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May 09, 2012
There are signs that it is becoming easier to register nontraditional trademarks. But how useful are they for brand owners? A session at today's INTA Annual Meeting compares practice in China, Europe and the United States, reports Emma Barraclough.
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May 09, 2012
Companies outside Europe could be forgiven for thinking that trademark law around the EU is relatively harmonized, given the EU-level directives and Community trade mark system. Attendees at the Regional Update session on Europe yesterday were reminded, however, that that is not the case with unregistered marks.
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April 15, 2012
The heads of OHIM and the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board fielded some tough questions about their respective agencies’ methods during the Fordham IP Conference in New York
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March 29, 2012
An application for the trade mark Beatle for mobility scooters has been rejected in the EU on the grounds that its users would associate the mark with The Beatles
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March 23, 2012
How many questions on the week’s IP news can you answer?
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March 23, 2012
OHIM is no longer simply an IP office that grants Community trade marks and registered Community designs. Today EU member states agreed that it should take on a new role: overseeing the protection of IP rights across Europe
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March 13, 2012
IP owners whose trade marks include abbreviations will be advised whether they can be registered in Europe this week
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February 21, 2012
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
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February 02, 2012
The image might look like computer game Pong, the classic 1970s tennis programme, but in fact it’s the winner of Europe’s latest anti-piracy competition
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January 19, 2012
The Court of Justice of the EU has set aside a ruling by the General Court over trade mark transfers and rights of opposition, which itself disagreed with OHIM’s Board of Appeal
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January 09, 2012
In the first article in a new series, Emma Barraclough finds out what a typical day for an OHIM examiner involves
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November 29, 2011
The Court of Justice’s senior legal adviser this morning told the Court it should harmonise the way that IP offices in Europe interpret class headings. So what will happen next for trade mark owners?
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November 01, 2011
One of the advocate generals at the Court of Justice of the EU has explained why the Court will not allocate IP cases to a specialist tribunal or to judges trained in IP law
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October 31, 2011
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
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October 20, 2011
The Court has defined the “informed user” of a Community design and how designs should be compared, in the first case since designs were introduced
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October 18, 2011
IP owners with trade marks in Europe should review their portfolios before the IP Translator decision to avoid losing the scope of their rights
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October 14, 2011
Lawyers representing the UK, Denmark, Germany, Ireland and France lined up this week to tell the Court of Justice why OHIM should change its practice on class headings and how it affects trade mark owners
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October 05, 2011
The General Court of the EU has ruled that the term Paki is derogatory and cannot be registered as a Community trade mark – though Pommy and bastard can
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September 07, 2011
The EU General Court has dismissed an appeal to register the Community trade mark Better Homes and Gardens in one class, but left it registered in two others
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August 30, 2011
After a month-long holiday, the Court of Justice of the EU has one big IP judgment scheduled in September and several others in the next few months