Since 2005 we have been registering and managing trademarks, copyright and other IP for clients around the world. One of the fastest growing aspects of our business is trademark renewals and trademark formalities. Any business with a trademark portfolio can benefit from a dedicated service looking after their renewal needs. This frees up resources and [...]

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As more and more IP owners have discovered, protecting your name does not stop at a trade mark. As highlighted by the recent Facebook name grab, it is important that brand owners protect their right by registering their names as usernames on Facebook and other social networking sites. The cost to the brand if it [...]

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Sony have just applied for “HOLY INVASION OF PRIVACY, BADMAN!” as a trade mark in the US. Bearing in mind the announcement today that the UK government is to gain access to users’ lists of friends and contacts on Facebook and Bebo, perhaps a tie up could be on the cards. Link to Times article [...]

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Google and LVMH are back in court this week over the use of trademarked terms in when used in adwords. Google’s current stance in the UK is that trademarked terms can be utilised as a search term to generate the display of competitors’ adverts, but cannot be used within the text of the advert itself. [...]

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We hear from the BBC of the opening of a former Woolworths store in Dorchester, England. The new name of the store? Wellworths! Surely there must be some TM infringement here? Will the new owners of the Woolworths brand, the Barclay bothers, have something to say about this?

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We have today received the UKIPO consultation document which sets out proposed changes to the system of applying for and registering trademarks in the UK. The main thrust of the consultation is that official fees will drop by varying amounts depending how the trademark is applied for. This seems to be in direct response to [...]

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Interesting article on www.1854.eu commenting on a survey by the British Photographic Council. It appears that nearly three quarters of British photographers surveyed had been the victims of copyright infringement and felt that there was no point in taking action against the infringer as it would be pointless and not cost effective. Surely there must [...]

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The High Court has overturned the UK IPO’s previous decision to refuse to allow the names of shopping centres to be registered as trade marks in class 35. The Court relied upon the ECJ’s decision in Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte AG [2005] ECR I-5873, which related to retail services, finding that there was no reason [...]

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Whilst trade marks are the main focus for most brand owners, inevitably all owners of IP rights will own some items of copyright. This can range from imagery, music, ad copy to more obscure elements such as typefaces or source code. It is important for brand owners to recognise the importance of copyright especially when [...]

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Background In October 2007, the UK trade mark registry (UKIPO) changed the way in which they dealt with the citation of exact or similar marks, in relation to new applications. Before this date, if a new trade mark was applied for which was the same or similar to an existing mark and applied for in [...]

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