| Abstract [eng] |
The study seeks to determine whether the current EU trademark regime strikes a balance between the protection of freedom of creation and trademark protection, including the protection of the rights of trademark owners and the protection of the rights of third parties to use trademarks. The paper discusses the concept of trade marks and the meaning of freedom of creation in a democratic society. Having established that freedom of creation is a constitutional value of the EU Member States, the paper then examines whether the principle of freedom of creation is actually implemented in the regulation of trade mark legal relations. The paper also seeks to summarise and analyse the definition of parody on the basis of the parody exception in copyright law as one of the ways of limiting copyright. After summarising the concept of parody and the exception, the problems of the protection of parody in trademarks are analysed in the context of the protection of the exclusive rights of the owner of trademarks. The thesis analyses the notion of absolute grounds for refusal or invalidity of a trade mark as enshrined in the Trademark directive and the Trademark regulation. As these grounds are transposed into national law, the practical situations are analysed not only at the level of the EU judiciary, but also at the national level in Lithuania. The focus of the Master's thesis is on the grounds prohibiting the registration of trade marks likely to mislead consumers or signs which are not in conformity with public policy or established. The study found that while the Trade Marks Directive requires Member States to ensure respect for freedom of expression, the scope of the exclusive rights of trade mark proprietors and the absolute grounds for refusal to register or for invalidity have been interpreted too broadly by the EU and national jurisdictions, thus failing to strike a balance between the protection of the right to creative freedom and the protection of the rights of the trademark and the rights of its proprietors. |
