Strategy

When deciding on your IP enforcement and protection strategy, both the 'sword' and 'shield' functions of trademarks must be kept in mind, says Laura Morrish.

Such has been the success of hard seltzers in the past five years, their consumption has now overtaken that of many strong beers and spirits in homes in the US and other countries worldwide. But, what are hard seltzers and why has this popular drinks craze fallen foul of global regulators? Florence Chapin provides the answers. 

In a recent webinar on best practices for European patents, Novagraaf’s Dr Kate McNamara joined experts from Questel to discuss the new European patenting landscape. Here, we summarise some of the key points discussed.

In the rush to launch a new business, product or service, businesses often fail to consider trademark protection for key elements of their branding. Laura Morrish shares eight reasons for starting the trademark process early in the brand creation process.

As companies increasingly turn to innovative trademarks, such as colour, sound, holograms and motion marks, to differentiate themselves from competitors, questions arise as to how to protect these trademarks effectively. Register for our webinar recording to discover the answers.

Businesses that are managing different brand names for the same products in different jurisdictions could save time and money by harmonising their trademark portfolio, says Luke Portnow.

Effective IP portfolio management does not only require access to the right technology and tools. IP firms and departments also need to consider how they approach their day-to-day IP tasks.

Trademark assignment recordals against UK rights have been on the rise since Brexit, as EU trademark owners are now required to manage these rights separately.

When businesses merge with or acquire other businesses, the challenge for IP professionals doesn’t stop once the deal is complete. For IP rights to be properly updated and maintained, the question of how to brand and structure the newly merged business first needs to be addressed.

On 1 June, Novagraaf's Luke Portnow and Thomsen Trampedach's Markus Rouvinen provided useful take-home points and experiences on implementing smart solutions to current IP challenges in private practice and in-house.

The route to implementation of the proposed unitary patent and Unified Patent Court system has been far from easy. With it now projected to come into effect before the end of 2022, we set out the answers to some frequently asked questions in our latest white paper 'The Unitary Patent: A practical guide'.

Businesses and their trademark departments need to react quickly to new global and digital challenges today if they are to secure their brand for the future.