IP Litigation

Amazon and eBay spurious takedown requests – getting de-listed products re-listed

Ebay Amazon takedowns

As a firm, we have recently seen an increase in the number of entrepreneurs whose product listings on e-commerce platforms like Amazon or eBay have been removed due to takedown requests alleging intellectual property infringements. As specialists in intellectual property law, we are used to dealing with situations where the question of infringement is not… Read more »

A Pilot for Costs-Capping in Patents Cases

Costs-Capping in Patents Cases

Exposure to high litigation costs can prevent small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual inventors from accessing the legal system. Significantly, the costs associated with proceedings in the Patents Court typically start at £1 million, often escalating to between £1.5 and £2 million in small to medium-sized patent disputes[1].   Cap on Patent Litigation Costs… Read more »

McDonald’s are Lovin’ It with EUIPO Board of Appeal Decision Win

At the end of 2022 the EUIPO Board of Appeal annulled the 2019 decision to revoke McDonald’s BIG MAC mark and allowed the mark to remain on the register (Case R534/2019-4). Background to the case Supermac’s is a popular Irish chain of restaurants dating back to 1978. In 2017, Supermac’s Holdings Ltd (Supermac’s) filed two… Read more »

Trademarking in the Metaverse and NFTs – the MetaBirkin decision

In one of the first legal cases to assess how trade mark law will apply to digital images protected by non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), a New York jury has found that the MetaBirkin images produced by Mason Rothschild infringe the trade mark rights of Hermès in its Birkin bag. Artist Mason Rothschild created images of a… Read more »

M&S Gin Win

In the recent case of Marks and Spencer PLC v Aldi Stores Limited [2023] EWHC 178 (IPEC) (the latest instalment of disputes between the two supermarkets), the IPEC ruled that Aldi had infringed M&S’ registered design rights in respect of the bottle used for their line of festive gin-liqueurs (pictured below). Background After this litigious… Read more »

Why is Diligent Due Diligence Important?

Background The main value of many technology merger or acquisition deals may not lie in tangible property like buildings or stock inventory. Often the value lies in intellectual property (IP), and patents in particular. It is common practice for companies to monitor the R&D activities of others, particularly smaller innovators.  This is done with a… Read more »

When is a Cat not a Cat? When it’s a Caterpillar. Or a Tigercat. Or is it?

Author: Dan Byrne   Tigercat International Inc. (“Tigercat”) and Caterpillar Inc. (“Caterpillar”) have been in conflict in numerous countries around the world due to conflict arising between Tigercat’s name and Caterpillar Inc’s commonly used abbreviation “Cat”. Most recently, a dispute in the EU IPO has resulted in Tigercat losing an opposition for its application for… Read more »

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