High Court does not disturb spirit of trade mark co-existence agreement made...
Omega SA was a Swiss company that manufactured watches for over 150 years. Omega Engineering Inc was an American company that has manufactured products for measurement of temperature and humidity for...
View ArticleGoogle announces relaxation in policy towards use of registered trade marks...
Google has announced a relaxation of its policies involving the sponsoring of other people’s trade marks as keywords. Sponsoring keywords triggers adverts when Internet users search on those terms. The...
View ArticleIt’s drinks all round as Diageo celebrates confirmation that VODKA has...
Diageo – the owner of the market leading brand, Smirnoff – has obtained an important judgment protecting the vodka name from being passed off as a cheaper imitation called vodkat. Smirnoff has been...
View ArticleNominet considers relaxing the rules to allow one character or two letter UK...
There may soon be the option to register shorter UK domain names. Nominet, the body in charge of regulating ‘.uk’ domain names, has been considering for some time amending its rules that currently...
View ArticleSkype admits to losing trade mark battle with Sky
Skype is engaged in a battle to keep its brand. Sky – the broadcaster which also is an Internet service provider and telephone service provider – claims that the Voice over Internet Protocol company’s...
View ArticleLaw not quite so sunny as parallel importing case overturned due to brand...
M-Tech bought for resale second-hand computer hardware of Sun Microsystems. Oracle (which has since taken over Sun’s business) objected on the basis that the goods had not been put on the market within...
View ArticleASA: promoter does not need to obtain branded prize’s permission
A person giving away as a prize the products of another brand does not need to obtain that other brand’s permission, if there is no other suggestion that the two are linked. Stella McCartney – the...
View ArticleTrade mark registration attempt for Lego bricks ends in tiny pieces – Lego v...
Lego has lost a 14 year battle to register the shape of its toy pieces as trade marks. This does not affect its ability to register its name – just the shape. Distinctive shapes are registrable as...
View ArticleEU-wide effect for national court trade mark decisions
An Advocate General to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has expressed his view that nation court decisions on trade mark issues within the European Union should take effect throughout the EU if the...
View ArticleToons not happy with cartoon Toons…
A cartoon artist has been threatened with legal action by Newcastle United Football Club because he produces greetings cards with cartoon characters in black and white-striped football kits, which are...
View ArticleNominet releases new domain names to huge demand
Nominet, the Internet registry for .uk domain names intends to release nearly 3,000 such domain names that have single digits or two letters – such as ba.co.uk or 1.co.uk – between 1 December 2010 and...
View ArticleLong and winding road ends in result all Beatles fans wanted, as Beatles...
After years of legal wrangling, The Beatles’ music is finally going to be available for download on iTunes. This follows the settlement of a trade mark disagreement between Apple Corps (which was set...
View ArticleEuropean Parliament seeks to change law to stop people bidding on rivals’...
Under a European Court of Justice ruling this year, businesses can pay to bid on rivals’ trade marks as keywords on search engines like Google so that they appear in the search results, as long as...
View ArticleTobacco companies fume as proposed change in policy over packaging leaves...
Tobacco companies – who spend a small fortune on protecting their brand – have been fuming over Government-proposed changes to the law that would see them prevented from having anything on their...
View ArticleUS Supreme Court does not overturn ruling that eBay not liable for...
Tiffany has lost a legal action brought against eBay in which the jewellery shop sought to hold the popular online auction site liable for sales made of counterfeit products through its online...
View ArticleHigh Court awards injunction to stop ex-agent using domain names similar to...
The High Court has awarded an injunction to stop the agent of its previous client from using three domain names that were confusingly similar to its ex-client’s domain names. Lifestyle Management was a...
View ArticleEuropean Court offers seasonal cheer to many chocolate reindeer makers –...
Many chocolate makers across Europe will be breathing a huge sigh of relief as the General Court of the European Union has upheld the decision of the European Community Trade Mark Office (OHIM) not to...
View ArticleFake Olympic clothing found in West End
6,500 items of counterfeit clothing, supposedly bearing the Olympic logo, has been seized in a West End raid. Westminster Council said that so many goods were found at the Oxford Street shop that they...
View ArticleSmall local cafes around Olympic stadium in fight to keep name
Olympic Café, Café OIympic and Olympic Internet all trade on the same road in the vicinity of the Olympic stadium in East London. They were hoping to be part of the success story of the London 2012...
View ArticleComparative advertiser told not to fan the flames in unfair treatment of...
Kingspan made construction products that included insulation boards and panels made with plastic foams. Rockwool produced stone wool, which was used as the insulating core of panels made and sold by...
View ArticleUK Governments consult on Olympics ambush marketing regulations
The UK Government is consulting over the introduction of regulations that will govern advertising around the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics to stop ambush marketing. Ambush marketing is the...
View ArticleNumbers can be registered as trade marks but hard hurdle of distinctiveness...
The European Court of Justice has ruled that numbers can be registered as trade marks in the European Union. However, they would need to be shown to be distinctive and not descriptive. They were ruling...
View ArticleNew XXX Internet addresses set up for porn industry, despite widespread...
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has agreed to create a new top-level domain for the pornography industry. From June, the new domain names ending in “.xxx” will be on...
View ArticleNational courts can make Community Trade Mark rulings that have effect in...
European Community Trade Marks can be ruled upon in one Member State of the European Union and those judgments should be binding on the parties’ activities in other Member States. This was a ruling...
View ArticleIPO receives complaint about Tesco yogurt trade mark application
Eckes-Granni, the German food manufacturer, has filed its opposition with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office to Tesco’s registered trade mark application for its new ‘Yoo’ range of yogurts. The...
View ArticleResponse to coexistence request asserting existing trade mark rights could...
Best Buy US was a US consumer electronics retailer that opened up shops in the UK and planned to do so around Europe. It also sought to register “Best Buy” as a European Community Trade Mark. Espana...
View ArticleEuropean Commission publishes strategy for IP rights
The European Commission has published its strategy for intellectual property rights. There are some common themes with the Hargreaves Digital Opportunity Report – in particular, ensuring that the...
View ArticleICANN gives go ahead to creation of any top level domain name in any language
People will be able to create any top-level domain in any language in any script from 2012 after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has ended years of debate, discussion...
View ArticleUnited copycat hopes suffer crash landing – United Airlines Inc v United...
United Airlines, the famous US airline, has won a comprehensive victory and obtained summary judgment in the High Court against a Bangladeshi airline that went under the name United Airways. The High...
View ArticleECJ allows national law to stop registration of famous people’s names even...
Elio Fiorucci, the fashion designer, sold the creative rights including his trade marks to Edwin. Edwin later registered “ELIO FIORUCCI” as a European Community Trade Mark. Fiorucci asked for the mark...
View ArticleL’Oréal battle with eBay worth it as ECJ delivers stunning victory for the...
Some two years ago, the High Court ruled that eBay would not be jointly liable for trade mark infringements by its users who sold infringing products on its website. However, the ruling was referred to...
View ArticleIntellectual Property Office makes its mind up and gives trade mark decision...
Three of the original members of Bucks Fizz, the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest winning group, have lost in an attempt to register the BUCKS FIZZ trade mark in the UK and to revoke someone else’s UK...
View ArticleECJ says ban on Internet sales took selective distribution system outside of...
PFDC makes and markets cosmetics and personal care products under certain brands. It requires sales to be made in a physical space in the presence of a qualified pharmacist. The French Competition...
View ArticleOHIM and European Union General Court should have considered whether wine...
Freixenet applied to register the features of a wine bottle as a European Community Trade Mark. In particular, it claimed the colour “golden matt” and described the trade mark as a “white polished...
View ArticleGovernment changes Olympics ambush marketing rules to ban adverts on human...
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has listened to response in a consultation on its proposed London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Advertising and Trading) Regulations. Accordingly, it...
View ArticleAngler shows folly as trade mark angles for a victory in trade mark...
Fox had a European Community Trade Mark for “STALKER” in respect of fishing equipment. Folly sold fishing equipment on the Internet under the name “STALKER” but replacing the “T” with a picture of an...
View ArticleMurky trade mark mess as German Merck takes action against Facebook for US...
Merck KGaA has applied for a court order to receive information from Facebook after the German drugs giant claims to have discovered that the social networking site had allegedly allowed its American...
View Article“The Patent Cliff – Lipitor goes over the Edge”
As the largest ever number of patents protecting the pharmaceutical industry’s most profitable “blockbuster” drugs are set to expire, for India and China it’s going to be a very merry Christmas and an...
View ArticleCustoms officials cannot seize counterfeit goods that are merely in transit...
Counterfeit goods that are in the European Union purely because they are in transit between non-EU countries cannot be seized by customs authorities, according to a ruling of the European Court of...
View ArticleApple in trouble in China as Proview seeks to block iPad due to trade mark...
Apple is facing problems with its manufacturing base in China, as another business, Proview, is asking customs officials block Apple’s iPads that arrive or leave the country in a case surrounding...
View ArticleNominet maintains conclusive right to determine whether .co.uk domain names...
Where a brand owner believes that a domain name similar to its own brand has been registered abusively, it may apply to Nominet’s dispute resolution procedure to have the domain name transferred to it....
View ArticleLord Coe defends brand protective measures surrounding Olympics
Lord Coe has defended the London Organising Committee (LOCOG)’s position in terms of protecting the Olympic brand for the London 2012 Games. Under laws introduced six years ago under the London Olympic...
View ArticleLindt’s Chocolate rabbit lacks distinctiveness for trade mark registration –...
It is now official: the popular chocolate bunnies with red ribbons produced by Lindt may be delicious, but as a trade mark they lack distinctiveness and cannot be registered. The original Community...
View ArticleSalesforce – not such a social enterprise?
Salesforce, the US-based the customer relations management software solutions and enterprise cloud company, has applied to register European Community trade marks for “SOCIAL ENTERPRISE”. Social...
View ArticleTobacco brand use in Australia goes up in smoke
Tobacco businesses in Australia were fuming over an Australian High Court decision to uphold a Government ban on pretty packaging for cigarettes. From December, tobacco companies will only be permitted...
View ArticleEU licensee from US business not eligible for EU domain name
Pie Optiek v Bureau Gevers, European Court of Justice Pie Optiek had a website at lensworld.be and owned a Benelux figurative trade mark containing the word “lensworld”. A US business sold goods from...
View ArticleNo confusion for GOLDEN BALLS
Golden Balls Ltd v OHIM, EU General Court Golden Balls applied to register European Community Trade Marks for GOLDEN BALLS. The European Community Trade Marks Office (OHIM) had refused registration on...
View ArticleEU General Court upholds opposition to ROVI trade mark application for...
Rovi Pharmaceuticals GmbH v OHIM, EU General Court The European Union’s General Court has upheld a decision by the OHIM Board of Appeal to allow an opposition to an application to register a European...
View ArticleNominet and Stephen Fry hail new era of shorter “.uk” domain names
Nominet has announced the new era of shorter “.uk” domain names with much fanfare. It has hailed Stephen Fry as a British icon and tech enthusiast for his registration of stephenfry.uk and the first...
View ArticleCigarette manufacturers lose brand war as Government pushes through plain...
The Government has announced that it is going to push through new laws that will deny cigarette manufacturers in England the opportunity to portray their brand and image on their products’ packaging....
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