The VIA Art Fund opposition and appeal decisions provide an important reminder for those seeking to enforce registered trade mark rights in the UK. While incorporating a figurative element to a descriptive mark can enhance...more
An English court has, for the first time, considered whether trained Artificial Neural Networks (“ANNs”) – a component of AI – could qualify for patent protection, or if they would fall under the computer program exclusion,...more
A recent High Court case relating to a trade mark licensing and merchandising agreement offers a timely reminder of the principles a Court will consider when determining whether a term should be implied into a commercial...more
Introduction - Employers whose new recruits bring with them potentially confidential information from their prior employment need to be mindful of the risks of claims from an individual’s previous employer, not just on the...more
Recent notable industry transactions. Royal Philips announced that it has agreed to acquire Capsule Technologies, Inc., a provider of medical device integration and data technologies for hospitals and healthcare...more
MHRA updates post-transition guidance Since 31 December 2020, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been updating various aspects of the regulatory regime for medicines and medical devices...more
In what is likely to be the final judgment of an English Court as a Community Design Court, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (“IPEC”) has ruled that Austrian shoe manufacturer Giesswein infringed the registered...more
The fashion industry, and designers more generally, has received some welcome clarification of when clothing may attract protection under copyright law....more
In light of a possible no deal Brexit, businesses need to consider the impact such a scenario would have on their intellectual property rights, in particular trade marks, designs, patents and copyrights. For the majority of...more
10/10/2018
/ Community Designs ,
Copyright ,
Corporate Branding ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EU ,
European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) ,
Fashion Branding ,
Grace Period ,
Graphic Designs ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Orphan Works ,
Patents ,
Supplementary Protection Certificate ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) ,
Unified Patent Court ,
WIPO
The European Commission has produced a draft withdrawal agreement (the “Agreement”) chartering the path of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. In the coming weeks, the Council of the European Union and the Brexit Steering Group...more
3/14/2018
/ Article 50 Treaty of the EU ,
Commercial Use ,
Community Designs ,
Copyright ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) ,
Hague Convention ,
Industrial Design ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Madrid Protocol ,
Plant Patents ,
Priority Rules ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO)
The UK government triggered Article 50 on 29 March 2017. However, there is still little clarity on the repercussions of Brexit for European Union trade marks (EUTMs), including the issue of non-use. ...more
The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court ruling of 2014 that Twentieth Century Fox’s (“Fox”) “glee” television series infringed Comic Enterprises Ltd’s (“Comic”) trade mark for “the glee CLUB”. A parallel claim in the High...more
3/16/2016
/ Appeals ,
Comics ,
Consumer Confusion ,
Damages ,
Injunctions ,
Passing Off ,
Television Shows ,
Trade Marks Act ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Twentieth Century Fox ,
UK
The English Court of Appeal recently overturned a High Court decision and found that Mattel’s SCRAMBLE Community trade mark is valid and had been infringed by Zynga’s use of SCRAMBLE and SCRAMBLE WITH FRIENDS as signs for...more
The High Court of Justice of England and Wales recently delivered its judgment in a case relating to the ownership of the copyright of the ‘halo’ logo (the “Dude Logo”) used on the well-known brand of ‘Innocent’ smoothies...more
Nominet, the company that manages the UK domain space, will shortly be introducing .uk domain names. This means that from 10 June 2014 shorter domain names such as will be available for the first time, alongside...more