Strategy

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

While every business is different, certain recommendations apply to the proactive management of a trademark portfolio no matter your industry or business goals. We set out a 10-point strategic plan for streamlining operations in 2020.

Of course every business should undertake trademark clearance searching before launching a brand, but not every small or start-up business understands why – until they receive a cease and desist letter demanding that they change their branding. Vanessa Harrow offers some advice.

The EU has agreed a further extension to 31 January 2020 with the option for the UK to leave earlier if the Prime Minister can secure support for the withdrawal deal. Does this mean a no-deal Brexit is now off the table?

Integrating the GDPR into the daily life of a business is a far from obvious matter. Developing employees’ awareness of the GDPR and training them to apply it to their daily work is a key element of the process. Anca Draganescu-Pinawin explains why.

Applications for non-traditional trademarks, such as sounds, smells and motion marks, make up only a small percentage of annual trademark applications in the EU. However, their importance is beginning to grow. 

The English Premier League revealed this month that it had seized more than 160,000 counterfeit items, worth more than £5 million, in the past year.

Raising the profile of IP in corporate boardrooms is key to moving conversations away from acquisition cost and on to business potential, says Chantal Koller. 

A well-maintained IP portfolio and, just as importantly, a well-maintained record of the IP portfolio can add significant value to a company, as well as making it an attractive proposition.

The trade in counterfeit alcohol threatens the safety of those that consume it, as well as the reputation of the rightful brand owner. In this article, we assess the threat and set out tools for protection.

Dog-sitting service Hairbnb may be forced to change its name after receiving a cease and desist letter from online rental marketplace Airbnb. An effective trademark watching strategy could have saved both businesses a headache.

One of the most popular panel discussions at this year’s INTA conference examined possible methods of IP protection for fictional characters. Panelist Chantal Koller sets out the European perspective.