Outside of Australia, a lot of people would associate the name ‘ugg’ with the UGG footwear brand known for producing, amongst other products, sheepskin boots (UGG). UGG is a division of American company Deckers Outdoor Corporation (Deckers). In Australia, however, the word ‘ugg’ has been used as a generic term for sheepskin boots for years….
The BBC reported this week that a website, www.replacement-certificates.co.uk (the Website), which reportedly sold fake GCSE and A-level exam certificates has been shut down following an order from the High Court of Justice. The Website now contains a notice of injunction granted in favour of the Joint Council for Qualifications (Council), representing AQA Education, The…
A small bath bomb firm located in Scotland called The Naked Soap Company (Naked) plans to take on global cosmetics company L’Oreal, which has given notice of its intention to oppose Naked’s trade mark application for NAKED (the Mark). The Urban Decay Naked make-up range is owned by L’Oreal, which has indicated that it believes…
According to the BBC and several other news organisations, Taylor Swift has applied to register various lyrics from her new single, including the title “Look What You Made Me Do”, as trade marks. The single is Taylor Swift’s first UK number one single. Under UK law, and in all jurisdictions under various guises, there are…
Earlier this month, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) made headlines after it was accused of bullying Hilltrek Outdoor Clothing (Hilltrek), a small outdoor clothing company. But what could these two entities have to argue about? The dispute related to the ‘Glencoe DV Jacket’, sold by Hilltrek. NTS wrote to Hilltrek stating that it was…
China has long been known as the land of knock-offs and counterfeit goods, and we have reported on its practices concerning the theft of intellectual property before. Earlier articles can be read here and here. On 15 August 2017 we reported on President Trump’s announcement that he was going to launch an investigation into Chinese…
American manufacturer New Balance, known particularly well for its trainers in the UK, was recently awarded around £1.2 million in a trade mark infringement case in China, following infringement of its figurative trade mark for the letter ‘N’. According to the BBC, the award is believed to be the largest any foreign company has been…
An interesting case is currently before the US Supreme Court concerning the question of whether the term ‘google’ is now so generic that it is not capable of trade mark protection. The purpose of a trade mark is to distinguish the goods or services of one entity from those of another in the eyes of…
Further details have emerged this week regarding the multi-million pound lawsuit between US wholesaler Costco and luxury jewellery retailer Tiffany & Co. (Tiffany). Tiffany sued Costco in 2013 for trade mark infringement. Costco had been selling solitaire style diamond rings displayed with reference ‘Tiffany’ labelling. Tiffany argued that the labelling was misleading to customers while…
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recently ruled on opposition proceedings brought by tyre company Michelin, relying on their earlier trade mark for a stylised letter X registered for ‘Envelopes, inner tubes for pneumatic tyres’ to oppose Continental’s registration for a stylised version of ‘XKING’ for ‘Tyres; Inner tubes for tyres’. Michelin…
