The Trademark Lawyer

The English High Court has ruled that a 2015 worldwide trademark coexistence agreement does not prevent Victoria's Secret from pursuing infringement proceedings against Thomas Pink in the United States, highlighting the importance of precise contractual drafting and...

Mondelēz International has accused Moo Free of trademark infringement over its White Choccy Snowballs, raising questions about brand protection, generic product names, and the risks facing smaller confectionery businesses. Cadbury owner Mondelēz International has...

A Chinese court has upheld a finding of bad-faith trademark registration against an advertising company, citing a portfolio of applications that exceeded its business needs and insufficient evidence of genuine commercial use. A Chinese court has upheld a finding that...

London, UK, November 2, 2026 - Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT), a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, today announced it will bring trusted CompuMark trademark data and insights into Microsoft Copilot through IPOne, enabling intellectual property (IP)...

The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court has ruled that an online retailer infringed Marshall’s trademarks by selling counterfeit Major V headphones through Amazon UK. Marshall Group AB and Marshall Amplification plc have secured a trademark infringement judgment...

A US federal court has scheduled a May 3, 2027, trial in Entrepreneur Media’s copyright lawsuit against Meta, as the parties continue to identify works allegedly used in AI training. Meta Platforms is set to face a copyright trial on May 3, 2027, in litigation brought...

Tests of seized counterfeit cosmetics found potentially harmful substances, as fake beauty purchases rise among young adults. The campaign highlights that: Beauty products are an increasing target for counterfeiters in the UK, with cosmetics, skincare, and perfumes...

The Court of Appeal has upheld the validity of Babek International's gold-and-black figurative trademark, rejecting Iceland Foods' arguments that its visual representation and written description failed to meet the clarity and precision requirements for registration....

Mondelēz International has brought a High Court claim against Sussex-based Catherine’s Originals, alleging trademark infringement and passing off over its O’bar vegan chocolate. The dispute raises questions about the protection of distinctive product shapes and the...

The EUIPO has upheld Dior’s opposition to AVENUE SAUVAGE, finding that the mark would take unfair advantage of the reputation of its Sauvage fragrance trademark. Christian Dior has successfully opposed an application to register the word mark AVENUE SAUVAGE as a...

Seven plaintiffs allege that Claude was trained using 274 copyrighted musical compositions without authorization, seeking $41.1 million in statutory damages. Rights holders associated with Elvis Presley’s music catalog have sued artificial intelligence company...

Retailer seeks to pause court-ordered fund transfers as it investigates whether Schedule A litigation was used to access frozen seller accounts Amazon is seeking to halt court-ordered transfers of seller funds in more than two dozen trademark infringement cases in...

Over 196 million counterfeit items worth an estimated EUR 6.3 billion were detained in the EU in 2025, according to a joint report published by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Taxation and...

IACC-Temu Program provides member brands with a dedicated channel to escalate complex IP matters and support proactive enforcement BOSTON, October 20, 2026 - Temu and the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) have expanded their collaboration on...

A Louisiana federal court found that a former employee’s use of an educational organization’s logo infringed its trademark, but denied monetary relief and an injunction after finding insufficient evidence of harm attributable to the infringement. A federal court in...

The UK Alliance for Intellectual Property has warned the Australian government against proposed copyright reforms that could allow AI developers to use protected works under an opt-out licensing framework, raising questions about creator remuneration, international...

Japan’s top court has upheld approximately JPY 169 million in damages against a website operator that reproduced and distributed musical scores outside copyright protection, finding that copying can nevertheless unlawfully interfere with a competitor’s business...

The Ghostbusters franchise owner has reportedly failed to block a Dutch inventor’s trademark for lighting products, highlighting the limits of reputation-based protection across different commercial sectors. Columbia Pictures Industries Inc., the studio behind the...

Every patent and trademark ultimately hinges on a calendar. Miss a critical deadline, and an invaluable asset can vanish without any chance of revival. Docketing is the unglamorous process of tracking, organizing, and managing the strict legal deadlines,...

The AI developer is challenging a federal appeals court ruling over its national security designation, highlighting the commercial and reputational risks facing technology companies whose policies conflict with government demands. Anthropic has asked a US appeals...

Judge rules that proposed £100,000 disclosure exercise would be disproportionate, despite advances in AI technology. The UK High Court has refused Wren Kitchens’ request to use an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to search for additional image-based evidence in its...

China continues to be one of the most important jurisdictions for global brand owners, but its trademark landscape is evolving rapidly. For in-house IP professionals responsible for managing international portfolios, understanding the latest developments is essential...

The UK court awarded £200,000 for lost profits and £13,000 in reasonable-royalty damages, while rejecting claims for reputational harm and additional compensation under the IP Enforcement Regulations. The UK Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) has awarded...

The ruling highlights the evidentiary burden on businesses seeking to invalidate an EU trademark based on earlier copyright or alleged dishonest intent by the applicant. The General Court of the European Union has dismissed a challenge by Polish optical equipment...

The publishers allege that OpenAI used hundreds of thousands of articles without permission to train its AI models, adding a further challenge to the legal basis for commercial AI development. USA TODAY Co. and affiliated newspaper publishers have sued OpenAI in...

Italy’s prime minister has applied to register a four-second recording of her voice as an EU sound mark. The filing raises a broader question for brand owners: can trademark law provide an additional layer of protection as AI makes convincing voice impersonation...

The identities of applicants behind 1,616 new generic top-level domain (gTLD) applications are set to be revealed today, opening what could become one of the most significant new trademark battlegrounds of the year. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and...

A California federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing ByteDance Inc. of circumventing YouTube’s technological protections to obtain videos allegedly used to train its generative AI systems. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the US District Court for the...

The UK Supreme Court has refused permission to appeal in a trademark dispute between Shorts International Ltd and Google LLC over Google's use of "Shorts" for its YouTube Shorts service. The Supreme Court refused permission on September 28, 2026, concluding that the...

The EU General Court has confirmed that UK trademark rights could no longer support an opposition to an EU trademark application after the end of the Brexit transition period, highlighting the continuing practical consequences of the UK's departure from the EU...

The Tokyo District Court has indicated that a person’s voice can fall within the scope of Japan’s publicity rights where it has customer-attracting value and is used primarily to exploit that value, in a significant ruling involving AI-generated imitation of Japanese...

Hims, Inc. has filed nine trademark opposition proceedings in a single day, challenging seven applications built around the formative "HER" and relying on its portfolio of HERS and HIMS & HERS registrations. The proceedings were filed before the US Trademark Trial...

The first Application for Action (AFA) for a craft and industrial geographical indication (CIGI) has been filed through the EUIPO’s IP Enforcement Portal (IPEP), marking a new milestone in the implementation of the EU’s protection system for traditional crafts and...

The District Court of Gelderland has ordered Lidl to stop selling five sandal designs found to infringe copyright in specific elements of Birkenstock's footwear. The District Court of Gelderland, sitting in Arnhem, has ordered Lidl to stop selling lookalike versions...

Mexican Senate committees have approved, with modifications, a presidential bill that would significantly change the framework for criminal enforcement of intellectual property rights, including by introducing a quantifiable "commercial scale" threshold for certain...

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of trademark and related claims brought by musician Lance M. Benedict against Google, holding that he failed to plead facts showing that Google used his name in commerce. In a September 22...

A West London man has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison after operating an industrial-scale counterfeit vinyl business that generated approximately £2.743 million from sales between 2017 and 2024. Rehan Ahmed, 40, of Southall, was sentenced at Inner...

Adidas Australia has commenced trademark litigation against Australian fashion retailer White Fox Boutique in the Federal Court of Australia, according to a report published by Law360. Adidas Australia has filed an intellectual property lawsuit against White Fox...

Companies seek declaratory judgment after TERA-print objects to planned use of name for semiconductor operation. Tesla, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), and SpaceXAI LLC have taken a trademark dispute over the name "Terafab" to federal court, asking a...

Court finds Omologato's use of LE MANS, LM, and LMR infringed Automobile Club de l'Ouest's trademarks, with the judge describing the LE MANS use as a "classic case of unfair free riding" The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) has found that watchmaker...

Supreme People's Court finds that formal registration and use of an enterprise name does not prevent an unfair competition finding where a similar identifier is likely to cause consumer confusion. China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) has ruled that registering and...

Samsung is challenging Dua Lipa’s $15 million lawsuit over her image on television packaging, arguing that the use did not plausibly suggest celebrity endorsement and that her trademark and publicity claims are legally defective. Samsung has asked a US federal court...

The decision provides significant protection against the unauthorized use of a public figure's identity while addressing personality and publicity rights, trademarks, and copyright in the context of AI-generated content. The Delhi High Court has granted a permanent...

The article discusses the rectification petition filed by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited (Dr Reddy's) under Section 57 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, seeking cancellation of Razenta Pharmaceuticals Private Limited's (Razenta) registered trademark DAPLOGIN in Class 5....

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) filed a commercial suit seeking an interim injunction against Kwick Living (I) Private Limited, which operates under the BECO brand, over its multi-platform advertising campaign, #WarOnWhatsHidden. The campaign featured HUL's Vim...

The Court of Justice of the European Union has clarified the circumstances in which freedom of political expression may constitute "due cause" for the unauthorized use of a reputed trademark, following a dispute over IKEA branding used in a Belgian political campaign....

A US federal court has entered a consent judgment and permanent injunction protecting Rothy’s footwear designs, adopting stipulated findings that 10 design patents and trade dress rights associated with The Point and The Flat shoes are valid and infringed. The US...

A Malaysian Court of Appeal decision has clarified when reposting content containing another party's trademark on a company's social-media account can amount to trademark use "in the course of trade." In Maxcare Success Sdn Bhd v. Motionquest Sdn Bhd, the Court of...

The Bombay High Court has refused to allow Metro Brands to combine a passing-off claim arising in Kerala with its trademark infringement action in Mumbai, emphasizing that a plaintiff's choice of forum under Section 134(2) of India's Trade Marks Act is not an...

UKIPO report sets out findings from local authorities on counterfeit goods — 2 in 3 local authorities report investigations into toys The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has published its latest Trading Standards Survey report, setting out a picture of the IP...

The Delhi High Court has vacated an ex parte injunction against Nugenesys Pharmaceuticals after finding that Celagenex Research had failed to disclose material facts concerning its dispute over the trademarks NUREWIRE and RewireX. In a strongly worded judgment, a...

An ad-interim injunction prevents Healing Pharma from dealing in products bearing trade dress that the Delhi High Court found prima facie likely to confuse consumers with Himalaya's products. The Delhi High Court has granted ad-interim protection to Himalaya Global...

Operation Bluebird has launched Twitter.now while arguing that X abandoned rights in the famous Twitter brand — but a federal judge has yet to make a final ruling on the issue. The Twitter name has returned to social media, but the legal battle over who can use it is...

Singapore has launched a major public consultation examining how artificial intelligence should interact with the country's intellectual property regime, including the use of copyrighted works to train AI systems and the treatment of inventions created with AI...

The Chapter 11 filing highlights the potentially existential commercial consequences of a trade-dress finding, after a US court ordered Rebel Creamery to pay $23.785 million to rival Van Leeuwen and redesign its packaging. Rebel Creamery has filed for Chapter 11...

Netflix is facing a trademark lawsuit from Christian metal band Demon Hunter as the hugely successful KPop Demon Hunters franchise expands into music, merchandise, and live entertainment. Netflix's global KPop Demon Hunters phenomenon has run into an unexpectedly...

India's IP Office has opened a 15-day consultation on a revised draft trademark practice manual containing changes to filing procedures, opposition practice, digital processing and the treatment of prior-user and well-known marks. The Office of the Controller General...

The LABUBU owner has successfully opposed a US application for LAFUFU, illustrating how trademark owners can challenge marks that emerge around products alleged to be counterfeit or imitations. Pop Mart is using trademark enforcement to protect its LABUBU brand, with...

Chanel, Inc. has secured additional time to oppose a US trademark application for DD covering perfumes, fragrances, cosmetics, and personal care products. The fashion and beauty company filed a request for an extension of time with the US Patent and Trademark Office's...

Dutch company Mercis B.V., which owns registered Miffy copyrights and trademarks, has secured temporary relief against a group of online marketplace sellers accused of systematically infringing its Miffy rights in the US. In Mercis B.V. v. The Individuals,...

At INTA 2026, the spotlight turned to India as one of the world's most dynamic and challenging jurisdictions for brand owners. In an exclusive conversation with CTC Legal Media, Ranjan Narula, Founder and Managing Partner of RNA Technology and IP Attorneys, broke down...

As the global trademark community gathered for INTA 2026, the shifting legal sands of the Chinese market took center stage. In an insightful sit-down with CTC Legal Media, Melvin Mei of Rouse shared his expert perspective on how international brand owners can navigate...

Fast-fashion retailer Shein has lost a High Court copyright lawsuit against rival online marketplace Temu over the alleged use of photographs of Shein products, in a ruling that could have significant implications for the liability of online marketplaces hosting...

After two highly successful and well-regarded annual events, we’re thrilled to announce the Winter Intellectual Property Conference 2026, now with a brand-new format designed to deliver even more value. This single-day event brings the entire IP community together...

In an exclusive chat with Elizabeth Jordan, legal expert and author Dr. Hayleigh Bosher dives into the "murky territory" where the UK's current intellectual property framework meets the rapid evolution of generative AI. As a specialist in the creative industries and...

As the European IP community gathered in Dublin for the ECTA 2026 annual conference, the atmosphere was charged with the theme of "Green Light for Growth." Set against the backdrop of a city that hosts European headquarters for tech giants like Meta, LinkedIn, and...

Beginning September 1, 2026, new domain name registration rules enter into force in Russia. Domain name owners will be required to complete a verification procedure via Russia's official government services portal (Gosuslugi) to register, renew, purchase, sell, and...

A newly filed federal lawsuit involving the creators of Garten of Banban has brought competing KITTYSAURUS trademark claims into focus, although the available court records do not yet establish that the name is the specific subject of the litigation. The creators of...

Rihanna has secured a trademark victory in Türkiye after the country's courts ordered the invalidation of a third-party registration for the mark RIANNA, finding that it was sufficiently similar to the singer's earlier RIHANNA mark and could be associated with her...

After more than a decade of litigation rivaling The Odyssey in its duration and epic nature as it has traversed every level of the federal judiciary — including a landmark Supreme Court decision — the Ninth Circuit has issued what amounts to the final word in one of...

Reports that MySpace could be preparing for a return have sparked a wave of nostalgia across social media, with many former users reminiscing about profile songs, customizable pages, and the infamous "Top 8" friends list. But while the prospect of the once-dominant...

Argentina has been removed from the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) Special 301 Priority Watch List for the first time in more than a decade, marking a significant milestone in the country's efforts to strengthen its intellectual property (IP) framework....

New Delhi, August 2026 - Anand and Anand successfully represented 9562532 Canada Inc. in proceedings under the .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (INDRP), securing an award directing the transfer of the disputed domain name www.runwaycatalog.in. The Arbitrator...

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has released the latest edition of its flagship report examining the economic impact of intellectual property (IP)-intensive industries, revealing that sectors reliant on patents, trademarks, and copyrights...

China's cultural industries are increasingly embracing an integrated intellectual property strategy, with web novels, micro dramas, and video games forming what industry leaders have described as a unified IP development ecosystem capable of generating significant...

A growing body of litigation across the US and Europe is beginning to establish the legal boundaries governing the use of intellectual property in artificial intelligence (AI) development. Recent decisions involving AI training data, copyright, trademarks, and digital...

This judgment is among the first significant Indian decisions to examine how traditional copyright principles apply to generative artificial intelligence and large language models. In refusing interim relief to ANI Media Pvt. Ltd., the Delhi High Court considered...

More than EUR 17 million worth of counterfeit products were seized during the Joint Action Day (JAD) Pirates 4, an international operation led by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) in cooperation with the European Union Intellectual Property Office...

London, UK - July 16, 2026 - Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT), a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, is proud to support the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in launching an AI-assisted image search within its public trademark search system, TM...

The traditional approach For decades, brand protection followed a familiar playbook: register trademarks, monitor the market, and take action against infringers. That approach is no longer sufficient. Today, brands are discovered, compared, recommended, and ranked by...

£6.5bn uplift to the Growth Guarantee Scheme to unlock further lending to smaller businesses over the next four years Up to £500m of ENABLE Guarantee capacity ringfenced over the next 12 months to support Intellectual Property-rich smaller businesses Joint British...

Temu's annual report on intellectual property enforcement sets out expanded protections across seller onboarding and live listings, with proactive monitoring covering more than 15,000 brands BOSTON, July 13, 2026 - Temu expanded its intellectual property (IP)...

On July 8, 2026, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), in cooperation with the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO), integrated industrial design data from Ukraine into DesignView, the world's largest design...

Intellectual property (IP) filings at the EUIPO reached record levels in the first half of 2026, with total EU trademark and EU design applications reaching 166,214, up 4.7% on the same period last year. The increase was driven by strong demand for EU trademarks,...

Jellycat, the British luxury plush toy brand renowned for its ultra-soft and whimsical designs, has sued Next, Hamleys, and Bessie London in the High Court. At the time of writing, not all of Jellycat’s claims are yet public, but are likely to involve at least...

Imagine teaching a machine to paint like Raja Ravi Verma, write like Arundhati Roy, or compose music in a style reminiscent of A.R. Rahman. To achieve that, the machine must absorb thousands of hours of music, millions of pages of text, and vast collections of visual...

New resource to strengthen IP capability and support commercialization across the UK research sector The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has today launched the Knowledge Asset Management Hub. This new resource is designed to help universities and other...

As the Editor of The Trademark Lawyer, I am steeped in the world of intellectual property every single day. Yet, nothing quite prepares you for the sheer scale, energy, and global synergy of an International Trademark Association (INTA) Annual Meeting. With the 2026...

The Federal Circuit's ruling in Curtin v. United Trademark Holdings sets a binding standard for who can challenge a registered character trademark When the US Supreme Court declined to hear the petition in Curtin v. United Trademark Holdings on April 20, 2026, it made...

The Delhi High Court's decision in Hindware v. Google marks an important development in the intermediary liability jurisprudence. By holding Google liable for trademark infringement through its AdWords program, the Court has narrowed the protective umbrella of "safe...

The guidance will support shoppers to make the most of the UK's thriving pre-loved market safely, after 1 in 4 bought a fake without knowing. New government guidance aims to help second-hand shoppers shop safely and confidently and avoid counterfeits - as the market...

In January 2026, superstar TikTok creator Khaby Lame announced a $975 million all-stock transaction with Rich Sparkle Holdings, which centered on the creation of an AI "digital twin" of Lame. Reports pertaining to the deal indicated that Rich Sparkle Holdings would...

Managing global intellectual property more efficiently with trusted data, expert support, and integrated services London, UK, May 21, 2026 - Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT), a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, today announced that IPfolio has been...

A small business defeated one of the world's most powerful tech companies in an intellectual property fight, winning the right to keep its name, and TikTok was ordered to pay costs. In a ruling that will resonate across the small business community, an independent...

Of all the legislative initiatives unveiled in the recent King's Speech, the European Partnerships Bill has the potential to be one of the most structurally consequential. Driven by the government's stated ambition to move closer to the European Union and recapture a...

The rivalry between SHEIN and TEMU has evolved far beyond a competition over cheap clothing and online shopping. What began as a race to dominate ultra‑fast fashion has developed into a globe‑spanning dispute over intellectual property, with both companies accusing...