The aim for this masters’ dissertation is to establish the legal status in relation to removal of trademarks from the Register for non-use of registered trademarks in Denmark and in Australia. The focus will be on the use of trademarks through a licensee. Australia is a Commonwealth country; hence, the legal system is based on common law. Denmark, on the other hand, is a civil law country. Because of the two different legal systems, the systems will be described and compared in order to ensure that it is possible to make a comparative analysis, disregarding that the legal systems are not similar. After the applicable law in Denmark and Australia have been found, a comparative analysis of the laws and case laws from the two countries will be conducted.
The dissertation is divided into five main chapters.
In the first chapter, the introduction to the subject is described together with the methodology. To be able to establish the applicable law, the Danish legal method, dogmatic method, is used to describe, analyse and interpret the applicable law and case law.
In the second chapter, the Danish applicable law will be established. It will be done through a description of the most important concepts in relation to use of a trademark, followed by an analysis of the law and case law related to non-use of trademarks. Furthermore, the EU-law and case law will be included as it is implemented in the Danish legal system.
The third chapter aims to describe the Australian applicable law through an analysis of the law and case laws.
To make the two chapters about respectively Denmark and Australia more manageable, the fourth chapter will make a comparison of the applicable law in the two countries.
Finally, a conclusion will be conducted in the last chapter. It is concluded that the Danish and the Australian applicable law related to use of trademarks are very similar. Both countries have ratified WTO’s agreement TRIPS. Hence the similarities. However, there is one significant difference between Danish and Australian law which arises when the owner of a trademark wishes to meet the requirements for use through a licensee. In Danish law it is enough that the owner gives his consent. In Australian law, however, the licensor must exercise control over the licensee’s use of the trademark.