Insights

Commercial success for pharmaceutical companies is highly dependent on the acquisition and enforcement of IP rights. While speed to filing is important in most instances, registering a trademark too e...

Surrealist 60s British music group ‘The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band' is fighting to protect its name and logo after they were registered as a trademark by a third-party media company.

It looks as if the year is going from bad to worse for McDonald’s trademark portfolio. After the fast food chain’s EU registration for ‘BIG MAC’ was cancelled in January, the EUIPO has now partially r...

The Court of Justice of the EU dealt the final blow to Red Bull’s trademark registration yesterday (29 July), after it agreed with the EU General Court’s 2017 decision that the colour combinations wer...

English football club Sheffield Wednesday has objected to the registration of ‘WAWAW’, an acronym used by fans on social media to signify ‘We’re All Wednesday, Aren’t We’.

Such has been the success of the comedy movie Fack ju Göthe, its production company sought to register the title as a word mark. Casper Hemelrijk examines the public policy and morality objections wit...

The trade in counterfeit alcohol threatens the safety of those that consume it, as well as the reputation of the rightful brand owner. In this article, we assess the threat and set out tools for prote...

Regulation (EU) 2019/933 on Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) entered into force on 1 July 2019. It amended Regulation (EC) No 469/2009 on SPCs by introducing a manufacturing waiver for gen...

Brazil’s accession to the Madrid System, on 2 October this year, is good news for businesses that operate globally/in the Americas.

The Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA) recently issued a warning to members about scam trademark renewal letters.

Dog-sitting service Hairbnb may be forced to change its name after receiving a cease and desist letter from online rental marketplace Airbnb. An effective trademark watching strategy could have saved ...

Last week, adidas suffered a third loss in its attempt to safeguard its three stripes trademark when the EU General Court dismissed the sportswear manufacturer’s appeal and confirmed EUIPO’s earlier d...

The criteria for a mark to be ‘well known’ is higher than the assessment criteria for trademarks with reputation, and decisions can vary considerably between EU member states, as Casper Hemelrijk expl...

One of the most popular panel discussions at this year’s INTA conference examined possible methods of IP protection for fictional characters. Panelist Chantal Koller sets out the European perspective.

A recent decision by EUIPO's Board of Appeal, in a dispute over educational toys for children, illustrates the limited degree of freedom for designers under design law.

The wine and spirits sector has had a busy first half of 2019 in trademark terms. Florence Chapin picks some highlights from around the globe.

Back in October 2018, the General Court of the EU decided that energy drink Red Bull and alcoholic drink Flügel were not similar products. By calling on its reputation, however, Red Bull has found a w...

The Vita Group has recently been successful in its ongoing dispute over the registration of the descriptive term ‘Talalay’. Vanessa Harrow sets out the ruling and the steps businesses can take when fa...

The Chinese government is seeking to create a more favourable climate for investment and innovation by tightening its trademark legislation.

As a business grows, so too do the demands on its IP department. In an excerpt from our white paper, we set out the pros and cons of the fully in-house, fully outsourced and hybrid IP management model...