Strategy

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?

The number of countries and regions joining the international system for trademark registration on the basis of the Madrid Agreement and its Protocol, continues to grow, with Canada the latest country to deposit an instrument of accession at WIPO.

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.

With the next ‘meaningful vote’ delayed until 12 March, pressure has grown on the UK government to exclude no-deal as an option for Brexit – and, if necessary, to request an extension to Article 50. This has resulted in further votes being scheduled for 13 and 14 March. As we wait for the outcome of those votes, our updated Brexit white paper provides a helpful overview of the current situation for IP, and what brand owners can do to prepare themselves whatever the Brexit outcome.

First broadcasted on 13 March 2019, this webinar will explain the status of Brexit negotiations (as of 13 March) and the plans that have been put in place for the cloning of IP rights (including in a ‘no-deal’ scenario).

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?

Frequently bloated with unused registrations or starved by gaps in coverage, a thorough audit of your trademark assets could help you to identify ways to streamline and exploit your portfolio, saving you money while also improving the efficiency of your assets.

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