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IP in the UK after the Brexit Referendum
On 23 June 2016 the UK public voted in favour of the UK leaving the EU (commonly referred to as ‘Brexit’). If and when the UK formally starts the exit procedure, there will be at least a two-year negotiation period before the exit itself occurs. So, any changes won’t be implemented for some time yet.
Any UK national IP rights will be unaffected by Brexit. Some EU IP rights that have effect in the UK will be affected to different extents. Crucially, no IP rights will be lost as a result of Brexit, although some transitional measures are inevitable.
IPcopy takes a look at the key impact Brexit will have on IP, and what you should be considering now. (more…)
Misleading invoices update: recent UKIPO activities
IPcopy has been provided with a copy of an update from the UKIPO into the work they have been doing recently to combat misleading invoices. Previous IPcopy articles on this subject can be found here.
Following the recent successful trademark infringement and passing off cases against the Intellectual Property Agency and the Patent and Trade Mark Office/Organisation (see The Comptroller–General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks and BIS v: Intellectual Property Agency Ltd and Harri Jonasson [2015] EWHC 3256 (IPEC) and also Misleading invoices – the UKIPO fights back), the UKIPO has also been tackling the problem of scam invoices in a number of other ways: (more…)
Bad Faith and Trade Marks in China
As IPcopy discussed back in 2013, Trade Mark Squatting has long been a concern of European businesses considering entering the Chinese market. Too often, European brands which have not registered their trade marks in China at the earliest possible stage, find that their trade marks are already registered to third parties without a legitimate interest in the mark by the time China features as a potential market in their business plans.
This can cause significant disruption to businesses as these earlier ‘bad faith’ applications act as bars to their own applications. Further, whilst trade mark registration is not a legal requirement to trade in China, many businesses find that their Chinese partners will actually request it as a condition to operate. The consequences of having one’s trade mark application refused in China because of an earlier bad faith application are, therefore, compounded, as walking away and trading without a registered mark may not be a viable option. (more…)
Forthcoming events: Managing IP’s “IP in Asia Forum”
China joined WIPO in 1980 and only established its patent system in 1985. However, in the early 2000s China began to become a significant presence on the World IP stage and in the years following 2011 more patent applications were apparently filed in China than any other patent office around the world. More recently the UKIPO has been involved in events to reinforce the “mutual understanding of the importance of intellectual property while also strengthening economic and cultural relations between the UK and China”.
The challenges of gaining IP protection and enforcing it in China along with developments in China’s Patent Law and changes to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) are to be the subject of MIP’s IP in Asia Forum which runs on 21 June in Paris and 23 June (Brexit D-Day) in London.
Sessions during the Forum include an overview of trade mark protection in China, enforcement of IP rights in China, effective IP protection in Japan, a look at South Korea’s legal IP framework, IP commercialisation and monetisation under sharing economy in China and how to deal with IP infringement in China.
Keltie is delighted to be one of the sponsors for this event and Keltie partners Sean Cummings and Joanne Hopley will be moderators at the IP commercialisation session in London and Paris respectively.
The agendas for the Forum can be found here.
The Special One – Trade Marks and Image Rights
It has been widely reported in the general press in the last few days that ‘image rights’ issues have delayed the signing of the contract that brought Jose Mourinho to Manchester United as its next manager, following the departure of Louis van Gaal. However, as of this morning it appears that these issues have been overcome with confirmation that Mourinho has signed a three-year contract.
As we know, despite the 2015 Rihanna v Topshop Appeal decision, image rights as such are not protected by the English legal system, and the more discerning IP reporters have probably correctly identified that the tricky point might evolve around the registered trade mark for Mourinho’s name. (more…)
The only alternative to the EU is chaos? Brexit and trade marks/designs discussed at the CIPA Symposium
The European Council president Donald Tusk suggested recently that Brexit could bring chaos. Does this doom laden warning extend to the world of IP?
In an earlier post we covered the discussion at the CIPA Symposium on Brexit as it related to the unitary patent system (summary: Brexit probably won’t be good for the unitary patent). In this post we recap some of the issues discussed in the sessions on general legal implications of withdrawal from the EU, the impact on European trade marks and Community registered designs and some wider implications of Brexit. (more…)
Lawyers’ Business Development Club – An evening with Bjarne Tellmann
Colin Carroll and Bjarne P. Tellmann
Last week, Keltie was delighted to host the 50th speaker event for the Lawyers’ Business Development Club at our offices at No. 1 London Bridge in London. The guest for this event was Bjarne P. Tellmann, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Pearson Plc, who joined Colin Carroll, the founder of the LBDC, for a fireside chat about his career path and “Leading Legal Teams in an Age of Innovation and Divergence”.
Black Belt, Brown Belt
Colin and Bjarne opened with the revelation that they both hold belts at karate (Bjarne is a black belt (“though it’s been a few years…”) and Colin is a brown belt) and Colin asked Bjarne what lessons he had been able to take from the discipline. Bjarne noted that in karate you need to be able to keep cool, remember to breathe and just react. It’s important to focus on the moment and learn not to underestimate any opponent, all of which are lessons that he’s taken away into life in general. The other take away from the world of karate is that attaining a black belt is just the start, you never really attain mastery and there’s always something else to learn and experience. (more…)
Intellectual Property Disputes in the UK: the Court of Session
A couple of weeks ago we wrote an article about bringing intellectual property (IP) actions in front of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC). Like the High Court in England and Wales, the IPEC can handle a range of IP disputes. As a result of its streamlined process however the IPEC provides a less expensive option for parties who feel the need to go to court.
For cases with a Scottish angle however there is another option, namely to bring a claim before the Court of Session in Edinburgh. This post provides an overview of Scottish IP disputes and the similarities and differences with the High Court and IPEC in England and Wales.
IPcopy is grateful to have received input from Susan Snedden at Maclay Murray & Spens LLP in the preparation of this post. Any insights may be attributed to Susan while IPcopy claims ownership of any errors that the reader may find! (more…)
OHIM* tells K-Swiss to jog on with their 5 stripe mark
Case Review – T-3/15 K-Swiss v OHIM (Représentation de bandes parallèles sur une chaussure) – 4 December 2015 (Decision)
Background
K-Swiss sought registration of the five stripe mark (see blog image) under the CTM designation of International Registration No. 932758 in Class 25 (“athletic shoes, namely tennis shoes, basketball shoes, cross-country and jogging shoes and casual shoes” as of 8 October 2013) on 23 May 2013.
The designation was refused protection on 4 March 2014 under Article 7(1)(b) – devoid of distinctive character. K-Swiss appealed this decision on 23 April 2014.
The Second Board of Appeal (BoA) dismissed this appeal on 30 October 2014 on the basis that the five parallel stripes do not have any original feature, such that they are banal generic embellishment in view of the widespread practice of using a stripe pattern on sports shoes.
The action to the General Court (Second Chamber) was filed on 6 January 2015. (more…)
Intellectual Property Disputes in the UK: the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC)
Intellectual property such as trade marks and patents can be important assets to a business. In instances where negotiation or arbitration or mediation are not appropriate a company may need to consider opening litigation proceedings.
As far as intellectual property cases are concerned there can be a perception that such proceedings in the UK are lengthy and costly affairs compared to other jurisdictions, such as Germany. However, there are options available to claimants that can provide litigation that is both quicker and cheaper than may generally be understood. In particular, claimants may take advantage of the streamlined procedures on offer in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court. (more…)
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