Sector: Travel & Leisure

Walt Disney has supplanted Lego as the world’s most powerful brand, according to the Brand Finance Global 500 2016. Acquisition activity has played a key role, with Marvel and Lucasfilm properties propelling the Walt Disney brand up the brand strength league table.

01 February 2016

A recent High Court decision serves as a warning that not just any evidence of confusion will do; evidence of confusion and deception must be carefully analysed as to the cause of it.

29 January 2016

In a recent case the court considered the plaintiffs’ application for an interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from engaging in the mass promotion of a residential development using the English name ‘Corinthia’ on the basis of passing off and trademark infringement.

20 January 2016

The Federal Circuit has reversed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) refusal to register the mark THE SLANTS for entertainment in the form of a musical group (see <i>In re Simon Shiao Tam</i> (Fed Cir December 22 2015)). According to the court, the specific portion of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act that prohibits registration to marks that are disparaging is unconstitutional.

18 January 2016

In <i>Compagnie générale des établissements Michelin v OHIM</i> (Case T-525/14, December 8 2015), the Seventh Chamber of the EU General Court annulled a May 5 2014 decision of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) Fourth Board of Appeal which upheld the appeal and rejected the opposition in its entirety.

14 January 2016

A new report from the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights has found that over 1,600 brands placed online advertisements on sites suspected of copyright infringement during its six-week study. The result is that companies could be helping to fund the very sites that their counsel are battling against.

12 January 2016

Given the political sensitivities surrounding the relationship between China and Taiwan, certain cross-strait trademark applications are fraught with controversy. Media reports have pointed to the recent rejection of a National Palace Museum trademark in China as the latest example. But a museum representative tells World Trademark Review that the issues in this case are more legal than political.

07 January 2016

In the couple of weeks since Asian-American rock band The Slants clinched an appeal court victory in its fight to obtain a trademark registration for its name, media analysis has broadly focused on the implications for the ongoing court battle of the Washington Redskins against cancellation of a number of its registrations. However, band founder Simon Tam laments that commentators are missing the bigger story.

06 January 2016

In <I>Pearl Village Co Ltd v Department of Intellectual Property</I>, the Supreme Court has overturned a judgment of the IP & IT Court and held that the mark INDIGO PEARL was confusingly similar to the registered mark HOTEL INDIGO. Among other things, the Supreme Court held that the general rules applicable to the use and registration of common colour names such as red and black did not apply to the colour indigo.

05 January 2016

A WIPO panel has denied the transfer of the domain names ‘montecarlo.biz’ and ‘montecarlo.ws’ under the UDRP because the complainant - the owner of the marks CASINO DE MONTE-CARLO and MONTE CARLO - had failed to establish bad-faith registration and use. Among other things, the panel found that the complainant had failed to demonstrate a deliberate intent by the respondent to create a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's trademarks.

04 January 2016