Brexit & IP: The Concise Version
Concise guide to Brexit and intellectual property
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Our services are centred around intellectual property that can be registered. We protect innovation, design, and branding across all sectors of industry, and at all stages in the supply chain.
For each IP right we offer services covering strategic advice, pre-registration searches, registrations and renewals, oppositions and dispute resolution. We handle work throughout the world, working with local colleagues in over 100 countries.
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Our attorneys specialise in one or more sectors of industry, which enables them to provide quality advice with a commercial focus.
Our patent specialists have detailed understanding of the background technology, which ensures that your patent applications are prepared with the correct scope, reducing the likelihood of challenges from third parties and objections from the patent office.
They also advise whether other forms of protection would be more appropriate. Our brand specialists work with brand managers for leading brands and their advice is commercially focussed making sure that you get the best value from your budget.
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Concise guide to Brexit and intellectual property
Brexit and intellectual property – a guide
Brexit and intellectual property – FAQs in detail
The Court of Justice of the European Union (“the CJEU”) has recently issued a judgement concerning the genuine use of Ferrari’s German TESTAROSSA trade mark registrations. This judgement was a positive outcome for Ferrari, and is particularly beneficial to owners of legacy and heritage brands.
In March 2013 the mark was granted registration under EUTM No 010914836 in Classes 9, 20 and 35. The protected goods included “Smart phones, Mobile computing devices, tablets” and “Furniture”, while the services included the retailing, wholesaling and mail order of these and other goods. On 29 February 2016, Samsung Electronics GmbH (“Samsung”) applied for a declaration that the registration was invalid on the basis that the mark was non-distinctive and descriptive in relation to all of the protected goods and services. However, the Cancellation Division rejected Samsung’s application and the registration was maintained. The Cancellation Division found that the term “SMART THINGS” was descriptive, and noted that the figurative element “:)” (“the emoticon”) is ubiquitously used as a smiley in society at large, including in business, and has positive connotations. However, the Cancellation Division held that the emoticon endowed the mark with at least a minimum of distinctive character and meant that the mark as a whole was not purely descriptive.
Amazon’s intellectual property (IP) policy is designed to protect sellers by preventing the sale of counterfeit or knockoff goods on Amazon’s various websites. But, what can you do, as a seller, if you think one or more of your product listings has been unfairly removed because of an existing registered design (or design right)?
OFF-WHITE has won its appeal at the General Court to register the OFF-WHITE black and white logo trade mark in the EU following the decision of the EUIPO that the mark is inherently descriptive and non-distinctive.
Manchester United FC has initiated trade mark infringement proceedings in the High Court against SEGA Publishing Europe Limited, the European arm of the Japanese video-game brand, and Sports Interactive Limited, producers of the video game Football Manager®. The game Football Manager® has been around since 1992 and is a hugely successful football management simulation video game. Players can manage their own virtual equivalents of real life clubs, controlling everything from pre-season transfers to the tactics on the pitch.