Margherita Barié, along with Giulia Panigazzi, co-authored the article about the European Union – legal updates: case law analysis and intelligence.

• Goods or services are not regarded as being similar to, or dissimilar from, each other on the grounds that they appear in the same or different Nice classes
• That virtual goods may depict, emulate the functions or be the virtual equivalent of real-world goods is not in itself sufficient to establish identity or similarity to real-world counterparts
• When the comparison of goods and services involves virtual goods, this implies the application of similarity criteria in novel situations that for now cannot be regarded as well known and must be supported by substantive evidence

This article first appeared in WTR Daily, part of World Trademark Review, in September 2024. For further information, please go to www.worldtrademarkreview.com