Insights

Les sites web qui offrent une plate-forme permettant à des tiers de vendre des produits représentent aujourd'hui certaines des entreprises les plus prospères du monde, en raison de l'évolution rapide ...

Mexico has become the latest country to deposit its instrument of accession to the International Design system, following Israel, Samoa and Vietnam last year. The growth of the system is only good new...

The full impact of COVID-19 on businesses, individuals and world economies is still unknown, but where some see challenges, others see opportunities or chances to help, as Novagraaf's Vanessa Harrow e...

Patent and trademark offices are adapting their working methods in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Read our overview of changes to procedural requirements, timeframes, channels of communication and...

From Led Zeppelin to Katy Perry, it seems that hardly a few weeks go by without another music IP case hitting the headlines. But, does this mark an increase in actual ‘copying’, or is it just a indica...

The Unified Patent Court Agreement received a further blow this month after Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court declared the Act establishing the system null and void on constitutional grounds.

Earlier this year, the EPO published its decision setting out the reasons for its refusal of two European patent applications in which an AI system was designated as the inventor.

Despite holding a EU collective trademark, the EU General Court ruled that ‘Halloumi’ was too descriptive, and thus lacking in distinctive character, to successfully oppose a EU trademark application ...

As the coronavirus spreads, so too do related trademark applications. It’s only the latest example of how registrations follow medical and political news.

In a new twist to the ‘Royal’ trademark saga, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have retracted their application for the ‘Sussex Royal’ marks. Megan Taylor outlines the barriers to obtaining a Royal trad...

The revised Rules of Procedure at the EPO’s Boards of Appeal (RPBA), known as ‘RPBA 2020’, came into force on 1 January 2020. The revised rules apply to any appeal pending on, or filed after, this dat...

If a trademark office deems a potential trademark to be contrary to public policy or accepted principles of morality, it can refuse to register the mark. Following a recent CJEU decision, concrete evi...

A recent judgement by the District Court of The Hague shows the importance of documenting comprehensive and consistent evidence of trademark and trade name use.

Announcement last week that the UK ‘will not be seeking involvement’ in the Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent system is the latest blow for the much delayed EU patent, as Robert Balsters explain...

France’s new PACTE law has set out to modernise utility certificates by increasing their term of protection and adding new provisions to allow applicants to transform utility certificate applications ...

Celebrities are advised to protect their names as trademarks if they are to take action against unauthorised use by third parties, as Megan Taylor explains.

As Liverpool Football Club recently discovered, there are barriers to registering the name of a town, city or other geographical place name as a trademark.

A recent judgement by the Court of Justice of the EU has considered whether failing to specify goods and services clearly and precisely in trademark applications is a sign that the applicant acted in ...

Service offering customers the opportunity to pay to name a star, in return for a certificate, found to be misleading for the purposes of trademark registration, as Louise van de Mortel explains.

Will the PACTE law, which seeks to tighten up the way in which patents are issued in France, result in stronger French patents or a gradual abandonment of its measures?