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Aug 06, 2019
Axel Anderl and Alexandra Ciarnau, DORDA Rechtsanwälte GmbH, Austria
First published at www.lexology.com

"BLACK FRIDAY" - Now Freely Usable for Promotions in Au...


Axel Anderl and Alexandra Ciarnau, DORDA Rechtsanwälte GmbH, Austria, First published at www.lexology.comBlack Friday is unquestionable one of the most profitable and busiest days of the year for the retail industry, particularly online. Worldwide almost all online stores offer sales or other promotions on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. However, after this practice has been established online, a trademark for "BLACK FRIDAY" was registered in Germany back in 2013.
In 2016, a Chinese company acquired the trademark and then filed for its extension to Austria in 2017. Based on the registered trademark, it granted exclusive rights to an Austrian company, which licensed usage rights to various partner stores against remuneration.
Further, an exclusive "Black Friday-Cooperation Program" was established. Non-partners who used the event name or trademark were prosecuted and requested to either pay a license fee or refrain from running Black Friday promotions. Some followed the request and entered into license agreements. Eventually some, however, did challenge the validity of the read more