If you are in charge of running your business’ website, chances are you will be using a large number of images, photographs, and other visuals which have not been created by you. Whether it is on your website, on social media, or in your newsletters, you will almost inevitably be relying on this third party…
DetailsThe Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) has just confirmed in the case AMS Neve C-172/18, that the owner of an EU Trade Mark can bring a claim in the country where the infringer has offered the infringing goods for sale to consumers. This is good news for trade mark owners as well…
DetailsThere is a wealth of law laying a foundation of what is and is not acceptable in the trade mark world, both in the UK and EU, and the details can be easy to overlook when filing an application alone. Often objections relating to a lack of descriptiveness or a non-distinctive character are issued upon…
DetailsIn 2017, British Singer Mina Lioness tweeted “I did a DNA test and found out I’m 100% that bitch.” It went viral. Seven months later, American singer Lizzo released her song ‘Truth Hurts’ which features the same memorable phrase. The two singers got into a spat about it on Twitter back in 2018, but it…
DetailsIn 2013 in Portugal G-Star Raw brought a copyright infringement claim against a clothing company called Cofemel in relation to their signature designs of jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts. G-Star Raw stated that their fashion designs were protected by copyright as they were the designer’s own intellectual creations (which is the harmonised standard of originality requirement…
DetailsIf you ask a celebrity to endorse your products and they turn you down, you can’t get over your disappointment by simply engaging a look-a-like model to do the job. This point is I suspect about to be rammed home in a court of law in Los Angeles where Ariana Grande has sued Forever 21…
DetailsMost businesses require third party investment at some point. In fact, the majority of start-ups are “bootstrapped” from inception and this can significantly limit their potential to hire new staff, increase growth or expand into untapped markets. Fortunately, there are people out there with cash to splash who are desperately looking for the next big…
Details17 July is noteworthy for a number of reasons. In 1048, it was the date on which Damasus II was elected pope. In 1821, it was the date on which the Kingdom of Spain ceded the territory of Florida to the United States. In 1955, it was the date on which Disneyland was opened by…
DetailsSome months ago, I read an article in a money magazine headed ‘Are Aldi’s ‘copycat brands good value for money?’. The piece went on to review 10 products across a diverse range of products including food detergents and make-up. The rating given to the various ‘copycat’ items varied but for most the reviews were positive,…
DetailsSo it’s been over 3 years now since the June 2016 Brexit vote. It is still unclear what’s going to happen although there’s no doubt that everyone is pretty sick of hearing about it. We apologise therefore for bringing it up again but what follows is a bit of important, and hopefully useful, advice to…
DetailsA small Welsh brewery received a cease-and-desist letter from the fashion giant Hugo Boss after applying to register the trade marks for the names of its award-winning beers (Boss Black, a 5% ABV stout, and Boss Boss, a 7.4% ABV double IPA). It should have taken Boss Brewing a few hundred pounds to register the…
DetailsBackground On 29 June 2017, TV format creator Mark Duffy decided to apply for an amusing trade mark under the name of “The Pets Factor” (the Application), presumably unaware of the furore that was shortly to be generated by the well-known patron of a similar brand. The application proceeded to publication on 21 July 2017…
Details
