Blog & News

Help, I’ve Just Received A Cease And Desist Letter!

As intellectual property experts, we spend much of our time sending or responding to cease and desist letters. These letters are the first step in intellectual property (IP) claims. They…

How to protect a TV format

Game show formats and reality TV shows like Love Island and Big Brother have been extremely popular not only in the UK, but also internationally. Format rights are therefore important…

Help! I’ve received a Notice of Threatened Opposition, what do I do now?

Well, let’s start by explaining what a Notice of Threatened Opposition actually is… essentially it’s a form (called a TM7A if you’re interested) that potential opponents of a trade mark…

No Gluten-free love for Jamie Oliver and Jamie Oliver Enterprises

The Gluten Intolerance Group (‘GIG’) of North America has knifed back at Jamie Oliver and Jamie Oliver Enterprises (‘Jamie Oliver’) for trade mark infringement, counterfeiting and unfair competition. The complaint…

Karl Marx – Highgate Cemetery – ‘What are we doing here mum?’

Sometime in the mid 1990’s on a family outing to Highgate Cemetery against background wails of “What are we doing here?” and “Why can’t we just go to the playground like…

Netflix on Tour

You are waiting for a delayed flight from Alicante, thinking, all’s not lost. Let’s see what the fine femmes of Litchfield have been up to in Orange Is The New…

IP, Data Protection and the Queen’s Speech 2017

Following the General Election, the Queen’s Speech recently opened the new Parliament and outlined the policies that the Government is to follow for the next two years. Below, we have…

Louboutin – It’s All About the Flash of Red!

It’s all about that flash of red, that instantly elevates the status of an outfit. Louboutin have successfully registered the red sole of their shoe as a trade mark in…

British Airways crashes into a wall with its latest advertising campaign!

It seems that May was not the best month for British Airways (BA). As well as the global IT systems failure that BA experienced over bank holiday weekend, BA have…

Why the Unitary Patent Matters to You: A Beginner’s Guide to the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court

If you’re the owner of a European Patent (‘EP’) or considering applying for one, but haven’t yet been brave enough to face the prospect of getting to grips with the…

Briffa Celebrates – Greeting Card Association

Even in this digital age, we all love to get a card in the post. I know I am always thrilled, and I have cards which stay up on the…

Briffa Celebrates – Lynx Golf – Ambition certainly was Unleashed!

New opportunities. New skills. Recently I was lucky enough to have been the guest of our client Lynx Golf who were sponsors of the SEE Women’s Invitational Day. Up to…

General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR : coming May 2018

It’s not often that legislation as significant as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force. The new GDPR is an EU regulation which modernises the legal framework surrounding…

Likelihood of Konfusion?

Australian tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis is in the middle of a trade mark dispute with Kellogg’s over his right to make commercial use of his nickname “Special K”. The breakfast…

BriffaLife – Pre-Election Party

The team put together a fabulous pre-election party for some friends and colleagues last night. It’s been a tough campaign marred by terrorist attacks and you would have good reason…

Swatch What Happened to Apple’s IWATCH Trade Mark Application

Swatch’s opposition to Apple’s IWATCH trade mark application recently reached the High Court, where John Baldwin QC had to decide whether the marks were similar and if there was a…

Keep it secret, keep it safe – whether it be a new invention, a unique recipe or even a pitch to a potential client

My wife loves Lord of the Rings. I can take it or leave it, to be honest. The films (at the risk of sounding like a millennial, I’m not really…

Have a break, have a naked KitKat!

Nestlé, have not established acquired distinctiveness for their four finger bar of chocolate. On 17 May 2017, the Court of Appeal dismissed Nestlé’s appeal to register a four finger KitKat as…

Arla Foods defeated by family run business Yogiboost

Yogiboost have been serving up delicious frozen dairy treats in Sweden since 2013. A few months into trading though they were faced with a trade mark infringement and passing off…

BriffaWay – Election Fever – What are the similarities of running a business and a general election?

While all elections have their own memorable moments, the general election of 1983 holds a particular place in labour party folklore as the party’s most traumatic defeat. Even now looking…

News Flash – Use of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) is on the increase

The Law Society Gazette reported earlier today that use of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) is on the increase. In terms of number of cases filed, 2016 saw an increase…

BriffaWay – Growing Pains

Withnail and I has to be one of my favourite films of all time. Having first seen it when it came out in 1987, like all great cult films it…

Verisign’s Latest Domain Name Industry Brief

Verisign, the company responsible for operating key Internet infrastructure (e.g. ‘.com’), has published its latest brief on the state of the domain name industry. The volume of domain names registered…

Prince Restrained… Temporarily

Prince fans were left disappointed after a temporary restraining order obtained in the US courts prevented the release of the anticipated Deliverance EP. A five track collection of previously unreleased…

Brexit: Implications for Copyright Law

Brexit Brexit Brexit, a word that was non-existent five years ago is now on everyone’s lips. So what does it mean? Well, as we all now know, Brexit means Brexit.…

‘Poké’ trade mark wars

Gotta catch ‘em all Nintendo owns a number of trade marks with the “Poké” prefix, some of which have been registered for almost 20 years. These include a variety of…

BriffaWay – Blustery Day!

One of the superpowers that lawyers must possess is the ability to see into the future and avert disaster. While I suspected this was the case early on in my…