Which variations of use are authorised for figurative trademarks, especially ones registered in black and white? A recent EUIPO ruling has helped to illustrate what constitutes a “permissible variation”, as Marianne Tissot explains.
Black and white trademarks: Dare to use in white and black
Patents, trademarks, designs and other forms of intellectual property (IP) play a key role in the success of all modern businesses.
Capturing value: IP as a driver for investment
The first successful application under the UK Geographical Indication (GI) scheme has recently been granted to Welsh Whisky. Protection for this product has been brought about by the surge in its popularity and the expansion of the industry in recent years.
Welsh Whisky joins UK GI scheme
Intellectual property (IP) can be complicated, so it’s little wonder that it’s not well understood by the public at large. Take our quiz to see if you can identify which of these commonly held beliefs about trademark protection, registration and branding are true.
Trademark protection myth or fact?
With many interrelated legal and commercial risks to negotiate and overcome, establishing an efficient and effective brand development strategy is easier said than done. Watch our recent webinar for practical insights on how to mitigate and manage legal and commercial challenges in a cost-effective and commercially focused way.
[Webinar] Failure to launch? Designing a brand development strategy that overcomes legal and commercial risks
IP rights provide an invaluable means for protecting the heart and soul of a brand. That's why identifying what trademarks to protect and proactively maintaining those rights is so crucial to the brand development process, says Trademark Attorney Laura Morrish.
The importance of IP strategy in the brand development process
Does the use of a trademark in a connected sector constitute genuine use of that mark? What if that mark is used in differing forms? Florence Chapin outlines a recent EU General Court ruling that provides some answers.
EU General Court provides insights on how to prove genuine use
Which court has competency when trademark infringement takes place online? A recent CJEU ruling considered this question in the context of a dispute over meta tag and Google Ads trademark infringement. Volha Parfenchyk outlines its implications.
CJEU rules on jurisdiction in Google Ads trademark infringement dispute
Discover why blockchain and IP are such hot topics, and why you should timestamp your IP rights using blockchain technology.
Blockchain and IP: Time to timestamp your IP rights?
The Second Board of Appeal of the European IP Office (EUIPO) recently issued a decision confirming the refusal to register an emoji trademark representing ‘I Love You’. The EUIPO had refused to register the pictogram on the basis that it was unable to fulfil the essential function of a trademark, namely to indicate the origin of the products and/or services of a company.
‘I Love You’ emoji trademark devoid of distinctive character, says EUIPO
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.
Trademark clearance and brand development decisions
Domain names are a valuable commercial asset for many companies and an important element of their IP portfolios. However, protecting domain name rights requires knowledge of completely different enforcement systems, such as the WIPO UDRP.
In a nutshell: The WIPO UDRP for domain name disputes