According to the European Court of Justice a trade mark must unequivocally point to the goods of one undertaking without any possibility of confusion, in order to fulfill its essential function. However, as this book demonstrates, there are a number of points throughout the trade mark system where multiple undertakings share the same name, either unwillingly, or by consent of the parties involved. The book attempts to identify the points at which names are shared, to examine the practical and theoretical implications of this sharing for the parties involved and to analyse what we can learn from the sharing process about the nature of, and interests protected by, the trade mark system.

The increasing importance of, and huge number of decisions from the OHIM created a need for the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents to join forces to produce this authoritative guide to the Community Trade Mark.
Published in loose-leaf format and providing the first comprehensive analysis of the topic, the Community Trade Mark Handbook draws on the experience of the best practitioners in the UK and is presented in a clear and concise style to give the reader different levels of information.