Articles

Change in interpretation of Trade Mark regulations (June 2010)

In a recent Trade Mark case, there has been a significant development in the Court’s interpretation of which goods can be classed as similar enough to cause confusion in the market place*. As a result, a company with a Trade Mark registration for clothing, footwear and headgear (Class 25) was unable to block a third party from registering an almost identical mark for fashion accessories, e.g. jewellery, sunglasses, handbags, purses or umbrellas.

We think the decision was somewhat harsh but nevertheless, in practice, this means that if you only have a Class 25 registration, a third party might be able to register the same mark as yours, but for fashion accessories. They would be able to sell accessories without infringing your Trade Mark, and could also prevent you from selling the goods under the mark. The ruling also reduces the chances of enforcing your own registrations against third parties selling fashion accessories using your brand name.

If you would like further information please contact one of our Trade Mark team who will be happy to discuss the available options.

* 2nine Ltd v OHIM, 24 March 2010, Case T-363/08 and Case T-364/08

New UK Rules Affect all Trade Mark Owners (October2008)

With effect from October 1st 2008 the UK-IPO has introduced a new streamlined procedure for trade mark applications. The new legislation has been designed to make the rules more consistent and keep the procedures faster than those used in Europe. It also aims to reduce the amount of unnecessary and/or irrelevant evidence filed. Read full article >

Change in UK Trade Mark Law (October2007)

On 1st October 2007 a change in UK Trade Mark Law comes into force.
The change in brief: The UKIPO will stop automatically refusing trade mark applications if there are earlier conflicting trade marks on the register. Instead, it will be down to owners of earlier trade marks to raise an objection. Read full article >