The difficulty with colour as a brand identifier is that there is no interim legal protection available to rely on as you build up recognition. You may remember from a previous blog post that Coca Cola had design protection of
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Most people assume intellectual property is primarily a distress purchase. This is one of the many misconceptions about IP that I’ve noticed since starting my business in 2004.
It frustrates me that people turn to me when they’re
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The transition period allowed for by the EU Withdrawal Bill ends on 31 December 2020 so that on 1 January 2021 the UK will no longer be part of the EU.
The UK left the EU on 1 January 2021, bringing to an end the tra...
Having spent the last few years immersing myself in books about brands and branding, listening to podcasts and audio books, writing and broadcasting on the subject and offering introductory courses on branding, I’ve
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The brand name and codes play an important role in the management of competition.
Inevitably competitors will try to capture some of the market shares of any brand that discovers a lucrative market opportunity. They copy busi
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September 10, 2008
Joint copyright can be a dangerous trap for businesses. Disputes over joint copyright issues are often expensive, fact intensive and it is difficult to prove ownership. Several cases highlight problems that can surface when joint ...
September 19, 2008
Ubuntu is a well known free, open source based Linux based operating system. Their business model is to provide software free of charge but to make money by giving support instead. Recently there have been a large number of varian...
November 1, 2008
Elvis Presley [1997] R.P.C. 543 and Linkin Park [2006] E.T.M.R. 74 are examples of cases which have highlighted the problems that can arise when famous people or groups try to protect their name through trademark law, in order to ex...
November 9, 2008
When finding out his bottle was a possible infringement of the Westmalle Belgian ringed bottle (trademark rights in which had been assigned to the New Belgium Company in Colorado) Mr Hindy, the owner of the Brooklyn Brewery was happ...
November 10, 2008
The Company Names Adjudication System was launched in October 2008 under section 69 of the Companies Act 2006. It aims to reduce the number of opportunistic company name squatters who incorporate companies with a view to selling th...
December 6, 2008
It is interesting to hear Marks and Spencer was sued by Interflora for using Interflora’s brand in their Google advertising.
The case was ultimately resolved in Interflora's favour in 2014, with the High Court finding that M&S's ke...
January 20, 2009
Unless you just have a lifestyle business you need to understand intellectual property rights. In fact even if you have a lifestyle business, you still need to know enough about intellectual property rights so as to avoid trouble by...
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