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- Posted by TMR TMR on November 18, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksThe music artist and entrepreneur Jay-Z has been involved in a long-standing legal dispute with Iconix Brand Group (‘IBG’).The music artist and entrepreneur Jay-Z has been involved in a long-standing legal dispute with Iconix Brand Group (‘IBG’). IBG is an American brand management company that acquires trade marks and other intellectual property to licence to others. In 2007, IBG alleged that Jay-Z sold the ‘Roc Nation’ trade mark to his Rocawear clothing brand for $204 million to them. However, Jay-Z (through the Roc Nation Apparel Company) stated that as the trade mark [...]Read more
- Posted by Sena Tokel on November 13, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksThe US Supreme Court will review whether travel fare aggregator Booking.com can register their domain name as a trade mark.The US Supreme Court will review whether travel fare aggregator Booking.com can register their domain name as a trade mark. In July this year, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refused permission for the registration of Booking.com’s domain name as a trade mark. The reasoning for USPTO’s decision was that the terms ‘booking’ and ‘.com’ were ‘too generic’ to be registerable as a trade mark as per the Lehman Act 15 USC 1051. [...]Read more
- Posted by Sena Tokel on November 11, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksTrade marks that are descriptive of the nature of their goods and/or services are not registrable.Deciding on a brand name that gives an indication as to what your services and/or products provide is likely to give your customers an indication of what your business does, right? Unfortunately, this does not apply when it comes to trade mark registration. This is because marks that are wholly descriptive of the goods and/or services will not be deemed able to function as a trade mark in accordance to section 3(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 . The reasoning behind this is to avoid marks from [...]Read more
- Posted by TMR TMR on November 11, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksThe pressure of making a brand stand out in today’s competitive industry is something that affects all brands.The pressure of making a brand stand out in today’s competitive industry is something that affects all brands. Whether a brand is can establish itself or not is connected to whether a brand can make a memorable mark in the minds of the consumer. As a result, a vast amount of companies and brands are looking to use colours to make their products stand out. In order to do this effectively, they are seeking exclusivity by registering a pantone colour with an intellectual property office. The [...]Read more
- Posted by Sena Tokel on November 06, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksBritish luxury car maker Bentley has been accused of infringing the trade marks of a family-run clothing store in Manchester.British luxury car maker Bentley Motors has been accused of infringing the trade marks of a family-run clothing store in Manchester. Last week, the Courts ruled in favour of the Manchester business ‘Brandlogic’, who sells clothing registered under the name ‘Bentley Clothing’. Bentley motors who have made luxury cars since 1919, have a range of clothes and wearable items for sale. The clothes, which match the carmakers high end image, sell polos shirts retailing at [...]Read more
- Posted by Ellis Sweetenham on October 28, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksGrowing in popularity, halloumi has become a well-loved, if slightly chewy, cheese.Growing in popularity, halloumi has become a well-loved, if slightly chewy, cheese. It seems this popularity has not gone unnoticed, as for some time Cyprus has tried to maintain their trade mark protection for the name. Monitored by the Cypriot Ministry for Energy, Commerce and Tourism, halloumi is Cyrus’s flagship product, hence their eagerness to keep the trade mark. Their UK trade mark for ‘Halloumi’ was attacked by John and Pascalis Ltd who filed three applications to [...]Read more
- Posted by Sena Tokel on October 25, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksOn Thursday the European General Courts upheld their 2017 decision to remove the trade mark of arguably one of the world’s most popular puzzles – the Rubik’s CubeOn Thursday the European General Courts upheld their 2017 decision to remove the trade mark of arguably one of the world’s most popular puzzles – the Rubik’s Cube First registered as a trade mark with the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in 1999, the iconic puzzle has sold over 400 million cubes since it was first created in 1974. In 2006 the EUIPO received an application for the declaration of invalidity by German competitor, Simba Toys. Initially refused by [...]Read more
- Posted by Sena Tokel on October 22, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksPrior to filing to register your selected trade mark, you must identify the class of goods and or/services you wish for your mark to be protected under.Prior to filing to register your selected trade mark, you must identify the class of goods and or/services you wish for your mark to be protected under. These goods and services are divided into 45 classes which provide a general indication for what each class covers. For example, class 25 covers clothing, footwear and head gear. It is a common misconception that you are required to select the class of goods and/or services from pre-approved list however, you can manually create or add on as [...]Read more
- Posted by Mark Reed on October 21, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksIf you are wondering whether to take the plunge, read on.We get a huge amount of calls from potential clients who simply want to know if it is worth registering a trade mark. Some of these calls are from people who have been trading for many years and never had a problem and others are from people who are a new start up and wish to make sure everything is above board and protected before their dreams start to become reality. It is first worth noting that there are registered and unregistered intellectual property rights. This means that those rights [...]Read more
- Posted by Sena Tokel on October 16, 2019 / Posted in Trade MarksCar manufacturing giant Ford recently filed for the ‘Black Diamond’ trade mark application with the United States Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO).Car manufacturing giant Ford recently filed for the ‘Black Diamond’ trade mark application with the United States Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO). The mark, filed under the goods and services of “Land motor vehicles, namely, passenger automobiles, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles”, has left ford fanatics speculating as to whether a new model is being released. Others however, suggest that the name could refer to a new colour for Ford’s vehicles. [...]Read more