The largest Dutch pharmacy Mediq must change its logo and trade dress, so the district court of Utrecht recently decided. The copyright on the Mediq logo and the trade dress had remained with the designer in 2005. Mediq and its holding company had a licence for use in the Netherlands only. The pharmacy formula proved its success and was rolled out in Poland and Belgium. But Mediq had overlooked that it only had a Dutch licence. The parties had agreed to a penalty of €2 million euros in case of an infringement. The court did not moderate the penalty: pacta sunt servanda. In addition SVT terminated the licence. Mediq now has to look for a new logo and trade dress for its pharmacies. The judgment underlines the importance of a solid agreement between the commissioner and the designer about the IP rights to a new logo or trade dress. Mediq is surely not the only company that made an expensive mistake on this part.
Maarten Haak, Netherlands copyright lawyer
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The largest Dutch pharmacy Mediq must change its logo and trade dress, so the district court of Utrecht recently decided. The copyright on the Mediq logo and the trade dress had remained with the designer in 2005. Mediq and its holding company had a licence for use in the Netherlands only. The pharmacy formula proved its success and was rolled out in Poland and Belgium. But Mediq had overlooked that it only had a Dutch licence. The parties had agreed to a penalty of €2 million euros in case of an infringement. The court did not moderate the penalty: pacta sunt servanda. In addition SVT terminated the licence. Mediq now has to look for a new logo and trade dress for its pharmacies. The judgment underlines the importance of a solid agreement between the commissioner and the designer about the IP rights to a new logo or trade dress. Mediq is surely not the only company that made an expensive mistake on this part.
Maarten Haak, Netherlands copyright lawyer