Freedom of Political Expression as “Due Cause”: The Pending IKEA v. Vlaams Belang Case Before the CJEU external link

Kluwer Trademark Blog, 2025

Abstract

The pending IKEA v. Vlaams Belang case before the CJEU offers a key test of how freedom of expression (FoE) interacts with EU trademark law. IKEA sued the Belgian party Vlaams Belang for parodying its name, logo, and colours in a campaign titled “IKEA Plan” (Immigratie Kan Echt Anders—“Immigration Really Can Be Different”). The Belgian Enterprise Court asked the CJEU whether such political parody can constitute “due cause” under EU trademark rules and, if so, which factors should guide that assessment. The hearing took place in June 2025, with the Advocate General’s Opinion expected on 13 November 2025. This post considers the FoE factors identified by the Belgian court—rooted in ECtHR case-law—and their role in the proportionality analysis.

Freedom of expression, Politics, Trademark law

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Policies and risk-mitigation measures on election disinformation by Wikipedia download

pp: 39, 2025

Abstract

Mapping Report D2.3, June 2025

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European regulatory frameworks on election disinformation applicable to community-governed platforms download

Abstract

D2.1 Mapping report, January 2025

disinformation, elections, platform regulation

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Big tech’s threat to European speech download

Nederlands Juristenblad (NJB), iss. : 31, num: 2338, pp: 2589, 2025

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EU copyright law roundup – second and third trimester of 2025 external link

Trapova, A. & Quintais, J.
Kluwer Copyright Blog, 2025

Copyright

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Patents and the Right to a Healthy Environment: An Outline of a Response to the Critics download

Chapter in: E. Izyumenko (ed.), Intellectual Property and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment, Verfassungsbooks, 2025, Berlin, pp: 123-132, ISBN: 9783565044535

healthy environment, Patent law

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Intellectual Property and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment external link

Verfassungsbooks, 2025, Berlin, ISBN: 9783565044535

Human rights, Intellectual property

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Balancing Intellectual Property Protection with the Human Right to a Healthy Environment: Internal and External Reconciliation Approaches download

Chapter in: E. Izyumenko (ed.), Intellectual Property and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment, Verfassungsbooks, 2025, Berlin, ISBN: 9783565044535

healthy environment, Human rights, Intellectual property

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Fashion Upcycling and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment: Trademark Protection Thwarting Sustainable Reuse? download

Chapter in: E. Izyumenko (ed.), Intellectual Property and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment, Verfassungsbooks, 2025, Berlin, pp: 73-83, ISBN: 978-3-565044-53-5

Fashion, healthy environment, Human rights, trade mark

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Are the European TDM Exceptions Applicable to GenAI Training? Despite the Three-Step Test? external link

Kluwer Copyright Blog, 2025

Copyright, GenAI, Text and Data Mining (TDM), three-step test

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