News
President Obama has placed the fight against counterfeit goods firmly on the administration’s political agenda, using his State of the Union address to outline plans for a tradeenforcement unit.
A series of online protests has stalled the progress of anticounterfeiting legislation in the United States, with public demonstrations in Europe threatening to have the same impact on the Anticounterfeiting Trade Agreement(ACTA) across the Atlantic.
The generic top-level domain (gTLD) application windowopened on January 12 2012, with the trademark community’s focus turning to the protection mechanisms at the second level.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has heldthat the filling of cans that already bear a sign similar to atrademark does not constitute use of that sign in a way thatcan be prohibited by the trademark owner.
For regular jurisdictional updates, see WTR Daily. Delivered straight to your inbox, WTR’s regular email news service provides legal updates, industry analysis and the editor’s pick of the best trademark content from around the globe.
Features
Many foreign trademark owners come a cropper at the registration stage, although this is easily avoided. “When it comes to trademark registration, it is first to file - it is very simple,” explains Horace Lam, a Beijing-based partner at Jones Day.
While trademark audits allow an assessment of the legal protection afforded to marks, strategic brand audits allow a 360-degree view of relevance and perception – affording an insight into future brand challenges
Statistical analysis shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the Chinese courts can be a highly effective forum to tackle trademark infringement. The key is to let the available data inform your strategy
Drawing on 17 years’ in-house experience at Sun Microsystems and Intel, Anne Gundelfinger explains how to effectively build, manage and optimise the inhouse trademark function
Trademark owners would be well advised to prepare now for 2015’s ASEAN Economic Community. While the development creates a number of opportunities for brand owners, there is also a need to ensure that IP protection is in place prior to harmonisation
Trademark audits should be regularly performed to ensure there are no deficiencies in current protection programmes. However, if crucial steps are missed, unidentified chinks in the armour may come back to haunt you
While use of the technology is not yet widespread, augmented reality is increasingly being used by savvy brand owners – requiring an equally savvy analysis of the IP-related issues surrounding the medium
While the ECJ’s decision in the joined Nokia and Philipscases initially seems a blow to trademark owners, there are positive aspects
Lookalikes have become increasingly topical in recent months, with MARQUES raising the issue before the European Parliament, Hogan Lovells publishing a report on parasitic copying and research underway at the UKIPO. WTR asked a range of trademark experts for their view on the issue and advice on how to tackle it
As resources are stretched to the limit and budgets arefrozen, it has never been tougher for the trademarkfunction to get their voices heard. In this environment,outside counsel can play a pivotal role in helping to enhance their in-house colleagues’ internal visibility
Brands have the potential to live long, profitable lives and, in the case of corporate failures, brand value can be a critical asset for facilitating business revival. However, care must be taken in the valuation of brands and intangible assets in the context of an insolvency scenario
Against the backdrop of a rapidly developing body of law affecting the overlap between intellectual property and franchising, one of the key internal partners for trademark counsel should be their franchising lawyer colleagues
Country correspondent
It is important that rights holders demonstrate their commitment to working with Customs, in a bid to maximise the effectiveness of the rights protection mechanisms at their disposal
There are a number of tools available for curbing the availability of counterfeit goods, with the International Trade Commission and US Customs and Border Protection key allies in the fight
In the United Kingdom, a prompt and streamlined procedure is necessary to ensure that counterfeit goodscan be efficiently destroyed while complying with the existing regime
Russian law enforcement has stepped up its efforts to fight counterfeiting over the past few years, with trademark owners able to draw on a range of enforcement options
In Canada, there is generally no customs enforcement of IP rights and customs officials have traditionally seen their role as simply collecting the relevant duties. However, options are available to stem the flow of counterfeits
While more could be done, India has a robust legal framework for combating counterfeiting and piracy. Forbrand owners, the key is creating a carefully thought-out strategy to operate within this framework
Specialist IP panels have been created in Bucharest and have developed solid case law, as they have exclusivejurisdiction over all trademark cancellation and revocation cases. Choosing the right forum can therefore be crucial
In China, brand owners can draw on a range of enforcement options to fight against counterfeiting – both in the physical world and online
The tools being implemented by Italian Customs are having a significant impact, both in fighting piracy and inpublic administration relations
Columns
‘Means what it says’ versus ‘class headings cover all’
Legislating for change in Canada
Time for change? Tackling the problem of proprietorship
