Written by Dreyfus24/06/2013 Arbitration is an Alternative Dispute Resolution process. It is the procedure by which parties in litigation decide by mutual agreement to submit their disputes (present or future) to one or more impartial and independent experts chosen for their qualifications and expertise in their sector.
The parties are bound by the decision made by the arbitrator or arbitration body.
Written by Dreyfus09/06/2013 
ICANN has just revealed that the first new gTLD might be opened for registration in the very near future.
Registered to the root of the Internet as soon as the beginning of this summer, new gTLDs implementation should be followed by a Sunrise notice period from August 29th to September 27th this year, for trademarks owners.
ICANN created the Trademark Clearing House (TMCH) so as to allow owners to exercise a better control over the registration of domain names incorporating trademarks. Indeed, once trademarks are registered in the TMCH database, owners benefit from the priority registration period – the Sunrise Period – and are notified when a third party registers identical or similar domain names.
As from now, Dreyfus, TMCH accredited agent, advices owners to register their trademarks in the TMCH Database so as to benefit from this great advantage before the Landrush and the General Availability periods.
Written by Dreyfus07/06/2013 
Dear Sirs,
As befits this digital era, I am pleased to announce the launch of Dreyfus new website.
More intuitive, the site offers you a detailed presentation of our services, our collaborators and our partners, providing a better understanding of our expertise to the various facets of Intellectual Property: Trademarks, Designs & Models, Patents, Domain Names, New gTLDs, Google Adwords and Social Networks, whilst also presenting a range of flexible, rapid and responsive tools.
Designed in a streamlined and accessible style, our new website is a showcase for the quality of the work we produce on a daily basis: cutting-edge, efficient services that specifically target the challenges faced by your company within a realistic price structure!
Our professionalism and pursuit of excellence have been recompensed by industry awards and we are regularly appraised as being one of the leading firms in Intellectual Property for the quality of our services.
As a further innovation, our internet site now provides direct access to the Dreyfus IPWeb® platform which aims to consolidate and summarize all the information that we make available to our clients. This applies both to the management and follow-up of our existing contracts as well as to our on-going administration.
Please, do not hesitate to send us your observations, suggestions or feedback: Dreyfus is always ready to listen to fresh ideas.
Best regards,
Nathalie Dreyfus.
Written by Dreyfus07/06/2013 On May 30th and 31st France’s Midi-Pyrenees region organized a colloquium with the provocative title: “Intellectual Property for small to medium-sized firms in an international context: Jungle Book or Treasure Island?”
A key player in intellectual property and new technologies, Dreyfus was invited to contribute on Friday 31st May in order to share its extensive knowledge and expertise in these domains.
Nathalie Dreyfus, the firm’s director, gave her presentation at a round-table gathering concerning the most recent challenges at the heart of business development. From identity theft to the development of strategies for trademark protection on Internet, especially in relation to new generic extensions, she enumerated the risks to which companies are exposed every day in a context of international crisis. She also gave advice on how to maximize their presence both on Internet and on the social networks.
Dreyfus also led a workshop that gave participants the opportunity to discuss more general topics such as the presence and protection of trademarks on social networks and search engines, as well as exploring current issues concerning domain names.
Do not hesitate to visit the Midi-Pyrenees Innovation website to review the full program of the colloquium at the following address:
Written by Dreyfus06/06/2013 
European Court of Justice, Decision of 18 April 2013, No. C-12/12, Coloseum Holding AG v. Levi Strauss & Co. (1)
In a case regarding the trademark protecting the well-known “red tab” Levi’s jeans, the European Court of Justice was asked to define whether the use of a registered trademark only through another composite mark (name + design, as one element of the composite mark), could be defined as genuine use.
The problem arose because Levi’s had not used the “red tab” trademark as such, but in combination with the word “Levi’s” written on it. This is a fundamental issue that the Court had to deal with since owners of figurative, color, or 3-D trademarks typically use them in combination with the brand name. Nevertheless, they also need the benefit of an independent protection for the device element.
The ECJ confirms that the requirement of genuine use can be fulfilled if the registered trademark is used in combination with another trademark. The only prior requirement is that the registered trademark has acquired a distinctive character of its own, separate and independent from the combination with another mark.
This judgment follows a line of previous judgments concerning combination trademarks and in particular the Nestlé judgment dated July 7th 2005 (C-353/03) where the Court stated that the “acquisition of distinctive character may result both from the use, as part of a registered trade mark, of a component thereof and from the use of a separate mark in conjunction with a registered trade mark. In both cases it is sufficient that, in consequence of such use, the relevant class of persons actually perceive the goods or service, designated exclusively by the mark applied for, as originating from a given undertaking”.
(1) http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=136430&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=994851
Written by Dreyfus06/06/2013 Formed at the end of the 19th Century, WIPO is a specialized institution within the United Nations. Its official remit is to stimulate creativity and economic development by promoting an international system of intellectual property, notably by facilitating cooperation between member States. Its Head Office is located in Geneva, Switzerland.
The institution is founded on two historical conventions:
In 1994 an Arbitration and Mediation Center was set up within WIPO to facilitate the extra-judicial (or alternative) resolution of litigation concerning intellectual property rights. Designated as an official ruling body by ICANN, WIPO is much in demand regarding questions of domain names.
Sources: domainesinfo.fr et wikipedia
Written by Dreyfus03/06/2013 The .ME Registry (1), operator of the .ME extension, have released five exclusive premium domain names TLDs: Around.ME, Hire.ME, Fund.ME and For.ME.
The .ME Registry offers the possibility to companies to apply for operating these domain names.
Applicants are judged on the quality of the services they provide, their references and their business plan. There is therefore a selection based on the projects and their contents.
The purpose of this initial selection is to sell these 5 domain names to companies providing goods and services of quality.
In order for this application to become effective, applications must be filed before June 15 2013.
For any further information about this application program, you may contact us and we will guide you through the procedure.
(1) The d.b.a of DoMEn, d.o.o was chosen by the government of Montenegro to operate in the new .ME domain name TLDs.
Written by Dreyfus29/05/2013 Mali, the Central African Republic and Nigeria are relaxing their registration requirements regarding first level extensions, designated respectively by .ML, .CF and .NG. The decision was taken during ICANN’s last meeting in Beijing in April 2013.
Previously, the registration of extensions .ML, .CF and .NG .required local presence, without which only the second level extensions .COM.ML, .COM.CF and .COM.NG were available. Today, the extensions .ML, .CF and .NG are accessible to any company, wherever its head office may be.
The Nigerian “.NG” became available on April 16 2013. There was no priority ‘Sunrise’ period for mark holders. The registration of domain names is granted on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
For Mali and the Central African Republic, the opening date for extensions .ML and .CF was May 1st 2013. The opening of the priority Sunrise period for mark holders, without a requirement for local presence will end on May 31st 2013. This will be followed by the ‘Landrush’ period for all domain names that must be purchased from June 1St to July 14th 2013, after which there will be general availability from July 15th onwards.
The critical period for mark holders will begin on July 15 2013 since the registrar has announced that he will issue the majority of his domain names at no cost, again following the principle of ‘first come, first served’. However, the applicant will not become the owner of the domain name since the registrar reserves the right to unilaterally remove the domain name and accessibility to it by, for example, adding advertising. Obtaining a free domain name is therefore of little interest to firms.
The risks associated with these new registration conditions are very real, especially concerning fraudulent registrations and cybersquatting, as for instance:
Our advice: consider making defensive registrations in the light of each individual offer. We are here to advise you.
Written by Dreyfus29/04/2013
Founder of Dreyfus, Nathalie Dreyfus is a specialist in Intellectual Property Law as well as a French and European Trademark Attorney.
Graduate of the Centre for international Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI), Nathalie will assist you in the field of trademarks, designs, copyright, patents, software, contracts, domain names litigation, e-commerce, unfair competition, new technologies, licenses as well as the protection, valorization and defense of your existing rights.
She is a renowned Expert consultant to the Court of Appeal of Paris, as well as to the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center and the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). She advises and assists in the protection and enhancement of your Intellectual Property Rights, both in the material and cyber worlds, including dispute resolution, anti-counterfeiting, transfer of technology and UDRP procedures.
She gathered around her a team of skilled, experienced and passionate experts and collaborates with specialists in the field of patents to assist you in all issues related to the protection and enhancement of your intellectual property rights.
As adjunct professor at the Robert Schuman Faculty of Strasbourg, and also the French National School for the Judiciar, Nathalie Dreyfus gives numerous lectures in France and abroad. She has published four books and is a regular contributor to the professional legal press. She also contributes to a blog on current legal issues concerning trademarks, patents, copyright, the Internet and new technologies.
Written by Dreyfus29/04/2013 The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) is the official trade marks and designs office of the European Union. The Office register the Community trade mark (CTM) and registered Community design (RCD), which are essential components of the European single market.
These registrations provide trade mark and design protection throughout the European Union, which covers 27 countries and almost 500m people.
The Office also works in close partnership with national IP offices in the EU member states, with international offices, and the European Commission on a wide range of issues affecting the owners and users of intellectual property rights.
Source : http://oami.europa.eu
