As another month goes by, the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office releases another warning about a new scam involving intellectual property rights. The latest scam involves individuals and business owners receiving phone calls from the “Trade Marks Intellectual Property Office” – a non-official entity. The caller will attempt to persuade the business owner to purchase…
DetailsWe really love everything about the Meringue Girls – the girl power bakers who have taken the world of meringue by storm since starting out in 2012. The girls, Alex Hoffler and Stacey O’Gorman who hit it off working in the sweaty male dominated kitchen at Hackney Picture House are great friends as well as…
DetailsBriffa Celebrates – The City of London Distillery and Bar Catching your eye as soon as you turn into Bride Lane from Fleet Street the distinctive dark green door of City of London Distillery and Bar invites you in. I am with my colleague Christine ‘never had a gin in my life’ Zembrzuski to see Jonathan…
DetailsIn China, it is notoriously difficult to deal with trade mark squatting whereby someone registers another business’ trade marks in bad faith. Once the squatter owns the trade mark registration, they can then sue the rightful owner should they use the mark for their goods/services in China or – alternatively – extort payment for a licence…
DetailsBoth of my older sons studied physics at university. One was mostly concerned with all things massive and astro and now spends his working life in an aluminium tube high above the earth flying people from point A to point B. The other concerns himself with all things micro or nano and is holed up…
DetailsCatchy title I hear you say, well yes, protected geographical indications are catchy, so catchy that they can be a complete block to your trade mark application, even if the mark you’re trying to register isn’t identical. This is what happened to the applicants for the EU trade mark TOSCORO. They applied for this mark…
DetailsWe all love the idea of a celebrity trade mark dispute of titanic proportions – a veritable clash of the Kylies. The reality of what has gone down in the last few weeks (despite recent reports in mainstream media) is very different. Better the Devil You Know – The devil is in the detail The…
DetailsA US court has held, that Facebook obtained virtual reality software from ZeniMax, after they acquired Oculus back in 2014. It was held, that Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Oculus breached his non-disclosure agreement (NDA) when he left Zenimax, taking his software code with him. As a result, Facebook have been ordered to pay £395 million…
DetailsHave you ever been out and considered the wine list, ordered a drink in a bar or restaurant or bought a drink in a shop and thought: ‘I wonder if there is a trade mark infringement issue here?’ The EU General Court had to do just that in a recent case between Anton Riemerschmid Weinbrennerei…
DetailsMy favourite TV lawyer has to be Bob Odenkirk who plays Jimmy McGill in Breaking Bad prequel ‘Better Call Saul’. In his own series we find out that he is so much more than an adventurous dresser with a highly unusual relationship with the law. He is a witty and complex character juggling the demands…
DetailsThe United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) recently released its “Fast Facts 2017” booklet summarising the economic impact intellectual property rights have had, and the increased prevalence of UK businesses relying on such rights, over the last few years. The full booklet is here if you need some bedtime reading: Fast Facts 2017, but we’ve…
Details#BriffaCelebrates – Music Industries Association (MIA) – “CREATING AND ENCOURAGING MUSIC MAKING” Briffa have been working with the Music Industries Association for 10 years and we think they are fab! MIA is the only UK trade body that represents the interests of the musical instruments industry, including suppliers, retailers, publishers and teaching institutes. Member…
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