JUNE 2008
21st century trade mark strategies
Managing IP, in association with Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner, hosted a discussion on trade mark strategies with lawyers, in-house counsel and members of OHIM and the TTAB
| One-minute read |
| Brand strategies are becoming more complex and challenging as globalization increases. In this roundtable held at the end of April, three brand owners, two lawyers in private practice, a judge at the TTAB and OHIM's director of IP policy discussed a range of issues including international trade mark prosecution and portfolio management strategies, classification, the differences between trade mark offices and consistency of examination. Judge Rogers answered questions about the new rules of procedure at the TTAB and addressed concerns over the latest trends in case law on what constitutes fraud at the USPTO. Vincent O'Reilly of OHIM provided information about the now-optional national searches for CTM applications and the issue of what constitutes genuine use of a CTM in the Community. The participants compared notes on how they and their clients are changing their strategies in the light of the latest developments and novel challenges in trade mark law. |
James Nurton: What kinds of trends are you seeing internationally in the way that people are pursuing trade mark strategies?
Brett Heavner: The trend that I am seeing primarily involves clients thinking more carefully about how they set up their trade mark registration portfolios based particularly on how they are using the mark in each country. Clients are trying to move away from a one-size-fits-all trade mark filing strategy and instead thinking more carefully about how they would want to formulate their European applications versus their US applications.
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