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The Trademark Blog reports on the advertising way Saatchi & Saatchi’s site devoted to lovemarks . According to the agency, brands are quondam hat. People automatically assume that they volition teach goods too services that perform to their expectations. Instead, the hereafter belongs to lovemarks, entities that non alone earn the honour of consumers, but likewise create “an intimate, emotional connectedness that yous only can’t alive without. Ever” too are “a relationship, non a mere transaction”. Such loyalty is earned through a mixture of honey too honour (unlike brands which ascendancy honour alone too fads, where alone honey is a factor). The honour arises from a combination of mystery (not knowing most something makes yous desire to notice out to a greater extent than most it), sensuality (the design, season too other sensual elements of the product) too intimacy amongst the build (so that it touches on the consumer’s personal aspirations too inspirations). The site offers yo

The Register reports that, faced amongst an ongoing patent battle inwards the USA that threatens to identify injunctions on its products, RIM is focusing heavily on Europe together with has launched a tri-band sum colouring textile BlackBerry PDA (personal digital assistant) this calendar week -- alone to let on itself attacked yesteryear roughly other intellectual holding lawsuit, this fourth dimension from a Luxembourg-based company. RIM together with T-Mobile USA bring been sued inwards Delaware yesteryear InPro II Licensing, a Luxembourg-based licensing company, which claims that the companies are infringing its patents. Inpro is seeking damages which are "in no number less than a reasonable royalty". RIM, which is appealing against an injunction granted to USA intellectual holding fellowship NTP that could potentially ban it from selling its products, has filed a adapt inwards federal courtroom inwards Dallas bespeak for a ruling that the InPro patents are invalid. RI

The Nov 2003 lawsuit of Sweet & Maxwell's European Copyright as well as Design Reports is straight off out. Foreign judgments available for the source fourth dimension inwards English linguistic communication include the following: * Noir d'Ivoire five Home Boutiques (Court of Appeal, Brussels, Belgium): is a collection of colours inwards a painter's palette protectable every mo a database? * Maria Isabel R five Vipriga SA (Court of Appeal, La Coruna, Spain): does post-employment exploitation of an employee author's operate flora an infringement of copyright? * Pop Group Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 as well as EROC II (Bundesgerichtshof, Germany): does a licence of the correct to tape performances inwards 1970s permit the making of subsequent recordings inwards CD format? * SABAM five SA Schleiper (Brussels Civil Court, Belgium): does a farther reproduction of licensed reproductions of fine art industrial plant inwards miniaturised flat for advertisi

is packing his bags to wing off to Switzerland for side past times side week's INTA Worldwide Forum on Trademark Protection (1 together with ii December, Noga Hilton Hotel, Geneva). The forum is devoting an entire twenty-four hours to "Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks". If you'd similar to encounter the IPKat inwards Geneva together with ambit hello, merely shipping him an email .

In Oriental Kitchen Sarl 5 Office for Harmonisation inwards the Internal Market , Case T-286/02, the Court of First Instance of the European Communities reaffirmed the regulation established inwards Matratzen 5 OHIM [2003] ETMR 392, that descriptive damage were registrable as merchandise marks if the description was inwards a linguistic communication non known inwards the jurisdiction inwards question. Oriental Kitchen (OK) applied to OHIM to register the give-and-take score KIAP MOU for goods inwards Classes 29 together with thirty (including meat together with prepared dishes). An opposition was filed yesteryear Mou Dybfros, owners of the MOU registered merchandise score inwards the UK of Britain together with Northern Republic of Ireland for goods inwards Classes 29 together with 30. The Opposition Division rejected the application, at that spot beingness a lead chances of confusion since the marks together with the goods were similar. OK appealed unsuccessfully to Board of Appeal

In Shield Mark v Kist , the ECJ has decided the weather condition nether which audio merchandise marks tin travel registered. Shield Mark obtained Benelux registrations inwards diverse forms for the tune of the outset nine notes of Beethoven's Fur Elise as well as the audio of a cockerel's crow. When it brought merchandise grade infringement as well as unfair contest claims against Mr Kist, the courtroom flora that in that place was no infringement. Since the Benelux Governments intended to turn down to register sounds equally merchandise marks , they had been invalidly registered. Shield Mark appealed to the Hoge Raad. In answer to the Hoge Raad's reference, the ECJ provided the next guidance on the registrability of sounds equally merchandise marks: ♦ On the upshot of whether audio marks tin travel merchandise marks - Sound marks are capable of beingness merchandise marks nether Article two of Directive 89/104 if they are capable of distinguishing the goods or s

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In 1994, Dr Mina Alikani of Cornell University Medical Centre published a newspaper inward the periodical Human Reproduction detailing her inquiry on how a weakness inward the wall of the inner jail cellular telephone majority of an embryo may Pb to a greater likelihood of the embryo developing into a gear upward of identical twins. Unsurprisingly, she was non best pleased when, inward 2000, she noticed that 7 paragraphs of her newspaper had been reproduced inward roughly other publication, Human Reproduction Update. The article had iv named authors, Mr due north Abusheika, Dr O Salha, Mrs V Sharma as well as Mr P Brinsden, though the slice was genuinely written past times the showtime ii MD as well as the latter two, every bit senior authors, only had a supervisory role. An apology appeared inward the periodical condemning such plagiarism but likewise acknowledging that due to the vast issue of academic publications available, it was unreasonable to hold off senior authors to compreh

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brings tidings of an interesting Trade Mark Registry decision concerning an opposition based on a registration of a colouring per se . Orange Personal Communications is the proprietor of 2 marks for the colouring orangish inwards the course of report of Pantone 151 as well as a colouring sample, applied to the visible surface of packaging or promotional materials etc, where it is the predominant colour. It opposed Easygroup’s application to register diverse price prefaced alongside the give-and-take “easy”, such equally easyPoints, easyJet.com as well as easyGiro, all alongside the colouring orangish claimed equally an chemical ingredient of the mark. However, during the course of report of the opposition the opponent sought to meliorate the application inwards companionship to include a claim nether s.5(1) of the Trade Marks Act (identical marks, identical goods/services). The Hearing Officer held (mirroring the Civil Procedure Rules on amendment) that such an amendment could alone l

“Privacy in addition to Celebrity” was the championship of the lecture given this evening at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies past times here in addition to here Comment hither

Last Friday, the IPKat attended the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute together with Fordham School of Law Dialogue on Geographical Indications . Too much was said during the circular tabular array to convey y'all a blow-by-blow account, together with so instead the IPKat volition special some of the most interesting points that were raised: ♦There was a major tension betwixt the USA together with European Union attitudes to GIs. The Americans saw them equally anti-competitive together with equally an example of European Union protectionism. It was suggested that GIs granted monopolies inwards generic terms to sure enough traders together with thus resulted inwards horizontal marketplace pose partitioning betwixt those traders who are fortunate plenty to hold upwardly entitled to move GIs. The Europeans introduce tended to accept a less hard-line approach, recognising that, yesteryear providing consumers amongst data virtually the products inwards question, GIs

Ananova reports that British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to brand an appearance on “ The Simpsons ”. He has provided his phonation for the episode, entitled "The Regina Monologues", inwards which the cartoon line of piece of employment solid unit of measurement view England. In this episode the line of piece of employment solid unit of measurement comes to London for a vacation too is met at Heathrow aerodrome past times Mr Blair, who invites them dorsum to his residence at 10 Downing Street for tea. After gaining tips on where to view inwards London from the Prime Minister, Homer causes chaos past times tipping tea from his Union Jack tea loving cup over the carpet. Homer also ends upward inwards problem alongside the Royal line of piece of employment solid unit of measurement afterward he crashes a Mini Cooper into the dorsum of the Queen's horse-drawn railroad vehicle too is locked upward inwards the Tower. The episode, which also features the voices of Harry Potter w

The Sunday Telegraph reports that Disney has pulled out of the novel live-action Peter Pan film only 5 weeks earlier its unloosen date. The determination is the termination of a row betwixt the studio too Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, which inherited the copyright in Peter Pan nether the volition of JM Barrie. Disney has argued that it should non convey to pay whatever royalties to the infirmary on the film-related merchandise that it sells since it has been making regular payments to secure the animated rights to the storey too has made voluntary payments from its income from merchandise associated amongst its animated “Peter Pan” film . Disney soundless feels that its partners inwards making the film, Sony too Revolution Studios, should convey to pay over a proportion of their merchandising profits. is somewhat perturbed. While Great Ormond Street is undoubtedly the copyright holder inwards Peter Pan, the IPKat does non come across why this should automatically title it

England’s victory inwards the Rugby World Cup concluding was a mixed approbation for the team’s shirt sponsors, telecoms fellowship 02 . The team’s victory was a boost for the company, only the most high-profile England supporter at the event, that telegenic teenager, heavily-photographed as well as much-filmed Prince Harry , wasn’t wearing the correct squad shirt. The shirt, which Prince Harry refused to change, was an old model bearing 02’s onetime name, BT Cellnet. The sponsors saw Prince Harry wearing the "wrong" shirt at England's other matches as well as tried everything to persuade him to ditch it for the latest version, consummate alongside the O2 logo. They sent him several novel jerseys as well as fifty-fifty enlisted the help of the Rugby Football Union , their £8 meg commercial partner. The Prince, however, was having none of it: his old shirt was a acquaint from England star as well as match-winner Jonny Wilkinson and was, every bit His Highness position it,

GlaxoSmithKline ( lost its activity to forbid Swiss fellowship Novartis making in addition to selling inexpensive generic versions of Augmentin , GSK's leading antibiotic. GSK’s proceedings were aimed both against Novartis in addition to its generic company, Geneva Pharmaceuticals . The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled inwards favour of Novartis in addition to Geneva slow on Friday, upholding Geneva's claim that vii of GSK's patents for the drug were "improper in addition to should non bring been used to extend patent protection for [GSK's] product". Novartis in addition to Geneva surprised the marketplace inwards 2002 when it launched a generic version of Augmentin. The launch came afterwards an unexpected United States legal determination inwards May 2002 that a position out of GSK's patents for Augmentin were invalid. GSK spent over a twelvemonth fighting the determination only the master copy ruling has straight off bee

An article from the BBC details the University of Plymouth’s BA inward Business together with Perfumery. The students on this course of report acquire how to exercise a olfactory belongings to a brief that volition after endure passed on to the perfumer for refinement. As good equally creating a “trade mark” olfactory belongings for products such equally perfumes, shampoo together with detergents that may accept a functional role, the odour is meant to communicate an emotion to the consumer. This is made complicated past times the fact that unlike fragrances accept unlike connotations inward unlike countries, together with thus smells may accept to endure formulated on a regional basis. notes that piece smells are an of import appear of many products, next the ECJ’s conclusion is Sieckmann outlining the problems amongst registering odours equally merchandise marks, it is difficult to come across how they tin accept value equally intellectual belongings assets. Identify smells

Population command inward China is probable to stay a work if the patent application filed inward 1994 yesteryear Hao Hongfeng is anything to teach by. According to the abstract , his innovation is for an “external-use type anticonceptive drug” made of “traditional Chinese medicinal pregnancy-proof incense”. The invention, which tin endure made inward the flat of pulverization together with emulsion, is either inhaled or spread on the Jenchung acupoint (the midline of the nasal philtrum, i 3rd of the mode from the olfactory organ to the border of the upper lip) or the belly-button, it tin “attain the finish of nascency control”. The practiced intelligence is that this medicine has no toxic side-effect. The bad intelligence is that it has a success charge per unit of measurement of exclusively 92%. , noting the steps that WIPO is currently taking to protect folklore together with traditional knowledge, wonders if steps volition likewise direct maintain to endure taken to protect us a

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A federal courtroom has dismissed Wells Fargo's application for interim injunctive relief against WhenU , a software maker that launched competition pop-up advertisements when customers accessed the bank's website. Said Judge Nancy Edmunds (US District Court of Michigan, Southern Division): "the fact that but about WhenU advertisements look on a reckoner concealment at the same fourth dimension the plaintiffs' spider web pages are visible inward a class window does non industrial plant life a piece of job inward commerce of the plaintiffs' marks". The banking concern alleged copyright together with merchandise score infringement. WhenU makes software that tracks the stimulate of websurfers together with serves upwardly targeted advertisements to those who are probable to brand a purchase. For example, an advertizing for go site Priceline.com might look spell a surfer is visiting Travelocity.com . The software is bundled amongst other pop downloads such ever

has spotted an interesting OHIM Opposition Division decision on the registrability of O’ versus Mc surnames. O’Neill applied to register a figurative depiction of the operate O’NEILL inwards diverse classes of goods, including Class 25. Peek, the proprietor of an before High German grade for the operate MC NEAL inwards Class 25, opposed O’Neill’s application inwards as well as then far equally it included sports as well as leisure clothing, headgear as well as footwear, especially sports shoes, casual shoes, sandals as well as socks. Peek argued that the signs as well as the goods were identical or similar, leading to a likelihood of confusion as well as peculiarly that the 2 signs would hold upwards pronounced identically because the prefixes had non aural consequence as well as consumers would detect the chief components of both signs (NEILL AND NEAL) rather than the prefixes (MAC as well as O’). The opposition was rejected. The goods were either identical or similar. Peek’s art

The kickoff convictions nether the Australian criminal meshing piracy legislation get got taken house according to news.com.au . Peter Tran as well as Charles Ng were each given xviii calendar month suspended prison theatre sentences and, together alongside Tommy Le, received community service orders for their parts inward running a Napster-style MP3 site. The judge, NSW Deputy Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson, said that the trio's action didn't simply deprive copyright holders as well as artists, but also "drills downwards deeply inside the economy" as well as tin plow over the axe "work a pregnant disadvantage to society". Michael Speck, of Music Industry Piracy Investigations, has claimed that the sentences are also short, comparison the group's acts to theft, as well as has argued that they should hold upward treated every bit if they had stolen the quantity of CDs shared on their network from an actual shop. is non exclusively happy alongside th

In Budejovicky Budvar NP v Rudolf Ammersin GmbH , Case C-216/01, the European Court of Justice handed downwards a long, complex determination on the legal reason upon which a Czech brewer tin preclude the sale inwards Republic of Austria of AMERICAN BUD build beer. Budvar , a Czech brewer, exported BUDWEISER BUDVAR beer to Austria. Austrian companionship Ammersin sold Anheuser-Busch's AMERICAN BUD beer. In 1999 Budvar sought an gild that Ammersin halt using the discussion "Bud", or similar designations probable to crusade confusion, for beer. Budvar claimed that (i) AMERICAN BUD was confusingly similar to its ain prior Austrian merchandise marks; (ii) the utilization of AMERICAN BUD for a beer from anywhere but the Czechia breached a bilateral convention concluded betwixt Republic of Austria in addition to the sometime Czechoslovakia which listed "Bud" every bit a protected designation reserved alone for Czech products. The Austrian courtroom stayed the proceedi

is pleased to welcome dorsum London barrister Ashley Roughton as a invitee blogger. Ashley, of Hogarth Chambers , is an intellectual holding specialist who has appeared inward many recent cases, including Arsenal v Reed. Much comment has been made almost the apparent widening of the essay out for infringement every bit gear upwards out inward Article five of Council Directive 89/104 (the merchandise marks directive) next the ECJ judgment inward Adidas v Fitnessworld . Two points emerge. The get-go is the number of the "link" betwixt the registered merchandise score inward number together with the sign. The essay out for infringement is said to last less than confusion (or at to the lowest degree different): whatsoever "link", whatever that means, volition do. The 2nd is to produce amongst the fact that the ECJ look to convey re-written Article 5(2) of the directive hence that the reputational protection available to proprietors of registered merchandise marks l

Today the IPKat attended Professsor Gerald Dworkin's talk, "Unfair Competition: Is the Common Law inwards Need of a Loose Cannon?", hosted past times the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre at St Peter's College. The focus was on the breadth of the unfair contest activity at mutual police as well as on the pose of misappropriation inside inwards it. He began past times identifying iii possible ingredients of an unfair contest tort: C onfusion (or M isrepresentation); A ttack (on roughly other trader) as well as T heft (or Misappropriation) a.k.a. CAT or MAT. The showtime ii of these ingredients were enshrined inwards Art 10bis of the Paris Convention, spell the 3rd - misappropriation - was not. Nor was misappropriation singled out inwards Art 39 of TRIPs. However, this did non hateful that at that spot was no pose for misappropriation inside unfair contest doctrine. Professor Dworkin described the agency inwards which passing off police inwards the Brit

Ananova reports that Disney studio bosses are concerned virtually a novel moving-picture present which shows Father Christmas drinking, stealing together with chasing girls. "Bad Santa", starring Billy Bob Thornton, has been made past times Disney subsidiary Miramax , the studio that likewise made Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill". In i scene, Santa says to a barmaid: "I'm an eating, drinking, f***ing Santa Claus!" "Prove it," she replies. The adjacent scene shows Santa together with the barmaid having sexual practice inwards his car. In some other scene, a kid asks: "You are actually Santa, right?" Santa responds: "No, I'm an accountant. I vesture this every bit a f***ing fashion statement!" The Drudge Report says the celluloid has caused "complete outrage" with senior Disney executives. "Nothing appears sacred, anymore, this is only non inwards the spirit of Walt Disney", a root unopen to Chief

The BBC reports that an advertising agency has had an unexpected success amongst a spoof website ( www.whatbrandareyou.com ) that it laid up. The site pokes fun at the tendency for companies to rebrand at cracking expense amongst “nonsense” names such equally Corus together with Arriva past times offering to generate a novel necessitate a companionship i time the existing name, total value together with principal finish of the companionship is inputted. However, names that the site generates are genuinely existence used past times genuine companies which convey registered for sure of them amongst Companies House, although the directors of those companies claim non to know of the website. is rather impressed past times all these “nonsensical” names. On the i hand, they audio meaningful plenty to advise to consumers that at that topographic point is a telephone commutation value lurking behind the construct simply on the other hand, they are inwards fact pretty meaningless, which wa

IPKat’s friend Jordgubbar writes to tell us almost Case C-101/01 Bodil Lindqvist , inward which the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered its judgment on the interpretation of the Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46) as well as the Swedish Personuppgiftslag (SFS 1998:2004), which implemented that Directive. Background to the reference In 1998, Mrs Lindqvist gear upwardly network pages at abode inward monastic tell to permit parishioners of her church building preparing for their confirmation to obtain information they mightiness need. Those pages contained information almost Mrs Lindqvist as well as xviii colleagues which included approximately household unit of measurement circumstances as well as telephone numbers. She stated that ane colleague had injured her pes as well as was working part-time on medical grounds. She did non yet tell her colleagues of the beingness of those pages or obtain their consent. Nor did she notify the information inspectorate of her act

Under s.41(2) of the Great Britain Trade Marks Act 1994, an applicant tin file a unmarried application for the registration of a serial of marks where all of the marks “resemble each other every bit to their cloth particulars as well as differ alone every bit to matters of a non-distinctive grapheme non substantially affecting the identity of the merchandise mark”. Where a grade is considered unregistrable yesteryear the Registrar, nether s.37(3) he must inform the applicant as well as hand him an chance to brand representations or meliorate the application, otherwise the application volition last refused. The Lord Chancellor’s Appointed Person (LCAP) considered the requirements for serial applications inwards the recent Gateway case . Gateway applied to register a serial of xv marks comprised of 3 or iv “cow spots” (the feature dark on white blotches establish on many cows) for Classes ix as well as 35 inwards a unmarried application every bit a series. The Registrar refused the a

Brandchannel reports on the increasing tendency for pharmaceuticals, in addition to fifty-fifty surgical procedures, to survive marketed straight to patients. This became to a greater extent than of a possibility (in the US of America at least) inwards 1997 when the Federal Drugs Agency relaxed its rules on such advertising in addition to drugs companies bring gone to extreme lengths to promote themselves. For example, Medtronic placed ads for is incontinence handling to a higher identify world urinals spell Zimmer , pioneer of a minimally invasive hip-replacement operation, markets briefcases, desk accessories, cups, hats, polo shirts, travail shirts, sweaters in addition to writing equipment bearing its fellowship logo on its website. Patients are meliorate informed most symptoms in addition to available treatments every bit a lawsuit in addition to tin fifty-fifty enquire for drugs yesteryear name. The mesh has also proved a powerful tool inwards this process, e.g. Medtronic's

Bjornekulla Fruktindustrier Aktiebolag v Procordia Food Aktiebolag Case C-371/02 (blogged past times the IPKat, xiii November) was a reference to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling past times the Svea Hovratt, Sweden, on an appeal from the Stockholm District Court (reported inward [2002] ETMR 464). Swedish fellowship Procordia owned the BOSTONGURKA merchandise rank for chopped pickled gherkins. Another Swedish company, Bjornekulla , which produced pickled gherkins, picked beetroot together with similar items, sought revocation of the BOSTONGURKA mark, claiming it had lost its distinctive graphic symbol together with was right away a generic term for chopped pickled gherkins. To back upwards its argument, Bjornekulla submitted 2 consumer studies which showed that the bulk of persons interviewed believed that the term "Bostongurka" could survive freely used to depict whatever construct of pickled chopped gherkins. Procordia submitted its ain report, based o