an aggressive advertising campaign commissioned by a dial-in insurance company, which portrayed insurance agents in a negative light, did not give rise to a civil defamation action being directed against a group, but enjoined its continuation on the basis of the tort of false trade description.

13 July 2016

In <i>Brill Outlet Eilat Ltd v Big Shopping Centres Limited Partnership</i> Justice Solberg of the Supreme Court affirmed interim relief granted by the district court to the owner of the mark BIG, used and registered for shopping malls, against the recently commenced use of the name Big Outlet for a large fashion outlet store.

20 June 2016