September 3, 2008

It has recently emerged that the USPTO (the US trade mark registry) has denied Dell a trade mark for the phrase CLOUD COMPUTING SOLUTIONS on the ground that it is generic and used to describe a wide variety of computing activity.

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 recent cases highlight problems that can surface when...

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 new Company Names Adjudication System was launched on 1 October in line with section 69 Companies Act 2006. The new system aims to reduce the number of opportunistic company name squatters who incorporate companies with a view ...

December 6, 2008

It is interesting to hear Marks and Spencer is being sued by Interflora for using Interflora’s brand in their Google advertising.

I would hazard a guess that in many organisations the people at the top and the legal department are ...