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Brand owners have long complained about the ease with which counterfeiters are able to sell fake goods in online sites such as Amazon. Now, the retailer has announced plans to introduce serial numbers and improve automatic detection to curb such sales.
Although the CJEU recently ruled that the flavour of a cheese spread is not eligible for copyright protection, advances in the technology used to electronically describe odours and flavours could overcome legal obstacles to their protection in the future, say Chantal Koller and François Grange.
Domain name management usually sits outside the IP department with marketing and/or IT teams. Those departments may have been schooled in the need to consult the IP team as part of the domain name registration strategy, but what about decisions as to ongoing maintenance, gaps in protection or decisions to lapse registered domains?
As is usually the case with IP, it saves time and money over the longer term if a strategy is in place in advance of a brand takeover or launch. The same is true when two businesses merge.
Not to be confused with the much delayed Unitary Patent, the European Patent system provides companies with an important structure for protecting and exploiting inventions in Europe. However, certain requirements must be met if patent holders are to make best use of the system.
When a business merges or acquires another business, one of the next questions is: what should that newly merged business be called? Opting to ‘fuse’ the two previous brand names does offer reputational benefits, but there are also a number of IP hurdles that need to be overcome.
It may be desirable or indeed necessary to retain existing ownership structures for brands acquired as part of a merger or acquisition (M&A). However, if the newly merged business has been rebranded, the conflict between the registered legacy brands and the new brand will need to be resolved.
Can a global brand name limit its life? It's easier said than done, writes Claire Jones.
An organisation's value is no longer based simply on its tangible or fixed assets; more often than not, it is the company’s intangible assets, including brand reputation and goodwill, that create its market value.
IP licensing can provide companies with additional (or core) revenue streams, enable them to raise brand awareness and enhance their reputation, and extend their brands into new markets and geographies. However, if IP ownership or validity is unclear, it can also pose significant financial and business risk.
As e-cigarette use grows, so do the dangers of trademark infringement for well-known brands, as Trademark Attorney Claire Jones explains.
When seeking to expand into new markets or territories, it’s important to ensure IP protection is first in place. Dr Peter Wilson sets out the IP elements to consider when developing or updating an export strategy.