Kelly Hudson - McDaniels IP Solicitors | Intellectual Property Lawyers Newcastle

One For Z Readers

Two Russian citizens are facing charges of criminal copyright infringement, wire fraud and money laundering in the United States of America. The charges relate to a pirated e-book website “Z-Library” which was taken down by US authorities in early November. The two suspects, Anton Napolsky and Valeriia Ermakova, both of St. Petersburg, Russia, were arrested […]

Chinese Gaming Company Puts Their Tencents In To Copyright Claim

China has long had a reputation for being a place where it is very difficult to protect your intellectual property and businesses who are looking to trade or manufacture in China have always had to be aware of the risks that go with doing so. China has recently taken some steps to seek, to a […]

Not Laughing Anymore

Seattle based coffee house Starbucks has faced its fair share of trade mark battles over the years, the most recent being with an Indian coffee house LOL Café based in Jaipur. The claim was filed back in December 2018 and has only just been ruled upon. Starbucks alleged the LOL Café was selling a drink […]

Patagonia in a flap with Gap

California based outdoor fashion company, Patagonia Inc. (“Patagonia”), have alleged fellow fashion brand Gap Inc. (“Gap”) have copied their flap pocket design which has been a feature on its fleece products for over 30 years. The claim asserts that there are similarities between the relevant fleeces, namely a similar rectangular logo above the flap pocket, […]

Supreme Spaniels or Daniels?

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear Whiskey maker Jack Daniels’ trade mark case against squeaky dog toy maker, VIP Products after the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sided with VIP Products in the matter back in 2020. VIP Products sells dog toys which, amongst other stuff, mimic liquor, beer, and […]

Dior in Trade Mark Fight with Adult Star

Everybody no doubt has heard of Christian Dior, the famous French fashion house, and the value of their brand and their trade marks is one of their main business assets. Fewer people have presumably heard of adult star Gigi Dior who apparently has quite a following on the OnlyFans site. These two rather different entities […]

Guess, you left Banksy no choice

Political street artist Banksy went viral on social media on Friday over a post accusing Guess of using his artwork without consent to front their Guess store on Regent Street, London. In the Instagram post, which attracted over 1.7 million likes, Banksy wrote “Attention all shoplifters please go to GUESS on Regent Street. They’ve helped […]

Banksy's Monkeys Back to Business

Back in May 2021, we reported on the European Union Intellectual Property Office’s (“EUIPO”) decision to declare Banksy’s well-known “monkey sign” trade mark “invalid in its entirety” following opposition to the mark by the company “Full Colour Black”. That decision was made on the basis of bad faith and lack of distinctiveness. However, after a […]

All I Want is to be the Queen of Christmas

Mariah Carey has found herself on Santa’s naughty list this year after the US Trade Mark Trial and Appeal Board ruled against Carey’s attempt to trade mark the name “Queen of Christmas”. Mariah Carey’s company, Lotion LLC attempted to register the mark at the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office in March 2021 for […]

Bumper Case for Camper Vans

Big brands are, of course, big business and those big brands tend to be incredibly proactive and often aggressive in protecting their rights. A perfect example of this has always been Volkswagen and the manner in which they protect their iconic campervan designs. Companies pay substantial sums of money to license the camper van design […]

A Paramount Problem: Continued

Back in June we reported on “a Paramount Problem” unfolding over the release of Top Gun: Maverick. The family of the late Ehud Yonay sued Paramount Pictures (“Paramount”) for copyright infringement over the release of the film. Since then, Paramount filed a motion to dismiss, which has been rejected by the court. The motion was […]

Too Savage for Vogue

Rappers Drake and 21 Savage – whose real name is Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph – (“the Rappers”), have been sued by global mass media company and publisher of Vogue magazine, Condé Nast, for the unauthorised use of both its brand name and trade marks. The Rappers photoshopped themselves on a fake “VOGUE” magazine cover and plastered […]

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