Trademarks & Domain Names

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Discover why blockchain and IP are such hot topics, and why you should timestamp your IP rights using blockchain technology.

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.

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.

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.

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.

EUIPO's cancellation of the MINISO trademark based on a copyright registration underlines that a trademark registration can be cancelled for infringing other IP rights, not simply registered trademarks, says Valerie Annan.