Most people assume that by registering a trade mark in the EU, they automatically prevent other businesses from registering similar trade marks. This is not the case. The EUIPO cannot monitor all of t...
Sky wins two intellectual property battles (Skype and NOW TV)
The month of May has seen a ray of sunshine for Sky in the courts: firstly, the EU General Court has upheld Sky’s opposition of Skype community trade mark applications (CTMs) on appeal; secondly, in...
Case Update: Ownership of Copyright in Innocent’s Dude Logo
The “dude” In 1998, Fresh Trading Ltd (“Fresh”) started up a new smoothie business that we all now know as Innocent. They engaged an agency called Deepend to design their brand identity. The a...
Case Update: Court of Appeal finds Topshop in a hopeless place
Between March and August 2012, Topshop sold t-shirts displaying a photograph of the popstar Rihanna. The image had been taken by an independent photographer whilst Rihanna was on a video shoot for h...
Website blocking orders extended to trade mark infringement
A test case brought by the owners of luxury brands including Cartier, IWC and Mont-Blanc against five internet service providers (ISPs) Sky, BT, EE, TalkTalk and Virgin has resulted in website blockin...
The cancellation of Redskins US trademarks and its relevance to UK trade mark law
On 18 June 2014, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted a petition to cancel six federal trademark registrations containing the word REDSKINS. These included THE REDSKINS, WASHINGTON RED...
Case Update: Jack Wills’ pheasant infringed by House of Fraser’s pigeon
Amongst the beasts and birds sewn to the left breast of shirts, jumpers and jackets by fashion labels are the Ralph Lauren polo pony, Lacoste crocodile, Abercrombie & Fitch moose and, the subject ...