Search results for

In Swiss trade mark opposition proceedings, awards for the parties' representation costs are granted. Typically, the awarded costs will not exceed SFr2,000 ($2,168). The opposition fees of the Trademark Office (SFr800 per mark) must be advanced by the plaintiff. If the opposition is successful, the defendant will be liable for these fees in addition to the awarded representation costs.

An applicant recently filed a trade mark application for ПУШКИНЪ (Pushkin) to provide catering services. The claimed designation is an oval figure reminiscent of a frame of a painting or a mirror encircling the word element ПУШКИНЪ.

Stricter criteria are generally applied to pharmaceutical marks when assessing the similarity of goods and the likelihood of confusion, given the negative effects that such confusion could have on a consumer's health and wellbeing.

Aquestion frequently asked by trade mark owners is whether consent by the owner of an earlier trade mark application or registration would overcome an examiner's objection on the ground of confusing similarity. This was answered in the negative in the recent case of DVB Project v Director of Trademarks, decided by the Office of the Director General of the Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) on December 6 2012.

The new year ushered in a few more PCT Patent Prosecution Highway pilot programmes (PCT-PPH), reducing the workload for cooperating patent offices and expediting examination for qualified applications.

Whilst a product patent in Pakistan confers the exclusive right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import for these purposes that product, the scope of protection under a process patent also extends to acts done against "at least" the product directly obtained by that process – provided a claim drawn on a process for the production of X (the direct product) is there to determine the extent of protection. Import is one of the acts against which the direct or immediate product of a patented process is protected.

The New Zealand High Court has reversed a decision by the Assistant Commissioner of Trade Marks that upheld an application by the Mill Liquor Save for the word mark MacGowans covering "whisky flavoured spirits; none of the foregoing being whisky", despite opposition by the Scotch Whisky Association.

The first fine has been issued under New Zealand’s three strikes anti-illegal downloading regime, according to a report in Stuff.co.nz

Impliva recently filed a declaration of invalidity with regard to an umbrella design applied for by Senz Technologies. It was held to be invalid because a pre-published US patent (US 5,505,221) showed the same overall impression as the deposited design.

Much has been written about the paperless office in recent years, and the rapid development of IT is enabling an increasing number of paperless practices. Paradoxically, consumption of paper has increased exponentially since the increased availability of computers and printers. The main reason is that we have become conditioned to use paper since childhood and paper has become an intimate part of how we generate, access and store information.