The relationship between national and community trademark law

Trademark law has been harmonised to a very high level in the European Union. Still, we have to deal with national trademarks and Community trademarks which exist side by side. Having two seperate systems leads to frictions between harmonised and Community trademark law. Many of the issues that we are currently faced with are discussed in the inaugual lecture of Tobias Cohen Jehoram, presented on 13 January 2011, accepting his position as Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. These issues include the question how to deal with genuine use of a Community trademark when used only in a small part of the Community (or even just in 1 member state), the assessment of the renown required to qualify as a Community trademark with a reputation, the territorial scope of injunctions granted on the basis of a Community trademark and the Community trademark as an asset. These issues not only provide for academic debate, but are essential to trademark law practice. The lecture does not only address this academic discussion, but also aims to suggest answers to the questions raised.