Of the extensive printed and electronic literature on designation rights, a few works have found the widest distribution:
Three commentaries on the MarkenG have proven particularly popular in practice. Ingerl/Rohnke/Nordemann^[1], initially written by two lawyers and now worked on in a larger team, is mainly used where infringement proceedings are pending before the ordinary courts and has probably been cited most frequently by the Federal Court of Justice; however, the subsequent editions have become paler in comparison to the ingenious first edition. In contrast, Ströbele/Hacker/Thiering^[2], which is mainly written by judges at the Federal Patent Court, is playing an increasingly important role, especially in official and federal patent court proceedings. The commentary by Büscher, former presiding judge in the First (Trade Mark) Senate of the Federal Supreme Court, in the collective commentary Büscher/Dittmer/Schiwy^[3] is also important; the Federal Supreme Court in particular regularly cites this commentary. The comprehensive commentary by Fezer^[4] contains many answers to detailed questions, but is still criticised for being confusing and not entirely consistent.
With a few exceptions, commentaries on the EUTMR have only recently been published. Eisenführ/Schennen^[5] and the commentary by Bender in the Heidelberger Kommentar zum Markenrecht^[6] have done some pioneering work in this area, but sometimes remain unclear. The new Beck'sche Online-Kommentar Markenrecht^[7] is superior to these works in many passages, but does not go into enough depth, especially on substantive issues such as the likelihood of confusion. The Beck'sche Online-Kommentar zur EUTMR,^[8]on the other hand, is weaker and is too orientated towards the German perspective. The newly published commentary Hildebrandt/Sosnitza^[9]will still have to prove itself in this field.
The Guide to the international registration of marks published by WIPO provides an overview of international registration.^[10]
The most important journals in trade mark law are MarkenR, GRUR and GRUR-Int for the international field. GRUR-Prax is designed for practitioners who want to keep up to date with case law. Finally, a strange phenomenon can be observed in trade mark law: Again and again, colleagues report that they have been able to enforce trade marks in registration proceedings by reading Asterix booklets and alluding to them.
Decisions of the CJEU^[11] and the Federal Court of Justice^[12] (since 2000) can be found in full text on the Internet. I have also collected and systematised ECJ case law in my book 'Trade Mark Law in Europe'.^[13] Decisions of the EUIPO^[14] and the BPatG can be researched most quickly via the database PAVIS-PROMA Kliems/Knoll/Bender, Markenentscheidungen BPatG, EUIPO, BGH und CJEU,^[15] which has very practical search options. The website dejure.org also offers an excellent way of finding decisions. The WIPO database https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/main/judgments covers international trade mark law free of charge, while the Darts-IP database, which offers countless search options, is available for a fee.^[16] Judgement notes on European case law are also catalogued at the CJEU.^[17] Essays and decisions of the courts of first instance can often be found via the VAMP database of the Centre for Intellectual Property, Düsseldorf. ^[18] The weblogs IPKat^[19] and (concentrating on European trade mark law) Marques Class 46 provide fast and reliable information on trade mark law news.^[20]
EU trade marks,^[21] German trade marks^[22] and international registrations^[23] can be searched free of charge on the Internet. The TMview^[24] database maintained by the EUIPO not only covers EU trade marks, but also a large number of national (including non-European) trade mark systems and also allows similarity searches to a limited extent. The similarly structured Global Brand Database can also be accessed via the WIPO with a different search mask.^[25] Numerous foreign trade mark offices also offer free database searches.^[26] The AI-supported database provider TrademarkNow now offers a very decent trade mark search within a few seconds,^[27] where - albeit very limited compared to the full version - searches can also be carried out free of charge. WIPO also provides links to decisions from numerous foreign courts^[28] as well as information on national offices and legal systems^[29]. Company trade marks can be found via the website opencorporates.com.