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TrademarkHub Blog

MIND THE UK GAP! – Brexit and UK trade marks

Can I enforce my EUTM (or my registered Community Design) in the United Kingdom after the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019? UK traders as well as others who do business in the UK need to be aware that they could face a serious gap in protection if the UK should leave the [...]

Brexit and my IP

Our clients frequently ask us about the consequences of Brexit (the UK’s departure from the EU) for their intellectual property (“IP”), including for their trade marks and designs. In the first of a series of articles, we outline the possible consequences of Brexit for your IP rights generally and for your trade marks, in particular. [...]

Why conduct a trademark search?

Conducting trade mark searches is an essential part of the process of choosing and protecting new brands. It is fair to say that it is also frequently the most frustrating part of the brand protection process for clients given the possibility that a proposed brand name is unavailable with the consequent need to go back [...]

Weight Watchers plumps for a slimmed down brand

The news that Weight Watchers International Inc has decided to drop its house brand WEIGHT WATCHERS in favour of “WW” is a useful reminder to all brand owners of the need to look ahead when setting about choosing your brand name. Weight Watchers has been using the famous brand name WEIGHT WATCHERS for over fifty [...]

Jaguar pounces on unsuspecting luxury watch maker

The recent news reports that Jaguar Cars has filed a trade mark infringement claim against luxury watch maker Christopher Ward is yet another warning to brand owners of the dangers of launching a new brand name without first carrying out the necessary trade mark clearance searches. According to reports, between 2014 and 2016 Christopher Ward [...]

NOTORIOUS trade mark suffers knock-out blow

The news that the new whiskey-brand EU trademark application of former Ultimate Fighting Champion, Conor McGregor, called “PROPER NO. TWELVE” has been published by the EU Trademarks Office following the withdrawal of his original brand name NOTORIOUS, is a reminder to all brand owners of the importance of carrying out trade mark searches before using [...]

Mac to Basics: McDonalds Trade Mark & Supermacs

Should MacDonald’s fast food restaurants be entitled to object to any brand featuring “Mac” or even “Mc “by other food traders? MacDonald’s certainly thinks so which is why it has opposed a European Trade Mark (EUTM ) of the word SUPERMAC’S by Irish fast food chain Supermacs Ltd. Supermac’s brand has coexisted in Ireland for [...]

Cease And Desist Letters For Trademark Infringement

Trade mark infringement can be a serious matter which needs to be addressed as soon as it is discovered. Companies, or individuals, who infringe a trade mark do not often understand the legal implications of copying or using a mark without permission. On the other side, trade mark owners are also unaware of the process [...]

Trade Mark Infringement Process

Trade mark infringement is far more common than most business owners would expect. Brands that start developing a good reputation in the marketplace are often copied or imitated by other companies trying to capitalise on their growing goodwill. In this post, we will discuss what the trade mark infringement process involves and how a company [...]

Trade Mark Infringement on Amazon

One of the more common questions that we get asked is about trade mark registration and infringement on Amazon, the popular online marketplace. As one of the most visited websites in the world and the biggest e-commerce site, Amazon offers various methods of reporting and dealing with trade mark infringement which we will discuss in [...]

4 ways you can legally protect your tech start-up

Many new entrepreneurs are very secretive of their new business idea. Their thinking is that if they were to share a business idea with others, they risk being copied. This is sometimes an unfounded fear and it is worth understanding how your startup can be legally protected and what options you have. Can an idea [...]

What should you do if someone is using your copyrighted work?

A commonly asked question is what should I do If you ever come across your work being used by another company or person without your permission. It has become increasingly common, due to ease of access on the internet, that original works are copied by others. Read below to see what can be done in [...]

How to use your trade mark after registration?

A common question that we get asked is how should a trade mark be used once you have obtained registration. Luckily, there are guidelines available for this, and I’ll summarise them in this post. Imagine a customer looking to buy a new pair of sunglasses. She finds the section for her favourite brand only to [...]

The difference between the trade mark symbols ® and ™

Brand owners are often not familiar with the meaning of symbols in relation to their trade marks. The two most commonly-used trade mark symbols, are the letters “TM” in superscript – ™- and the letter R in a circle – “®” – although there are other symbols too, such as ℠, which is common for [...]

So, what happens to the EU trade mark if Brexit happens?

The upcoming European Union (EU) referendum is, as expected, dominating the news. The financial markets have been reacted badly to a strong possibility of a British exit, or Brexit, from the EU. There are a lot of questions that have been raised over various matters relating to this ‘Brexit’. What will happen to trade, travel [...]

Jose Mourinho’s Trade Mark: Can Companies Own a Name

During the recent announcement of Jose Mourinho being signed as the manager of Manchester United, it was revealed that his name is a trade mark owned by Chelsea. This was reported to be a stumbling block which delayed the signing. This raises the question on whether a company can own a person’s name as a [...]

The Chinese Trade Mark Saga – Facebook Wins Trade Mark Case

While Apple Inc lost its trade mark case in China, Facebook has made headway by winning their trade mark case for its own brand name. A Chinese vegetable oil and potato chips maker called Zhongshan Pearl River registered ‘face book’ in 2014, but the courts in China have revoked the trade mark. Why did Facebook [...]

Attention! Changes to Copyright Law Coming Into Practice from July 2016

Generally, a copyright protects musical, dramatic, literary and artistic works. Copyright protection is given to these types of works for a period of 70 years after the death of their creator. This rule comes with an exception! According to section 52 CDPA, the current period of protection for artistic works (excluding films) which have been [...]

Registering your brand name

Registering a brand name can mean two different things. It can be either incorporating your company or registering your trade mark, which would be your brand. The latter is the more common understanding of the sentence ‘registering your brand’. How do you register your brand? If by this you mean you are looking to incorporate [...]