Author: Bill
Enforcing Your Trade Marks Is Vital To Protect Your IP
Enforcing your trade mark is essential, probably more important than building your brand. If you fail to do it, your brand’s value could be diminished. How to enforce your trade mark The first thing you have to ensure is that your trade mark is correctly registered for the goods and services in which you trade. The […]
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Trump TV Story is not fake news
In a recent UK trade mark opposition (O-409-18), an application for TRUMP TV was refused by the UK Trade Mark Office on the ground of bad faith. On 30 October 2016, a UK company, Trump International Ltd, applied to register the trade mark TRUMP TV for a range of services in Classes 38 and 41.
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Trade Mark Catastrophe leaves Pawsecco in the doghouse
Dr Stephen James writes again for Ward Trade Marks. Stephen is a past president of CITMA, and a leading practitioner with almost 40 years’ experience in UK and EU trade mark law.This time he reviews a UK IPO trade mark opposition case where an application for a playful word mark covering dog treats was alleged to […]
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Ward Trade Marks Exhibits at Peterborough B2B 2018
Ward Trade Marks is exhibiting at this year’s Peterborough B2B Exhibition. If you’re thinking about taking a day out of the office to focus on your intellectual property needs, this event ticks all the boxes. It’s an excellent opportunity to make some new contacts. You could even discover new business opportunities. This free event is […]
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Lookalike Trade Marks – Competition Is Fine But Unfair Competition Is Not
Dr Stephen James writes again for Ward Trade Marks. Stephen is a past president of CITMA, and a leading practitioner with almost 40 years’ experience in UK and EU trade mark law. This time he reviews an EUIPO trade mark opposition case where an application for a figurative trade mark covering sunglasses was alleged to infringe […]
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UKIPO Rejects Brexit (sometimes)
Dr Stephen James writes again for Ward Trade Marks. Stephen is a past president of CITMA, and a leading practitioner with almost 40 years’ experience in UK and EU trade mark law. This time he reviews another very interesting UK IPO case where the applicant applied to register Brexit as a word mark in class 32 for […]
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Masterchef Trade Mark Opposition – Cooking Doesn’t Get Any Tougher
Dr Stephen James writes again for Ward Trade Marks. Stephen is a past president of CITMA, and a leading practitioner with almost 40 years’ experience in UK and EU trade mark law. This time he reviews another UK IPO case where Shine TV, owners of the well known MASTERCHEF trade mark opposed an application for Mister […]
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Use it or lose it: a cautionary tale about coffee trade marks
Here at Ward Trade Marks we are happy to introduce our guest blog by Dr. Stephen James. Stephen is a past president of CITMA, and a leading practitioner with almost 40 years’ experience in UK and EU trade mark law. Under European (and the UK) trade mark law, trade mark revocation may occur if there […]
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Ward Trade Marks scoops prestigious exporter of the year award
Ward Trade Marks, one of the UK’s leading specialist trade mark attorneys, has been named the New Exporter of the Year in the recent Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce 2017 Global Awards. The company, with offices in both Cambridge and Suffolk, scooped this prestigious recognition having successfully registered and protected nearly 140 UK trade marks in 12 overseas markets, including the European Union and the US, over the last two years alone.
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Chocolate wars: bitter and not sweet
Like two heavyweight boxers, global chocolate manufacturers Cadbury and Nestle have gone through another round of trading blows against each other’s trade marks.
This time around and earlier this month, it was Nestle that was given the four-fingered count down in a knockout blow whereby the Court of Appeal judged that they couldn’t claim the shape of their KitKat bars as being registrable as a trade mark. The Court ruled that the four-finger design had “no inherent distinctiveness” and in any case the company had not marketed the shape of the bar for a considerable period of time.
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