Codex Anatomy Ltd successfully defends trademark rights against German competitor

Last year, Maucher Jenkins filed an action for trademark and copyright infringement against the owner of website 'https://cursus-anatomicus.de' before the District Court of Mannheim on behalf of British company Codex Anatomy Ltd.

Codex Anatomy Ltd offers and distributes medical art prints (inter alia), under the trademark “Codex Anatomicus”. This action by the plaintiff was primarily directed against the use of the sign "Cursus Anatomicus" in connection with the distribution of medical art prints and further related goods and services. From the plaintiff's point of view this is easaily confused with their earlier rights to the phrases "Codex Anatomicus" or "Codex Anatomy".

At the hearing before the Mannheim Regional Court on March 30, 2021, the court stated that Codex Anatomy Ltd had the prior rights for the sign "Codex Anatomicus" in Germany and that there would be a likelihood of confusion between the signs "Codex Anatomicus" and "Cursus Anatomicus".

Following this assessment by the court, the parties reached a settlement under which the defendant issued a declaration to cease and desist, subject to a penalty clause, from using the "Cursus Anatomicus" sign for the offer and sale of medical art prints (inter alia) after a grace period. With this settlement, Maucher Jenkins successfully assisted Codex Anatomy Ltd in defending its trademark rights against a German competitor.

For further information on this case please contact Dr Michael Nielen or Dr Ulrike Kaufmann