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Negotiations between the EU and Mexico on an updated Free Trade Agreement could potentially open the door to non-agricultural geographical indications (GIs). Time will tell if the EU is ready to embrace protection for handicrafts however.
It takes time, resources and money to create and launch distinctive and effective brands. But how can you be sure that the brand name you have chosen is really yours to use?
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.
Trademark registrations provide an exclusive right to use protected brand names in the markets, and for the goods and services for which they have been registered. To maintain those rights, however, it is imperative to keep trademarks in use.
A Canadian brewery and a New Zealand leather shop have both been caught out this month after using a Māori word as a brand name that has quite a different meaning to the one they had originally intended.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games may have been postponed, but that hasn't stopped counterfeiters from trying to get in on the act, with fake medals recovered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police earlier this month.
From registering “non-traditional” trademarks to proving “genuine use” of a mark, Chantal Koller shares strategies for protecting and enforcing brand assets across Europe.
Support for diversity and inclusion or simply opportunistic 'rainbow-washing'? What does corporate use of the iconic PRIDE rainbow mean for the credibility of an iconic symbol?
Patent and trademark offices are adapting their working methods in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Read our overview of changes to procedural requirements, timeframes, channels of communication and other impacts on IPOs in Europe and worldwide.
The UK IPO's period of 'interrupted days', which resulted in the extension of most deadlines, ends today (29 July 2020). However, aware of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on applicants and proprietors of intellectual property rights, the Government has introduced a new statutory instrument making temporary amendments to the patent, trademark and design fee rules.
A brand’s use of colour can be a strong identifying element, but registering colours as trademarks remains a challenge. Léa Chenain offers some advice.
Novagraaf’s Chantal Koller on how businesses can adapt their trademark registration strategies to make best use of the opportunities offered by the EU trademark system.