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IP rights provide an invaluable means for protecting the heart and soul of a brand. That's why identifying what trademarks to protect and proactively maintaining those rights is so crucial to the brand development process.
Does the use of a trademark in a connected sector constitute genuine use of that mark? What if that mark is used in differing forms? Florence Chapin outlines a recent EU General Court ruling that provides some answers.
Which court has competency when trademark infringement takes place online? A recent CJEU ruling considered this question in the context of a dispute over meta tag and Google Ads trademark infringement. Volha Parfenchyk outlines its implications.
Discover why blockchain and IP are such hot topics, and why you should timestamp your IP rights using blockchain technology.
The Second Board of Appeal of the European IP Office (EUIPO) recently issued a decision confirming the refusal to register an emoji trademark representing ‘I Love You’. The EUIPO had refused to register the pictogram on the basis that it was unable to fulfil the essential function of a trademark, namely to indicate the origin of the products and/or services of a company.
Trademark availability and clearance checks are a vital part of the brand development process. Mona Asgari explains how to build a strong IP foundation for brand development from identifying IP assets to trademark clearance searching.
Domain names are a valuable commercial asset for many companies and an important element of their IP portfolios. However, protecting domain name rights requires knowledge of completely different enforcement systems, such as the WIPO UDRP.
Tracking and recording decisions relating to new trademarks and branding is a vital but often overlooked part of the IP management process. In the first article of our new series on brand development, Vanessa Harrow explains why and offers a practical guide on where to start.
EUIPO's cancellation of the MINISO trademark based on a copyright registration underlines that a trademark registration can be cancelled for infringing other IP rights, not simply registered trademarks, says Valerie Annan.
Trademark renewals must be instructed in a timely manner to ensure compliance with relevant deadlines and formalities. To facilitate this process for our clients, Novagraaf has added a new ‘reminder’ function for unsent instructions to the renewals module of its IP portal EasyIP.
On 13 June 2023, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published a long-awaited communication regarding the conditions for suspending China trademark review cases. Carole Roger outlines its implications.
Counterfeiting and piracy are constant challenges for brand owners in both online and offline channels. The Anti-counterfeiting Benchmarking Report released by the International Trademark Association (INTA) in May provides valuable insights and counterfeiting statistics that illuminate the scale of the problem and the resources necessary to address it.