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Patents, trademarks, designs and other forms of intellectual property (IP) play a key role in the success of all modern businesses.

More than 18 months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the war continues to ravage the region. Marion Mercadier considers the situation from a trademark law perspective by examining related trademark refusals and registrations.

Thanks to AI art generators, it’s easier to be ‘creative’ than ever before, but who owns the copyright for art that has been created by a machine? Niké Mion examines recent case law on artificial intelligence and copyright.

Trademark availability and clearance checks are a vital part of the brand development process. Mona Asgari explains how to build a strong IP foundation for brand development from identifying IP assets to trademark clearance searching.

Tracking and recording decisions relating to new trademarks and branding is a vital but often overlooked part of the IP management process. In the first article of our new series on brand development, Vanessa Harrow explains why and offers a practical guide on where to start.

Counterfeiting and piracy are constant challenges for brand owners in both online and offline channels. The Anti-counterfeiting Benchmarking Report released by the International Trademark Association (INTA) in May provides valuable insights and counterfeiting statistics that illuminate the scale of the problem and the resources necessary to address it.

Parallel imports, also known as ‘exhaustion of trademark rights’ or the ‘first sale doctrine’, is a well-known limitation to the rights of trademark owners. Volha Parfenchyk discusses the practice in the context of two recent EU rulings on the branding of generic medicinal products.

Non-traditional trademarks, such as those protecting shapes, smells and sounds, are becoming an increasingly popular way for companies to distinguish their products and services. Savvy Kaushal explains how to register a sound mark in the EU.

The 2022 Review of Notorious Counterfeiting and Piracy Markets by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has assessed the volume of online marketplace counterfeiting and ranked sites by worst offender.

Most IP legislation was designed to support trademark protection in physical markets, making its application a challenge for brand owners facing trademark infringement on ecommerce channels, such as online marketplaces. Megan Taylor discusses strategies for brand protection online in light of recent rulings by the EU and UK courts.

In its December 2022 preliminary ruling, the Court of Justice of the EU found that Amazon’s practice of displaying ads for counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes makes the e-tailer liable for online trademark infringement.

The Madrid System for the international registration of trademarks allows brand owners to apply and maintain protection in the different member states of the system via one single procedure, in one language and one set of fees. However, levels of protection can vary and the process is not without its shortfalls.