In August last year, clothing giant Hugo Boss demanded that small Welsh Brewery Boss Brewing “cease and desist” using the names “Boss Black” and “Boss Boss” for two of its beers. A costly trademark action followed, leaving Boss Brewing with a legal bill of almost...

As the Coronavirus continues its deadly spread across the globe, it comes as no surprise to hear that it has also reached trademark registers. On 11 February, the same day the World Health Organization (WHO) released the “official” name of the virus, the first...

Research commissioned by brand protection software provider Incopro looking at “Fake Britain” has found that UK consumers are more trusting of Amazon over rival online marketplaces, despite the company openly admitting it has a problem with counterfeit goods. Just 42%...

World-famous guitar manufacturer Gibson has abandoned its attempt to retain trademark rights to certain guitar shapes in the EU. The American company twice met with failure before the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in 2019, after it applied unsuccessfully to...

As they step away from public - and royal - duties, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had intended to brand their future commercial activities with the trademark “Sussex Royal”. However, this strategy has hit a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, following news that the...

The corporation founded by The Beatles to manage their financial and legal affairs, Apple Corps, has been awarded $77 million in damages by US District Court Judge Beth Bloom over the sale of unlicensed merchandise using the band’s name and imagery. The figure of $77...

Streaming giant Netflix has failed in its bid to dismiss a $25 million infringement action brought against it by Chooseco LLC, current publisher of the perennially popular Choose Your Own Adventure books. Chooseco alleges that its trademarks were infringed by the...

The fact that Stilton cheese, world-famous for its distinctive blue veins and pungent aroma, cannot be legally manufactured in the village of Stilton that lends the cheese its name, continues to cause something of a stink in the small Cambridgeshire village. Thought...

When Cyprus lost its ownership of the trademark “halloumi” in the UK in 2018, Cypriot farmers and cheesemakers, who take their exclusive right to manufacture and market their world-famous cheese very seriously indeed, were rightly up in arms. The loss flowed from a...

Ferrari is taking legal action against a charity in Italy because it wants to use the charity’s name for its new SUV. The luxury car manufacturer and the Purosangue Foundation, which states its objectives as “[t]he promotion for the public benefit of participation in...

The European Court of Justice (CJEU) has finally ruled on the Sky v Skykick case, essentially finding in Sky’s favor. The telecommunications and TV giant had brought proceedings for trademark infringement and passing off against Skykick, a provider of cloud technology...

Loch Ness Spirits, a gin and absinthe company founded by Kevin Ross and Lorien Cameron-Ross in 2015, has turned to crowdfunding in order to raise £30,000 for legal fees in order to pay costs arising from its ongoing battle with a Scotch distillery over its use of the...

Amazon has applied to the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to register the trademark “Amazon Pharmacy”, in a move that has, unsurprisingly, been taken as a strong indication that Amazon intends to enter the UK’s pharmaceutical space. This follows recent and...

Having trademarked their new charity, “Sussex Royal” in the UK, and following a turbulent week for the couple, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, face an additional and perhaps entirely foreseeable IP road-bump, with news that a US lawyer...

According to a troubling new report, 85% of brands experienced trademark infringement in the past year, showing a steady upward trend from 81% in 2018 and 74% in 2017. This is according to the latest research from CompuMark, a Clarivate Analytics company and industry...

Beijing technology developer iYuba has been ordered to pay the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) damages and costs totaling some 1 million yuan (around $145,000) after a Chinese court found that the company, which develops applications designed to help Chinese...

Leading international IP firm Rouse has announced the appointment of Yana Tsygankova as the new Country Manager for Russia. Highly experienced in IP enforcement and prosecution cases across Russia and CIS, Yana has been a core member of Rouse's Moscow team since the...

Having formally split from the joint charitable foundation, The Royal Foundation, they previously shared with Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, and amid continuing rumors of animosity between the two couples, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan...

Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee has launched trademark infringement proceedings against Real Kungfu, a Chinese restaurant chain headquartered in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, alleging that the chain’s logo, a stylized kung fu artist with black hair and dressed in a...

According to research commissioned by online retailer Vape Club, and based on data from UK Trading Standards, fake Apple AirPods are set to be the most “popular” counterfeit item this Christmas in the UK, with trading standards having already seized £134,000 worth of...

Sportswear giant Nike has been forced to suspend a significant advertising campaign, unveiled earlier this year at a Major League Baseball game and said to have cost some $16 million, after a federal court in North Carolina found that the campaign’s slogan “Sport...

The USPTO has caused consternation and anger after it approved Nestlé’s trademark application for “The Vegan Butcher”, having previously rejected a pair of vegan chefs’ application for the strikingly similar “vegan butcher” on the basis that the term was “merely...

Having started life as a US-centric pre-Christmas Sales phenomenon, the day after Thanksgiving, now universally known as “Black Friday”, traditionally sees retailers offering heavily promoted discounts on everything from televisions and mobile phones to luxury fashion...

The International Trademark Association (INTA) has elected Ayala Deutsch as the 2020 President of the Association and the Chair of its Board of Directors. Ms. Deutsch, currently Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at NBA Properties in New York, begins...

Beyond Meat, the LA-based meat substitute manufacturer, has registered the trademark “Beyond Mince” with the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO). Having previously launched its animal-free “Beyond Burger” and “Beyond Sausage” in the UK, the US company, which began...

The long-running trademark dispute over the name of market-leading room booking site Booking.com has finally made its way to the US Supreme Court, after the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) successfully petitioned the Court to hear arguments over whether it...

In a sure sign that the controversial issue of AI-created patents seems set to run and run, the US Patent and Trademark Office has amended an entry in the Federal Registry, giving notice that, having decided in August 2019 to gather “information about the impact of...

Manchester-based Bentley Clothing has won its action against Bentley Motors, whom the former accused of trademark infringement after the luxury car manufacturer developed a range of clothing bearing the “BENTLEY” name. The ruling comes after a long dispute between the...

An online insurance company founded in 2015 and based in New York has been told by T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom that it must desist from using the color magenta in any of its advertising and marketing activities in the German market. Deutsche Telekom’s...

Hip Hop icon and born-again Christian Kanye West has failed in his attempt to trademark the words “SUNDAY SERVICE” for a range of merchandise. The controversial musician has been touring the US with a series of Christian-themed “Sunday Service” shows, sharing the...

The European General Court has upheld a European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) decision to cancel a trademark held by the Rubik’s Cube. The famous puzzle was invented in 1974 by Hungarian inventor Ernő Rubik and has sold around 400 million units...

Advocate General Evgeni Tanchev of the European Court of Justice has released his opinion on the ongoing Sky v Skykick case. Sky, the well-known telecommunications company, brought proceedings for trademark infringement and passing off against Skykick, a business...

The number of trademarks registered in the UK for liqueurs and spirits rose by 12% in 2018 according to recently released figures. London law firm RPC put the dramatic rise, from 2,210 filings in 2017 to 2,482 filings in 2018, down to the continuing boom in...

Games developer Prizm Labs has been sued by Sony Interactive Entertainment over the latter’s “PlayTable”, a tablet-like games console that its designers claim will allow players to interact with various boardgames displayed on the screen using physical items such as...

Fashion giant Gucci has suffered a serious blow in its near-decade-long battle against an Italian shoe manufacturer. Gucci shoes have long been known for incorporating a distinctive “horsebit”-style metal chain across their uppers. So distinctive is this feature, that...

In a move that could point to possible future directions for the technology giant, Amazon has announced its “Amazon Intellectual Property Accelerator” service, “a new program that helps brands more quickly obtain intellectual property (IP) rights and brand protection...

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) been accused of being out-of-step after it denied an application to trademark the name “Queers & Co” on the grounds that its use of the word “queer” was “contrary to accepted moral values within the UK” and “offensive”....

Beyonce’s ongoing efforts to trademark the name of her daughter Blue Ivy have met with raised eyebrows after the singer claimed, in response to an objection by a small business, that her 7-year-old is a “cultural icon”. Wendy Morales, who established the “Blue Ivy”...

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has rejected Liverpool Football Club’s controversial application to trademark the word “Liverpool” for the purposes of “football products and services”. Liverpool FC had insisted that it needed the trademark in order to prevent...

In the face of mounting anger from indigenous Māori groups and a threat by the Māori Council to boycott New Zealand’s national airline altogether, Air New Zealand has announced that it has withdrawn its controversial application to trademark the logo of its in-flight...

In August, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) introduced a controversial new requirement, whereby trademark applications made by foreign applicants resident in the United States would only be able to apply to register once they first proved their status as...

Japanese videogame giant Nintendo has launched proceedings against website RomUniverse, an online source of unauthorized videogame ROMs, including for many popular Nintendo games. ROM files are essentially illegal copies of games, which can be played on modified game...

Ohio State University baffled many when it recently attempted to trademark the word “The”, insisting that the full name of the institution, founded in 1870, is “The Ohio State University” and, as such, it was entitled to trademark the word “The” in order to license...

Pop superstar Ariana Grande has commenced proceedings against American fashion retailer Forever 21, alleging trademark infringement as well as a violation of her privacy, and copyright infringement. Grande’s lawsuit alleges that when she declined to feature in a...

Former US President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama have been accused of “deplorable behavior” after they applied to cancel the trademark of an e-book publisher. In April, the Obamas had their application to trademark their own company name, Higher Ground...

The owner of a Florida beauty salon has attracted the unwelcome attention of Uber after releasing her own appointment-booking app, “BeauBer”. The name of Carolina Vengoechea’s app is a portmanteau of the two services she offers at her salon, namely “beautician” and...

Singapore has become the first country in the world to enable applicants to file for a trademark registration via an app on their smartphone. “IPOS Go” was built and released by IPOS – the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. According to IPOS, the new app...

Welsh Brewer Boss Brewing applied last year to register two of its beers, “Boss Black” and “Boss Boss”, a process that usually costs in the region of £300. However, clothing giant Hugo Boss objected, insisting that the small Welsh firm “cease and desist” selling the...

Hard rock band Guns N’ Roses have agreed to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit brought against brewery Oskar Blues, which had been selling a beer called “Guns ‘N’ Rosé”. The federal lawsuit was filed in May 2019. The brewery had earlier sought to trademark the...

The Court of Appeals in the US has reaffirmed the right of The Gatorade Company to use the slogan “Gatorade The Sports Fuel Company” in the latest installment of a long-running dispute. SportFuel, a Chicago-based lifestyle and nutrition consultancy which owns a number...

American fast food giant McDonald’s has suffered a fresh blow to its “Mc” trademark, losing its exclusive claim to the use of the prefix on a number of its products and services. Irish company Supermac’s, which operates over one hundred food outlets in the Republic of...

Claridge’s Hotel of Mayfair has won its trademark case against Claridge Candles after successfully arguing that the independent candle manufacturer had been trading off the hotel's name and reputation. The hotel had argued that the candle and oil diffuser company had...

Red Bull’s latest appeal against the European Central Court’s decision to invalidate its “blue and silver” trademarks has ended in failure. The soft drinks giant registered two trademarks, the first in 2005 and the second in 2011, covering the use of the colors blue...

The Legal Services Board (LSB) has today published its revised internal governance rules (IGR) and new accompanying statutory guidance, setting out the requirements for the approved regulators of legal services to ensure the separation of regulatory and representative...

In a rather rare application, Scottish glass producer Glencairn sought to prevent the Leeds team at IP law specialist Virtuoso Legal from acting for Glencairn’s opponent, Canadian-based Product Specialities Inc.  The basis for the case was that the Virtuoso Legal...

Amazon today announced the expansion of Transparency, its product serialization service, to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K., India, and Canada. When brands use Transparency to apply unique codes to their products, customers, brands, Amazon, and other participants...

Trademark professionals have completed over 2 million AI-powered trademark searches in 7 years through TrademarkNow’s platform. The amount of searches is growing rapidly every month, as evidenced by an increasing number of companies implementing intellectual property...

With all the public battles that Facebook has been confronted with recently, it’s no surprise that Which? managed to, very easily, work its way through the company’s ad monitoring process. What is shocking is how long the advert managed to stay active and unnoticed –...

JetBlue Airways has filed an infringement suit against Walmart for the name Jetblack. According to court filings, JetBlue claimed that Walmart tried to capitalize on the goodwill associated with the airline’s trademark name. JetBlue state that Walmart's mark causes...

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal law on Monday that bars registration of “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment. Justice Elena Kagan led a six-justice majority to invalidate the provision of the 1946 Lanham...

The General Court of EU today confirmed the invalidity of the adidas EU trademark. The court stated that adidas has failed to prove that their mark, which consists of three parallel stripes applied in any direction, has acquired, throughout the territory of the EU,...

Counterfeiting is far from a victimless crime. We’ve suspected for a long time that counterfeit goods have been used to fund organized crime, terrorist organizations and large-scale crime syndicates. French authorities found that the Charlie Hebdo attackers financed...

Iron Maiden’s holding company have launched a $2 million trademark suit against the makers of video game Ion Maiden. The lawsuit, filed at the Central District of California court on 28th May, accuses creators 3D Realms Entertainment of using an “incredibly blatant"...

marcus evans Summits is proud to announce Eileen Simon, General Counsel - Global Businesses at Mastercard as a Keynote speaker at the European Corporate Counsel Summit taking place from the 16-17 June, 2019 at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Montreux, Switzerland....

Following the enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released a new Trademark Examination Guide for marks covering cannabis and cannabis-related goods and services. Specifically, the Examination Guide addresses the...

International Trademark Association (INTA) members should help stop the propagation of counterfeits, according to association president David Lossignol. This comes after INTA released a report which showed up to 79% of 18-23-year-olds surveyed had purchased...

A new study published by the International Trademark Association (INTA) showed 79 percent of 18-23-year-olds surveyed bought a fake version of a branded product in the year prior to the study, and only 48 percent believed it was morally wrong to buy a counterfeit....

More than 11,100 brand owners, trademark practitioners, and other intellectual property (IP) professionals from 150+ countries are gathering today through May 22 in Boston, Massachusetts for the 2019 Annual Meeting of the International Trademark Association (INTA) to...

Almost one-quarter of brands have had their domain targeted by cybercriminals, according to the latest global research report released by MarkMonitor. The report also highlighted that 62% of brands reported that cybercrime impacted their business in the last year....

Samsung has been hit with an infringement suit just days after it unveiled its latest Galaxy Watch. Watchmaker Swatch Group - responsible for Tissot, Omega, Rado and Swatch brands - filed a complaint against Samsung Electronics and its American arm, claiming the...

Hong Kong-based toy manufacturer Luen Fat Metal and Plastic Manufactory Co. has successfully brought a claim against the owners of the well-known Trespass outdoor clothing brand, Jacobs & Turner Ltd, for trademark infringement over their range of toys bearing the...

A new report commissioned by Red Points ‘Faking it’, the Barcelona-based company shows that sex toys are popular among consumers’ gift considerations for Valentine’s day. Nearly 2 out of 3 adults surveyed (66% of shoppers) in the U.S said they would consider buying a...

A social-media developer is suing reality show celebrity Kim Kardashian West and her company, Kimsaprincess Inc., over a series of emojis and images. In a suit filed Tuesday in the federal court in Oklahoma City, the developer alleges he and a team collaborated with...

Anaqua today announced that the business will receive a significant equity investment from Astorg, a  European private equity firm. As part of this transaction, Astorg will become the controlling shareholder of Anaqua, replacing Insight Venture Partners and Bessemer...

Christian Louboutin secured a victory in its long-running red sole case against Dutch footwear brand Van Haren. Van Haren launched a collection of high-heeled shoes complete with red soles in 2012. Paris-based Louboutin, who own the lacquered Chinese red sole,...

Confectionery giant Cadbury has given up its claim to the trademark on the color purple, having used the colour since 1914. The company lost the trademark to this particular shade at the Court of Appeal last year after a case launched by Nestle which claimed trademark...

Lawyers have told the Electronic Frontier Foundation that, for the second time in a month, their legal claims were sent in error. Lawyers representing British fashion company ASOS sent a email to an EFF attorney, apologizing for the recent cease-and-desist letter over...

The Chinese government has granted preliminary approval of another five trademarks for Ivanka Trump’s company this month. Four trademarks, including child care centres, sunglasses and wedding dresses, were approved on Sunday, with a fifth for brokerage, charitable...

Rihanna has sued her father for suggesting that a business venture he set up in 2017 is associated with her Fenty brand. The international popstar - real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty- filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday accusing father Ronald Fenty...

McDonald’s has lost its European trademark rights for its Big Mac burger after a legal battle with Irish chain Supermac’s ended last week. Supermac’s brought a case against McDonald's to the EU Intellectual Property Office two years ago, accusing the fast-food chain...

The US Supreme Court agreed to a hearing for a case brought by a clothing line named "Fuct" whose registration was refused by the government on grounds of vulgarity. The street-wear brand, founded in 1990 by Los Angeles-based designer Erik Brunetti, was initially...

Costco was ordered to pay $25 million dollars for using the Tiffany & Co. name for selling unauthorized branded Tiffany diamond engagement rings. The New York-based jewellery company has been in and out of court with the multinational retail corporation since...

Vans and its parent company are suing British retailer Primark for allegedly copying the designs of two of its iconic skateboard trainers. The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court earlier this month, cites trademark infringement, unfair competition and false...

Pocket lighter maker BIC Corporation filed a Section 337 infringement complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking to stop the importation of infringing pocket lighters. BIC also filed a complaint in the Eastern District of New York with...

Amazon is being sued for allegedly copying one of Williams-Sonoma's protected chair designs. Williams-Sonoma filled a trademark and design patent infringement lawsuit in a federal court in California against the American e-commerce giant. With its “cutout back, and...

New research findings by Red Points, the Barcelona-based IP detection and enforcement company, shows that 1 in 3 shoppers would stop buying an electronic brand if they found fakes online. Furthermore, 15% of respondents said they would switch to a competitor or...

Counterfeiters are capitalising on Christmas; this is according to new research by brand protection company MarkMonitor. One in three (30%) consumers has inadvertently bought a fake product, with 68% of the counterfeit items being bought as Christmas presents. The...

A new report out today reveals that more than six out of ten customs seizures of counterfeit or pirated goods are of small parcels sent through postal or courier services. The research, carried out by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the...

The European Union Intellectual Property Office has denied an appeal by famous golf course St Andrews to register their name as a trademark. St Andrews links wanted the name of the Scottish coastal town to be protected in order to stop other companies around the world...

Cadbury today lost their appeal to trademark the color purple. The case concerns Cadbury’s registered UK trademark for the color purple, which states  “The mark consists of the color purple (Pantone 2685C) as shown on the form of application, applied to the whole...

Background There already is a “MINI” car on the market and it’s popular, so why not link it to our new “Mini” series of electronic scooters? And so they did. Chinese manufacturer Ninebot (Tianjin) Tech Co., Ltd. (“Ninebot”), which acquired U.S. scooter company Segway...

Red Bull's attempt to oppose the trademark registration for a beverage company called "Big Horn" over their logo has failed with the EUIPO.Citing brand protection, Red Bull argued that the logos were too similar, as both feature bulls and a yellow background, but Big...

Close to one in 10 UK consumers (9%) who have bought a counterfeit product online in the past year have been injured as a result of purchasing the item, according to an independent report by online brand protection company, Incopro. Of those consumers who have been...

IP experts from Latin America and Europe have arrived in Mexico City to take part in three events organised by IP Key LA, an international cooperation project in the field of IP under the direction of the European Commission, and executed by the European Union...

EU trademarks and designs will continue being valid in UK post Brexit under the draft withdrawal agreement. Article 54 of the withdrawal agreement confirms owners of EU trademarks - even those registered or granted in the 21-month transition period - will ‘without any...

Remembrance Sunday, which falls on 11 November 2018, is a day for the nation to commemorate the contribution of men and women who have sacrificed themselves for our freedom, wearing a remembrance poppy to show support and appreciation. But unfortunately – like a lot...

Based on a study of data in the Darts-ip case database, the aim of this report is to discuss rejections based on grounds of immorality in different jurisdictions around the world. The data within this report covers Europe, USA, Russia, Japan, China, Australia and...

The majority of companies will change their brand protection strategies to cover new cybersecurity and fraud threats in the next year, according to new research by MarkMonitor, the world leader in enterprise brand protection. In addition, 72% said that brand...

Car manufacturer BMW successfully challenged coffee retailer Tchibo’s use of the term “MINI” for coffee machines and coffee cups (Decision of the District Court of Frankfurt/Main of August 18, 2018, docket number 2-03 O 288/17). Competing on the market for...