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.
Procter & Gamble recently filed suit against UK discount store chain Poundstretcher, alleging that the retailer has infringed its trademarks by selling counterfeit P&G-branded products. The case provides useful insights into what can happen when counterfeits make their way into the supply chain.
22 March 2016
The government of the Dominican Republic invited a small group of journalists to the country last week in an attempt to highlight what it feels are the as-yet ignored negative effects of plain packaging legislation. While officials expressed confidence that the World Trade Organisation will rule against Australia’s plain packaging regime, the government has clearly decided that public opinion matters as much as legal.
21 March 2016
Last week we reported in some detail on the Supreme Court decision in a dispute between Magmatic, creator of the Trunki ride-on suitcase, and PMS International Group, which produces Kiddee case luggage. While initially described as a blow to the UK design industry, a number of leading commentators have responded to the negativity, arguing that the decision provides a very useful real-life example of how far registered design rights extend.
14 March 2016
The Patent Office has upheld an opposition by Apple Inc against a trademark application by domestic company FrameWorkz ehf, on the grounds of likelihood of confusion.
10 March 2016
The prospect of a voluntary copyright and piracy rights protection mechanism, akin to the Trademark Clearinghouse, has been floated by the recently launched Healthy Domains Initiative. While this will raise questions about content policing responsibilities in some quarters, it is a move that many rights holders will welcome.
09 March 2016
In a case that centred on the issue of whether surface decoration should be considered when deciding whether design infringement has occurred, the Supreme Court has delivered a verdict that one commentator suggests “cements the growing perception that the pendulum swings too far in favour of the alleged infringer”.
09 March 2016
In a non-precedential decision TTAB has held that the mark HEALTHY HEMP was merely descriptive and therefore refused to register the mark.
07 March 2016
The ECJ recently provided clarification on the extent to which a Community trademark licensee may file legal proceedings when the licence agreement has not been entered in the Trademark Register.
04 March 2016
A recent Supreme Court decision cancelling some of IKEA’s trademarks on the grounds of non-use means that any three-year period of non-use potentially makes trademarks vulnerable and subsequent use does not rectify this. A harsh judgment, perhaps, but one which is within the interpretation of the law.
02 March 2016
The Swiss Federal Administrative Court has dismissed an appeal against a decision of the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property which refused to register the trademark HYDE PARK for Classes 12 and 28 of the Nice Classification as it was qualified as deceptive to consumers if the goods were not British.
01 March 2016
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