News & opinion

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 bad faith.

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?

Trademark enforcement is critical to brand protection strategies, but taking too heavy-handed an approach can often do more damage than good, as backcountry.com recently learned to its cost.

While “natural wine” is growing in popularity with consumers, there is currently no official label, legal definition or regulation to describe what makes a wine “natural”, says Manon Brodin.

Holders of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international applications will soon be able to apply for protection of their invention in Italy without going through the European Patent system.

Trademark law allows brand owners to take action against a trademark applied for ‘in bad faith’. But, what is meant by ‘bad faith’, and what is the process for bringing such a claim?

The question of whether plant variety denominations can be protected under Article 7(1)(m) of the European Trade Mark Regulation was addressed by the EU General Court for the first time in the dispute over ‘Kordes’ Rose Monique’. Louise van de Mortel sets out the ruling. 

The EU General Court ruled in October that the iconic puzzle Rubik's Cube does not meet the requirements for registration as a 3D trademark. Louise van de Mortel sets out the decision and what it could mean for brands looking to protect shapes as trademarks in the EU.

In Pharmadom v EUIPO, the EU General Court ruled out likelihood of confusion between MediWell and Well and Well. Florence Chapin outlines the ruling.

Trademark owners with prior rights can oppose the registration of confusingly similar trademarks on the grounds of visual, phonetic and/or conceptual similarities. But, what is meant by conceptual similarity, and how is it established?