Commentary on the SKECHERS judgment published in the Industrial Property Bulletin number 71 of 15 January 2014

Abstract

The SKECHERS judgment discussed here is particularly important for Mozambican trademark case law and doctrine because it was the first to address substantive aspects of trademark law in the light of the Industrial Property Code in force at the time of its delivery. In order to resolve the trademark dispute between the Appellant and the Respondent, this judgment discussed the manner in which the right to a trademark is acquired and the distinction between a well-known trademark and a trademark with a reputation. However, in this endeavour, the theoretical and legal grounds put forward by the parties to support their interests, and even the judicial analysis of the concepts unavoidable for the appraisal of the case, were not without imprecision, mainly in the distinction between well-known trademarks and trademarks with a reputation. For that reason, the idea arose of examining the aforementioned judgment and commenting on it, chiefly as regards the distinction between well-known trademarks and trademarks with a reputation, in order to contribute modestly to the improvement of the study of trademarks in the country and to the improvement of case law activity in this field.