Trademarks & Domain Names

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

The EU General Court ruled in October that the iconic puzzle Rubik's Cube does not meet the requirements for registration as a 3D trademark. Louise van de Mortel sets out the decision and what it could mean for brands looking to protect shapes as trademarks in the EU.

Of course every business should undertake trademark clearance searching before launching a brand, but not every small or start-up business understands why – until they receive a cease and desist letter demanding that they change their branding. Vanessa Harrow offers some advice.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held its 66th Annual General Meeting in Montreal earlier this month. Trademark Attorney Laurence Rivière provides a summary of the hot topics under discussion.

In Pharmadom v EUIPO, the EU General Court ruled out likelihood of confusion between MediWell and Well and Well. Florence Chapin outlines the ruling.

Trademark owners with prior rights can oppose the registration of confusingly similar trademarks on the grounds of visual, phonetic and/or conceptual similarities. But, what is meant by conceptual similarity, and how is it established?

Domain names play an important role in the sales and marketing activity of any organisation, but it’s all too easy to overlook the IP implications of registering and managing online channels. We set out points to consider when seeking to align domain name registrations with trademark rights.

The EU has agreed a further extension to 31 January 2020 with the option for the UK to leave earlier if the Prime Minister can secure support for the withdrawal deal. Does this mean a no-deal Brexit is now off the table?

When it comes to celebrity tattoos, the story is always who's got one and where – but what about the artist who created the design? Alastair Rawlence redresses the balance.

With Halloween ‘creeping’ up on us, we’ve rounded up some ‘trick-y’ and ‘sweet’ case law updates to get us in the mood for the upcoming spooky festivities.

You can’t escape memes on social media these days, so it’s no surprise to find that corporations are beginning to get in on the act. 

Applications for non-traditional trademarks, such as sounds, smells and motion marks, make up only a small percentage of annual trademark applications in the EU. However, their importance is beginning to grow.