A new academic paper argues that Amazon has upended the US trademark system with little public recognition, and that questions about trademark law in the modern age need answering.
In our latest round-up, we look at Panama Customs seizing around $83,000 worth of fake adidas and Louis Vuitton products, Elon Musk failing to dismiss X Social Media's infringement suit, and much more.
WTR’s brand-new Special Report is an essential guide to championing winning brands on and off the playing field.
As has been widely reported in recent months, the wheels appear to have fallen off of China’s economic juggernaut (or at least to have picked up a few punctures). As might be expected, the slowdown is leading to a tightening of consumer purse strings, particularly when it comes products and services sold in higher price brackets – including, notably, luxury goods. For brands, the concern will be that buyers now turn to fake alternatives.
29 April 2016
The Vietnamese government’s recent decision to uphold a foreign company’s trademark rights in the face of a cancellation action launched by one of its state-owned enterprises represents a significant positive development for brand owners operating in the country.
27 April 2016
A recent decision of the Northern District of Ohio, <i>Haas Door Company v Haas Garage Door Company</i>, 13-CV-2507, concerns the right of two parties to use the same distinctive house mark in connection with separate, but closely related, goods and services.
27 April 2016
A major new study released today has revealed that counterfeit and pirated goods represented up to 2.5% of world trade in 2013 – a figure that Antonio Campinos, president of the EU Intellectual Property Office, noted “is equivalent to combined GDP of the Czech Republic and Ireland”. Reflecting on this, BASCAP director Jeff Hardy has called on policymakers to do more to fight the scourge of counterfeiting.
18 April 2016
The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal that the Community registered design for the shape of the Trunki ride-on suitcase was not infringed by a similar product called the ‘Kiddee Case’. While the judgment confirms that the scope of a registered design can be construed narrowly, it remains a valuable and effective IP right for designers
18 April 2016
US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations has revealed that the total number of seized IP infringing products increased by nearly 25% in fiscal year 2015, with the value of detained goods breaking through the $1 billion barrier.
18 April 2016
The Indonesian Supreme Court hit the headlines back in February for upholding a decision to strip Swedish retailer Ikea of several trademarks after it fell foul of non-use rules. While the event will likely have exacerbated brand owners’ apprehensions about doing business in the country, the introduction of new regulations addressing the recording of licence agreements could boost their confidence in the trademark system
12 April 2016
As part of <i>World Trademark Review</i>’s fact-finding trip to the Dominican Republic last week, we spoke with a number of representatives from the country’s premium cigar industry. The key message they communicated was that legislators misunderstand how cigars are consumed, and that plain packaging is significantly more damaging to premium cigar brands than cigarette brands due to the industry’s reliance on IP as part of the consumer experience.
24 March 2016
Havells has challenged the Advertising Standards Council of India’s decision to restrict it from using its tagline and trademark WIRES THAT DON’T CATCH FIRE in its advertising.
23 March 2016
Unlock unlimited access to all WTR content
