Strategy

With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis providing added incentive, consumers are increasingly turning to digital channels to access products and services. The recent phenomenon of influencer marketing offers both opportunities and pitfalls for brand owners, says Casper Hemelrijk.

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

Although relatively little used by applicants, international preliminary examinations make it possible to defend the patentability of an invention following an unfavourable international search report, as Pierre Gauer explains.

The UK’s departure from the EU at the end of this year will change the territorial requirements for genuine use of EU and UK trademarks, as Vanessa Harrow explains.

An essential device to fight the spread of COVID-19, the mask now represents a retail market in its own right. Marine Dissoubray spells out the IP implications.

Protecting patentable innovations in the US and EU is the foundation of many corporate patent portfolios. However, a first patent filing in the US can cause issues obtaining subsequent protection in Europe, as Nadège Lagneau explains.

Many companies estimate the health and relative worth of their IP portfolios based on size alone. However, those IP rights could be worth far less if the following checks and balances are not also considered.

On 31 December, the Brexit transition period will come to an end and the UK will officially leave the EU. Vanessa Harrow looks in detail at the implications for trademark and design rights, including ongoing contentious proceedings.

In our webinar focused on trademark management in challenging times, our panellists offered advice on reducing costs and driving efficiencies in trademark registration and enforcement strategies. Here, we summarise some of the guidance and tools discussed.

An interim decision (T 0318/14, G 4/9), recently published in the Official Journal of the European Patent Office (EPO), has generated a number of comments from interested third parties on the topic of double patenting. This is a good time to take stock of this issue, says Martin Kohrs.

For a recent webinar, Novagraaf brought together experts in patent filing and portfolio management to share best practice on global patent strategies, including a comparison of the Patent Cooperation Treaty and European Patent systems. We summarise the key issues and guidance discussed.

In our best practice guide, we set out tools and advice for brand owners looking to establish an effective and proportionate online brand protection strategy, or those looking to update their approach.