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After winning the initial judgement in a trademark suit, the German software firm MobiliX may have to give up its name after all to the publishers of a similarly-named comic book character.

The trademark suit was appealed by the Les Edition Albert René, owners of the character Obelix soon after MobiliX won the initial judgement from the German courts last year.

Now, though, a court of appeals has reversed the findings of the initial judgement this week.

"Contrary to the decision of the first court, it states that Obelix and MobiliX are 'very similar,'" said MobiliX owner Werner Hauser of the appealate court findings, "Therefore it will be likely that people take one for the other. It doesn't matter that the suffix 'ix' is used very often to name computer related products, because the names have to be sufficient[ly] apart..."

The court has ordered Hauser to withdraw the MobiliX trademark and the domain name as well. He has also been ordered to pay a compensation fee. Heuser's lawyers, Jaschinski, Biere and Brexl, are currently exploring if an appeal to highest German court, Bundesgerichtshof, is possible. Until this decision is made, the new verdict will not be enforced.

An on-going documentation of the case, containing a information about other projects under siege and the written statements of the lawyers JBB, is available online at the link below.

MobiliX's Trademark Suit Web Page

Related Stories:
Community: MobiliX: The Gauls Want a Second Round in Court(Aug 16, 2002)
Community: MobiliX Wins Against Obelix(Jun 14, 2002)
Community: MobiliX Lawyers Reject Obelix Trademark Argument(Apr 26, 2002)
Trademark Trouble: Asterix versus MobiliX (Mar 22, 2002)
Obelix versus MobiliX: Legal Response Online Now(Jan 25, 2002)

Index Mode   |   Flat Mode   |   Thread Mode   |   Thread Flat     Talkback(s) Name  and Date   And to think...    Eric Laffoon Feb 1, 2003, 03:20:18     Non Sequitor    Joe User Feb 1, 2003, 08:30:07     It wouldn't be so bad    Tony Feb 1, 2003, 13:40:26     Selective targets?    David Tillotson Feb 2, 2003, 19:46:54     Re: Non Sequitor    John Stracke Feb 3, 2003, 15:55:05     Mobilix    menahunie Apr 1, 2004, 21:58:18     Home | Search Talkbacks | Customize View    Top of Page   Enter your comments below: * Your Name: * Your Email Address: * Subject: CC: [will also send this talkback to an E-Mail address] * Comments: Tags allowed:<I>,<B> and <U>. See our talkback-policy for more about talkback content. Fields marked with * are required!