29th Aug 2018
Packaging delivers to consumers powerful visual messages by which products are made immediately recognisable. As we walk down a supermarket aisle, browse through the pages of a magazine or check out a website we are bombarded with visual cue after visual cue. Our brains respond to these by making instant associations between familiar combinations of […]
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21st Jul 2021
Reddie & Grose LLP recently participated in London Climate Action Week, delivering a presentation entitled “Innovations for a Sustainable Lifestyle”. Rather than focussing on large-scale global or societal technological fixes, we very much wanted to highlight the changes that individuals could make in their own lives to be better ancestors to future generations. The presentation […]
29th Nov 2019
Registered Community designs (RCDs) and registered UK designs are used to protect the design of the shape and appearance of the whole or part of a new product. This article looks at a practical, real-life example of how a company has used registered designs to protect the design of a new product. Apple is known […]
31st May 2019
The UK’s Environment Secretary Michael Gove has recently confirmed a ban on plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic stemmed cotton buds which will come into force in England next year. But, what are the alternatives to plastic? There’s no denying that plastic plays an important role in the modern world. Since the invention of […]
7th Feb 2019
On 11 January 2019 McDonald’s lost their “BIG MAC” EU trade mark registration. The mark had been registered in three classes, covering food, non-alcoholic beverages and restaurant services, since 1998. The EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) Cancellation Division revoked the registration after deciding that, on looking at the evidence, the global fast-food franchise had not […]
20th Dec 2018
In the wake of the UK Supreme Court decision in Warner-Lambert v Actavis (post here), second medical use claims have received considerable attention from the IP commentariat. We take a look at yet another controversy associated with the claim form: the nature of the “medical products” to which they can be applied. Second medical use claims […]
23rd Apr 2018
Scientists genetically modify enzyme capable of breaking down plastic This week, scientists announced that one of the world’s most vexing problems is a step closer to being solved. For better or worse, man-made plastics have become ubiquitous thanks to their durable and lightweight nature and relative cheapness to produce. However disposing of plastic in an […]
16th Mar 2018
Patents exist for inventions that solve real world problems, and the world is currently facing one of its biggest ever problems; plastic, and the ever increasing demand for its use in packaging our everyday items. In many ways, plastic is a wonderful thing. It’s an amazingly cheap, strong, lightweight, and versatile material, which significantly contributes […]
18th May 2017
…is the likely response from Nestlé to the Court of Appeal following the latest ruling to reject trade mark protection of the shape of the famous four-fingered chocolate bar in the UK. The decision was handed down on 17 May 2017. This is an appeal from the judgment of Arnold J given on 20 January […]
29th Nov 2016
Food and drink is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the UK and the industry invests heavily in R&D. As in any other fiercely competitive market, food and drink companies need to be constantly innovating in order to keep up with changing consumer trends and government regulations. Thousands of new products are brought out […]
25th Jan 2016
Trade marks, the signs showing who made a product, are not just the words or images applied to the product, labels or packaging. If the sign is distinctive and capable of being shown on an application form, you can register it in the UK or as an EU mark. Sometimes the distinctiveness is argued as […]
21st Sep 2015
Are you considering outsourcing to China but concerned about the potential pitfalls? You are not alone. While shifting production overseas offers significant cost reductions it does bring challenges, not least because it requires transmission of sensitive technical information to suppliers and the significant distances and time differences involved can make it difficult for you to […]
11th Jun 2014
Last year, we reported on the Law Commission’s consultation on the provisions surrounding ‘groundless’ threats of intellectual property (IP) infringement proceedings (or, to give them their slightly less proper but altogether easier label, the ‘groundless threats provisions’, or GTP). Following further consideration of the results of that consultation, the Commission has now issued its final […]
2nd Jun 2014
On 8 May 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a decision bringing to an end the long-running saga of the BIMBO DOUGHNUTS trade mark, between Bimbo SA and Panrico SA. The Court upheld the decisions of three lower tribunals – the Community Office (OHIM), the OHIM Board of Appeal and […]
2nd Aug 2013
The UK Trade Marks Act provides relief for an aggrieved person in the form of damages and an injunction against groundless threats of proceedings for infringement of a registered trade mark. This is something unique to the UK and must be borne in mind whenever a potential infringement is being considered. Who Can Bring An […]