Der rechtliche Schutz von Markenserien und Serienmarkenbildungskonzepten

iPad, iPod, iPhone - series of trademarks like these play a significant role in economic life. Their purpose is to characterise different products in such a way that they are recognised as goods from the same business, so their legal protection is important for both businesses and consumers. The individual trademarks that constitute a series of trademarks can indisputably be protected when they meet the usual requirements. However, this work examines whether both a series of trademarks and its respective underlying concept are protected. This matter is of particular importance given that, according to the currently prevailing opinion in research literature and jurisprudence, a series of trademarks is only indirectly protected if the individual trademarks which constitute that series are protected against any indirect danger of them being confused with products from other companies, whereas its underlying concept is not protected at all.