Insights

You can’t escape memes on social media these days, so it’s no surprise to find that corporations are beginning to get in on the act. 

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. 

On 27 September, yet another country deposited its instrument of accession; Malaysia. This means that Malaysia can be designated in an international trademark registration (IR) as of 27 December 2019.

It’s one of the 1970’s most recognisable guitar riffs, but the opening of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is becoming almost as well known for another reason: the accusation of copyright theft by US psychedelic rock band Spirit. 

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.

Graffiti and, more broadly, street art was once considered more of a nuisance than an art form. While the circumstances of its creation may be legally ambiguous, street art has undoubted creative and monetary value.

A recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU has broadened the options for taking action against online trademark infringement, by giving trademark owners a wider choice of court, as Casper Hemelrijk explains.

With an estimated three billion people using smartphones and other electronic handheld devices worldwide, the importance of obtaining IP protection for graphical user interfaces (GUIs) is only set to grow. Casper Hemelrijk offers advice on creating an effective protection strategy.

Pennsylvania State University (‘Penn State’) has filed suit against Florida-based Sports Beer Brewing Company for trademark infringement over its use of the university’s name, brand and sporting mascot.