In a case of particular to trademark attorneys and brand owners, the Court of Appeal recently issued judgement in the latest instalment of Sky Ltd v Skykick. In 2020 the High Court ruled, in line with CJEU guidance, that the registration was in part invalid as the term “computer software” was overly broad, as the…
In this age of celebrity endorsed products and lucrative licensing deals we are familiar with the rich and famous stamping their ‘identity’ into trademarks covering everything from perfume to pasta sauce and kitchenware to luxury watches. Lately however, this kind of intellectual property has taken a very royal turn and it seemed an opportune moment…
So you’re over the first hurdle: you know what your trademark will look like (you’ve come up with a great name and/or logo) but now you must consider the list of goods and services you wish your trademark to cover. Goods and services are split up into classes for the purposes of trademark applications. The…
Have you seen that Christmas TV ad with the moon and the telescope? No, not the John Lewis advert, the Aldi parody that’s also hitting the headlines. While the creative ‘budget’ take on the most-talked about advert of the season is not judged to be a breach of copyright due to the ‘fair dealing’ exception…
What makes a toy a roaring success? Along with being creative and appealing enough to make it onto thousands upon thousands of letters to Santa, it will also need good patent protection. If you have a toy or other product that you want to make it onto the must-have list, you need to ensure that…
Whether you’re actively considering taking your business to the next level through franchising or you’re just getting started on launching your idea, it pays to be aware of the potential implications of franchising. Since the ability to successfully run a franchise scheme depends on having effective protection of your IP in place, we always advise…
In Aprils’ budget the government of Canada announced plans to extend copyright protection for artists from 50 years to 70 years. This means that rather than enjoying copyright protection on recorded works for 50 years after release, artists and record companies won’t have to worry about songs passing into the public domain until much later.…
Following votes in the House of Commons and House of Lords in March in favour of standardising cigarette packaging, we could see rules finalised that will force cigarette packets sold in England to adopt the same uniform look. David Cameron recently repeated his party’s commitment to introducing ‘healthy’ packaging in their manifesto. What this means…
Modern Trademark law started in the UK on the 1st January 1876, although the first trademark legislation was formed during the reign of King Henry III, requiring all bakers of bread to use their own specific mark. Take a look at our Infographic for more interesting tips and facts on registering a trademark.
Cadbury’s purple reigns or a purple haze? That is the question. Cadbury have the following trade mark currently registered: The mark consists of the colour purple (Pantone 2685C) as shown on the form of application, applied to the whole visible surface, or being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface, of the packaging…
