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News & opinion
Geographical indicators: Trademarks and place names
As Liverpool Football Club recently discovered, there are barriers to registering the name of a town, city or other geographical place name as a trademark.
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As Liverpool Football Club recently discovered, there are barriers to registering the name of a town, city or other geographical place name as a trademark.
A recent judgement by the Court of Justice of the EU has considered whether failing to specify goods and services clearly and precisely in trademark applications is a sign that the applicant acted in bad faith.
Service offering customers the opportunity to pay to name a star, in return for a certificate, found to be misleading for the purposes of trademark registration, as Louise van de Mortel explains.
Controlling use of your brand online can be a daunting task. That’s why clever planning, time-saving tools and automated enforcement procedures are critical to success.
Trademark enforcement is critical to brand protection strategies, but taking too heavy-handed an approach can often do more damage than good, as backcountry.com recently learned to its cost.
While “natural wine” is growing in popularity with consumers, there is currently no official label, legal definition or regulation to describe what makes a wine “natural”, says Manon Brodin.
Trademark law allows brand owners to take action against a trademark applied for ‘in bad faith’. But, what is meant by ‘bad faith’, and what is the process for bringing such a claim?
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.
The question of whether plant variety denominations can be protected under Article 7(1)(m) of the European Trade Mark Regulation was addressed by the EU General Court for the first time in the dispute over ‘Kordes’ Rose Monique’. Louise van de Mortel sets out the ruling.
Thomas Cook, the oldest brand name in world tourism, looks set to survive the travel group’s collapse, after Chinese conglomerate Fosun buys its trademarks, websites and social media accounts from liquidators for £11 million. The deal highlights the enduring value of a strong trademark portfolio.
Registration of thebrexitparty.com by anti-Brexit campaign group ‘Led by Donkeys’ has been the cause of anger and embarrassment for Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage. The domain name is not proving easy to retrieve, as Laurence Rivière explains.
The average consumer may think that the bottles of their favourite wines come in standard shapes that are free to all producers to use. However, bottle shapes can be protected as trademarks, so long as they meet the necessary requirements.