Hot topics

It is now just 9 days until 29 March 2019, but the terms (and date) of the UK’s departure from the EU are still to be confirmed. What happens now?

Brand owners have long complained about the ease with which counterfeiters are able to sell fake goods in online sites such as Amazon. Now, the retailer has announced plans to introduce serial numbers and improve automatic detection to curb such sales.

Marketing teams and their legal advisers naturally differ in their approach to brand name creation. The former often preferring product names that their more risk-averse legal colleagues consider too ‘descriptive’ from a trademark perspective. How do you find the right balance?

So much of Brexit is up in the air, including the date when the UK’s exit from the EU will even occur. We summarise what we know so far, and how businesses should prepare.

We previously covered the need for businesses to establish a clear and consistent strategy for registering and renewing domain names. For UK businesses with .eu domain name registrations, 29 March 2019 (‘Brexit day’) adds a further deadline.

Although the CJEU recently ruled that the flavour of a cheese spread is not eligible for copyright protection, advances in the technology used to electronically describe odours and flavours could overcome legal obstacles to their protection in the future, say Chantal Koller and François Grange.

Domain name management usually sits outside the IP department with marketing and/or IT teams. Those departments may have been schooled in the need to consult the IP team as part of the domain name registration strategy, but what about decisions as to ongoing maintenance, gaps in protection or decisions to lapse registered domains?

Counterfeit purchases tend to spike before holidays such as Christmas and during designated sales periods, such as Black Friday and the January sales.

As is usually the case with IP, it saves time and money over the longer term if a strategy is in place in advance of a brand takeover or launch. The same is true when two businesses merge.

Most of us finish the year feeling bogged down by the work we didn’t quite get around to. Fortunately, the new year offers the promise of a fresh start making December the perfect time to set achievable goals. Why not finish the year with an audit of your IP portfolio, so you can plan your maintenance, consolidation and enhancement projects for the months ahead.

It may be desirable or indeed necessary to retain existing ownership structures for brands acquired as part of a merger or acquisition (M&A). However, if the newly merged business has been rebranded, the conflict between the registered legacy brands and the new brand will need to be resolved.

Not to be confused with the much delayed Unitary Patent, the European Patent system provides companies with an important structure for protecting and exploiting inventions in Europe. However, certain requirements must be met if patent holders are to make best use of the system.