Via IPKAT.
Readers of a Linux, rather than legal, disposition and with long memories may recall the absurd antics of Les Editions Albert Rene. They are the owners of the mildly amusing Asterix the Gaul cartoon, sorry graphic novel, series which features a fat sidekick Obelix. LEAR thus sought and own the Obelix trademark and have been waging trademark battles marked by hypersensitivity and self-importance.
In 2002 a German court ruled in their favour against the Open Source Mobilix project. The Mobilix project sought to assist the running of the Linux operating system on mobile devices. The name Mobilix was a contraction of mobile and Linux. Lacking the financial clout needed to defend themselves adequately the project renamed itself tuxmobil.
Subsequently Orange tried to trademark Mobilix in a variety of classes to which LEAR objected citing the fame of their mark and its registration in other classes. Having a fatter wallet they were far less intimidated by LEAR and it went to trial and an appeal before the Court of First Instance.
The interesting part of the judgement is the line:
“…similarity of MOBILIX and OBELIX, the words were at best only slightly similar in visual terms; any aural similarity was however negated by their conceptual dissimilarity…mobile phones in the case of MOBILIX and obelisks in the case of OBELIX”
which was substantively the grounds on which the German case was won by LEAR, suggesting that Mobilixs’ arguments would have prevailed had they appealed it far enough.
Since then LEAR appear to have got a class 9 trademark for software so probably they would win a rematch with the original Mobilix project, but not on the originally claimed grounds of fame and similarity.
Revenge may be sweet but why is it always cold?
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