The theoretical ability of brand owners to secure virtual monopoly rights in the shape of their products by trade mark registration is not in doubt, but success is by no means assured as two recent cases show. Barney Sich reports.
With the Rio Olympics now less than seven months away, the IOC has published “Social and Digital Media Guidelines for persons accredited to the Games of the XXXI Olympiad Rio 2016.” Nick Johnson reports.
“14 Laundry Fails we’ve all experienced” was the headline, then appeared “Brand Publisher” and a Dylon logo, but the style was of a BuzzFeed editorial. Was the ad obviously identifiable as such? Stephen Groom reports on the ASA decision.
Bad faith, passing off and trade mark infringement were just some of the allegations bandied around in a dispute over who was entitled to operate a pizza restaurant under the name Caspian. Varuni Paranavitane reports.
K-Swiss, Inc applied in 2013 to register as a Community trade mark for athletic shoes a figurative mark consisting of a five stripe motif. The application was initially refused as devoid of distinctive character but K-Swiss appealed. Sara McDiamond takes up the story.
Mexicans love sugary soda drinks. One soda, Sidral Mundet, contains 60 grams of sugar per 600 gram bottle, but it was the apple content that came to the fore in complaints over Coca Cola’s ads for it. Chloe Dumoulin-Richet reports.
At Osborne Clarke’s 17th “Look Back, Face Forward” marketing law forum on 2 December 2015, Jude King and Stephen Groom made their predictions. Catch their slides here.
The IPO was not impressed by a confusingly named trader sending renewal notices to trade mark and patent owners, demanding more than the IPO’s standard fees. It sued, alleging passing off and trade mark infringement. Varuni Paranavitane reports.
US chain In-N-Out Burger has sued take-out middleman “DoorDash” alleging it is using In-N-Out’s trade marks and selling its food in breach of the chain’s rights. Jamie Heatly reports on a case with interesting implications given the burgeoning takeaway delivery market.
Following a wide review of online advertorials, estimating that online reviews potentially influenced £23bn of consumer spending a year, the CMA is now investigating selective publication of reviews and lack of transparency around those that are published. Ben Poole reports.
Budget airline Ryanair has called on Google to take more action to protect consumers from “lookalike” screenscraper sites. eDreams is one of the sites Ryanair has named, but eDreams denies any wrongdoing. Thomas Spanyol reports.
The Government has reported on whether brand owners should be able to take direct action against lookalike products under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Has this pleased anti lookalike lobbyist the British Brands Group? Barney Sich reports.
