Strategy

Planning is crucial to the safe transfer of an IP portfolio no matter the timescales involved. Minimise the impact on your business and resources with these five steps for recording change of ownership.

An organisation's value is no longer based simply on its tangible or fixed assets; more often than not, it is the company’s intangible assets, including brand reputation and goodwill, that create its market value.

What happens to trademarks, designs, patents and copyright if the UK crashes out of Europe without a deal? The UK government released a series of guidance papers to address this topic last week.

A US court ruled this month that ‘ugg’ is not a generic term to describe the popular slouchy sheepskin boots, clearing the way for the brand owner, Deckers Outdoor Corporation, to pursue its trademark and design infringement actions against a rival manufacturer.

IP licensing can provide companies with additional (or core) revenue streams, enable them to raise brand awareness and enhance their reputation, and extend their brands into new markets and geographies. However, if IP ownership or validity is unclear, it can also pose significant financial and business risk.

As e-cigarette use grows, so do the dangers of trademark infringement for well-known brands, as Trademark Attorney Claire Jones explains.

Fashion brand fails to provide adequate proof of use for the stylised capital D it registered as an EU trademark in 1999. Ardine Siepman examines the decision.

Novagraaf’s Anca Draganescu-Pinawin provides a brief introduction to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and explains how to develop and execute a data management strategy that is compliant with the regulation.

If you build a brand or reputation around your own name, what happens if a third-party owns the trademark registrations to that name, rather than you?

When seeking to expand into new markets or territories, it’s important to ensure IP protection is first in place. Dr Peter Wilson sets out the IP elements to consider when developing or updating an export strategy.

It is crucial to act promptly when submitting objections (or oppositions) to challenge potentially conflicting trademark applications. But, what is the opposition procedure – and how can brand owners make best use of it to protect their trademarks? Vanessa Harrow outlines the process.

Chantal Koller, Managing Director – Trademarks at Novagraaf Switzerland, shares some of the approaches used by leading Swiss companies to achieve both brand dominance and market success.