JD Supra has a good piece on the European Union’s recently enacted changes in the rules governing the scope of protection afforded to design trademarks with no color claim (black and white design marks). In the US, black and white design marks are granted broad protection, essentially covering the design in any color. Under the prior rules of the EU, however, different jurisdictions had different rules governing the scope of protection for black and white design marks. While the new changes aim to harmonize the inconsistent approaches in different countries and set standards for the EU as a whole, they may also require trademark owners to rethink their strategies for both the protection and use of their marks. Read the full article here.

Reposted from JD Supra.