The ISDE brand can only be used in the field of training by ISDE, Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía, as has been determined by the Provincial Court of Alicante, section eight, of the European Union Trademark Court, in a ruling dated April 20th, 2018.
Thus, the Court ends a legal battle between the Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía ISDE and the Instituto Superior de Derecho y Empresa de Salamanca, condemning the latter to compensate the first for damages for the use without authorization of this brand. In addition, the Court, as set out in the judgment, considers that the attempt of the Salamanca company to register the ISDE brand in 2014 at the national level ” was done in bad faith”, since “it knew the priority rights” of the Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía, moreover because it was not the first time they tried to register the brand name ISDE unsuccessfully.
In addition, the ruling of the Provincial Court of Alicante also includes the prohibition to use the Internet domain isdesalamanca.com by the defendant company. Moreover, the ruling recognizes that the brands related to ISDE “are notorious in the specific sector of university education and postgraduate training in the legal field”, so that third parties cannot use this nomenclature, neither totally nor partially, at the time of referral to this type of services.
“For ISDE it is great news, not only because it puts an end to an atypical situation, but also because the Provincial Court recognizes ISDE as a notorious brand in the field of education, with the guarantees that this implies when it comes to protecting our name in a market in which we have consolidated as an actor of reference”, ensures the In-House Counsel of ISDE, César Iglesias.
