Features
As the CTM celebrates its 10th anniversary, practitionersbelieve that it has been a success. However, that does notmean there is not room for improvement
One of the founding fathers of the CTM system giveshis views on how the system came to be and its first10 years of existence
‘Enormous’ hardly begins to describe the trademarkportfolio of the world’s largest food and drink company– and the workload involved in managing it. But whenit comes to finding the best solutions to protect thesevery valuable assets, Nestlé has found that what worksbest for it is looking for the answers in-house
The public perception of what a business name, domainname and trademark respectively confer on the owneror registrant is becoming increasingly blurred. This hasopened fertile ground for infringers. For instance, thereis a growing trend in Hong Kong in the incorporation ofcompany names that embody famous marks
Created out of a void, the pan-European system oftrademark registrations run by OHIM has exceededall expectations in the numbers of applications filedas well as in the way it has impacted on trademarkowners’ protection strategies in Europe
To mark the 10th anniversary of the CTM, WorldTrademark Review spoke to in-house counsel at threecompanies that are among the highest filers of CTMsto hear their views on OHIM’s performance so far
In the 10 years since the launch of the CTM system,the EU courts and the Boards of Appeal have producedan impressive body of case law covering areas such asregistration, use, validity and enforcement
Transferring licences and sub-licences and assigningthe associated rights is all part and parcel of thetrademark game. However, according to one wellrespectedcommentator, a decision by an Australianappeal court may have changed the rules
Columns
Technical and legal changes to trademarkregistration allow trademark professionalsto move away from the administrativeaspects of portfolio management andfocus on the role of trademarks in thebusiness. This changing role calls for fullydedicated trademark professionals and abudget to match
Everyone thinks that counterfeitingand other forms of IP crime are alwaysdamaging, right? Well, no actually
A legal storm is brewing over the use ofWikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, as avalid source in trademark decisions, as wellas general legal matters. While Wikipediahas been cited by numerous US federal courtopinions in the last year and in three recentdecisions of the USPTO Trademark Trial andAppeal Board, is it acceptable to use a sourcethat is a moving target, changeable byalmost anyone at almost any time?
Brand protection in the media industrycomes with its own set of challenges.Conducting programme name clearanceunder time pressure and making guesses asto the likely lifespan of a programme whendeciding priorities for trademark protectionare two of the problems the in-house mediatrademark lawyer will encounter
Roundtable
Countries in Latin America are of increasing importance to trademarkowners. In this roundtable, practitioners from four of the region’s mostimportant jurisdictions discuss the latest developments
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