Latest Managing Trade marks News

• Afnic to launch IDNs in July

  French registry Afnic will introduce non-Latin characters in the six ccTLDs that it manages by July 2012, giving existing domain owners exclusive rights to take internationalised domain names (IDNs)

• EU refers ACTA to Court of Justice

  ACTA, the controversial international anti-piracy and counterfeiting treaty, has hit another hurdle after the European Commission announced this morning that it would ask Europe’s Court of Justice to consider its legality

• Why the CJEU is getting busier and busier

  More cases than ever were brought before Europe’s Court of Justice last year. Does that signal confidence of users or the over-complication of European law? Managing IP reports

• This week’s IP news quiz – February 13-17

  How closely have you been following this week’s IP news? Test your knowledge with five, quick questions

• Interview: Icann must clarify gTLD protections

  In an exclusive interview, Russell Pangborn of Microsoft and Time Warner’s Fabricio Vayra reveal their strategies for new gTLDs, discuss the budget implications and explain why more detail is needed on trade mark protection

• Thick Whois vote delayed until March

  The GNSO council has delayed voting on whether VeriSign should introduce a “thick” Whois model to its gTLD databases until Icann’s Costa Rica meeting in March

• Behind the scenes at the Patents Court

  An electric car, lunch at the Inn and excitement at the Applications Court - a day in the life of England & Wales High Court judge Mr Justice Arnold

• What would an independent Scotland mean for IP?

  The people of Scotland could vote to become independent in 2014. Managing IP investigates what such a move mean for IP owners

Interviews

• Trade mark examination with a view

  In the first article in a new series, Emma Barraclough finds out what a typical day for an OHIM examiner involves

• Interview: Eleanor Sharpston on the point of the advocate general

  In an exclusive interview with Emma Barraclough, Eleanor Sharpston explains the role of advocates general at the EU’s Court of Justice, the barriers to creating an IP tribunal and why she admires the ingenuity of parallel traders

• Interview: from the army to IPOS – Singapore’s new IP head

  Tan Yih San, who took over as chief executive of the IP Office of Singapore in June, tells Peter Ollier about his plans for the office and how his time in the army has helped him prepare

• Exclusive interview: António Campinos, OHIM president

  OHIM President António Campinos would like the Office to become “the true IP office for Europe” he told Managing IP

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Character merchandising

• Angry Birds tempt the Chinese with mooncakes

  As China’s year of the dragon approaches, Rovio, the Finnish company that created Angry Birds, will launch a new version of the game for its growing Chinese fanbase – part of a sophisticated licensing strategy in the country

• Hello Kitty and Disney reveal China licensing secrets

  Two of the most successful brand licensors in the world explained how they intend to grow their China businesses at a conference in Hong Kong this week

• Betty Boop infringement claims rejected

  A US appeals court has dealt a blow to character merchandising, in a copyright and trade mark dispute over the cartoon character Betty Boop

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Trade marks in India

• India considers IP office overhaul

  India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has launched a review of the organisational structure of the IP office that could split the patent and trade mark departments and make them autonomous agencies

• Concerns grow over Indian trade mark office problems

  Admissions that over 44,000 trade mark files have gone missing in India and that the trade mark database is full of errors are just the latest in a litany of administrative errors, incompetence and corruption at the country’s trade mark offices

• Lawyers welcome corruption arrest in India

  The arrest of a gold-loving deputy trade mark registrar in Chennai last week for corruption could reinvigorate the drive to clean up India’s trade mark system, said lawyers this week

• India’s top court deals blow to brand owners

  The Supreme Court in India has ruled that the trade mark Skincliniq is not confusingly similar to the Clinique skincare range in a set back for well-known marks in India

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