For the fi rst time in Latvia, broad research has been carried out regarding case law in the fi eld of industrial property. With the help of specialists from the Patent Board, the Supreme Court has compiled case law in civil cases related to trademark disputes.

      The compilation reviews the main problems of applying material and procedural norms of trademark rights and analyses approximately 200 court decisions taken in the period from 2003 to 2006. It was found that trademark disputes in Latvia are the most common disputes in the fi eld of intellectual property, and in volume they signifi cantly exceed patent and design disputes, as well as disputes on copyright protection.

      The authors of the research found several problems where case law is inconsistent or unconvincing. Diffi culties are mainly detected in understanding norms and their precise application in light of interpretation of legal norms from the European Court of Justice.