Making Sense of Trade Mark Use

Abstract

This author argues that the European Court of Justice has indeed declared that an unauthorized trade mark user must be using a registered sign as an indicator of the trade origin of his goods before trade mark infringement can be established. Secondly, he proposes that in determining whether trade mark use by the junior user exists, one should look, not at the intention of the alleged infringer, but whether the relevant public would perceive his use as an indicator of the trade origin of his own wares.