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…

Why are licence agreements so important to get right?

The publisher behind the latest Cooking Mama game has found themselves in hot water with IP owner Office Create. There appears to be a resolution to an ongoing dispute between…

Banksy, trade marks and bad faith … the plot thickens

Banksy is a street artist, political activist and film director who is based in England, but whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed. He has had a bit of a…

For trade marks, colour is the new black

Our clients often ask us whether to register their logo as a trade mark in black and white or in colour. For many years, in the UK and the EU…

What a year: 216,000 trade mark examinations

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has released its Innovation and Growth Report for 2021-2022 and it contains some significant figures and statistics. In the data for its 2021-2022 year,…

What can be registered as a trade mark?

It’s a common misconception that everything and anything can be registered as a trade mark. In fact, there are a number of rules governing what can and can’t be registered…

Deceptive Trade Marks The Bread-and-Butter Facts

One of the requirements for registering a trade mark, either in Ireland or in the EU, is that the application cannot be made in bad faith nor can it be…

Can I use a tattoo design in my video game?

A tattoo artist in America has successfully sued 2K Sports and Take Two Interactive for copyright infringement. The artist designed tattoos for a WWE wrestler in America, which were then…

How do I make sure I protect my video game’s intellectual property?

In past blogs I have explored trade marks and copyright, but one incredibly important (although not the most thrilling) area of intellectual property that should get a mention is video game…

Winning gins

A recently heard case before the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) serves as a timely reminder of the principles surrounding ‘genuine use’ in trade mark proceedings. Some readers may…

Your Trade Mark – Use it or Lose It!

Your trade mark’s essential function is to be a badge of origin. It distinguishes your goods or services from those of other undertakings or competitors in the same market. However…

EU’ll DO NOTHIN’!

McGregor V…McGregor and the importance of Mediation and Co-Existence Agreements in Exploiting Your Brand.  A recent decision of the European Union Intellectual Property Office has beaten down an application by…

Copyright – who gets a piece of the pie?

Collaboration with others on a piece of work is a great way to bring your ideas to life, opening up new perspectives and fostering greater innovation. But who owns the…

Logo: is it a trade mark, is it a copyright?

Logos are one of the most popular and valuable types of trade marks obtained by businesses. In many cases, businesses outsource creation of brand identity and logos to freelance designers…

Is an online listing infringing your brand name?

Is an online listing infringing your brand name? Finding that another company is selling similar products to that which you sell whilst using a similar (or identical) brand name can…

Copyright conundrums – a snapshot on infringement

Copyright in the UK is an intellectual property right automatically protecting original literary, dramatic, and artistic works. It provides rights owners with exclusive rights to use the works. When does…

NFTs, Christmas and Melania Trump

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital files (e.g. images, video etc.) registered on a blockchain. The system of creating, registering and selling NFTs is designed in such a way…

How to Copyright a Drawing or Sketch?

Copyright is an intellectual property right which arises automatically once you have created your work. There is a wide range of works which attract copyright protection, however we will be…

The Hendrix Experience

Jimi Hendrix was an American musician, singer, songwriter and considered a legend as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of contemporary music (even though his career…

How to resolve domain disputes

Domain disputes are what they say on the tin, a dispute relating to the ownership of a domain name. Domain names are key in any business given a likely first…

Company Names and Trade Marks

It is a common misconception that registering a company name with the Companies House provides unrestricted rights to such company name. In reality, the registered company name identifies a legal…

Samsonite’s 3D EU trade mark application for tablet case rejected

Luggage maker Samsonite (the applicant) has recently had its application for a 3D EU trade mark for the shape of a tablet case rejected due to a lack of distinctiveness.…

Gotta Catch them All

This month Briffa was at EGX, I was a part of a panel which discussed basic IP rights in the gaming industry. Whilst walking amongst all the games and gaming…

Can a functional piece of exercise equipment attract copyright protection?

Traditionally, a functional 3D machine would not have been considered to be protected by copyright as work of artistic craftsmanship, with copyright protection for works of artistic craftsmanship being reserved…

Instagram fined for breaching data protection rules

In May 2018, the GDPR came into force across the EU and many businesses thought the sky would fall. The mammoth piece of EU legislation incorporated, amongst other things, a…