Global

When budgets are tight, IP expenditure will naturally come under scrutiny, with patent annuity payments often one of the first areas to be identified for cuts.

It takes time, resources and money to create and launch distinctive and effective brands. But how can you be sure that the brand name you have chosen is really yours to use?

Trademark registrations provide an exclusive right to use protected brand names in the markets, and for the goods and services for which they have been registered. To maintain those rights, however, it is imperative to keep trademarks in use.

A Canadian brewery and a New Zealand leather shop have both been caught out this month after using a Māori word as a brand name that has quite a different meaning to the one they had originally intended.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games may have been postponed, but that hasn't stopped counterfeiters from trying to get in on the act, with fake medals recovered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police earlier this month.

In our webinar looking at patent management in challenging times, Cédric Gaspoz offered advice on reducing costs and driving efficiencies in patent annuities. Here, we summarise the guidance and tools discussed.

Support for diversity and inclusion or simply opportunistic 'rainbow-washing'? What does corporate use of the iconic PRIDE rainbow mean for the credibility of an iconic symbol?

Patent analytics can provide valuable insights into current risks and future trends across all types of industry sectors, including the mining and retail of diamonds, as François Grange illustrates.

On 29 April 2020, we brought together a team of experts to explore the risks and opportunities posed to both brands and consumers online, in general and also in the context of new threats caused by our transition to remote working.

As the coronavirus spreads, so too do related trademark applications. It’s only the latest example of how registrations follow medical and political news.

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 September 2019, it was announced that Israel, Samoa and Vietnam deposited instruments of accession to the international design system at WIPO. Last year, Canada, Belize and San Marino also joined.