Trade Marks

In a world facing significant challenges, the importance of human creativity and innovation cannot be overstated. As highlighted by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we need to find solutions to problems ranging from climate change and diminishing natural resources to widespread inequality and health crises. We need “to re-think how we live, work and… Read more »

The EU Parliament has now approved reforms to EU design law, we set out below some of the key changes.   What’s happening? Proposals to amend the law were suggested in November 2022. In December 2023, the provisional law was published and it was adopted by the European Parliament in March 2024. The new Directive… Read more »

In the legal profession, cases act as landmarks that refine our grasp and enactment of law. Each verdict settles individual disputes and also enriches the tapestry of legal precedent. Among such key cases, the recent decision by the Court of Appeal in the clash between Industrial Cleaning Equipment (Southampton) Limited and Intelligent Cleaning Equipment Holdings… Read more »

We’re pleased to announce that AA Thornton IP LLP is shortlisted in three categories at the Managing IP Awards 2024. We also congratulate our partner Mike Jennings for his nomination as Patent Practitioner of the Year. Our firm is recognised for: UK Patent Disputes UK Trade Mark Disputes UK Patent Practitioner of the Year –… Read more »

In the recent appeals in the case of (1) Lidl Great Britain Limited and (2) Lidl Stiftung & Co KG v (1) Tesco Stores Limited and (2) Tesco plc [2024] EWCA Civ 262, the Court of Appeal has ruled in relation to Tesco’s appeal against the first instance findings that its Clubcard Prices logo infringed… Read more »

In an appeal decision handed down on 26 January 2024 in Iconix Luxembourg Holdings Sarl v (1) Dream Pairs Europe Inc and (2) Top Glory Trading Group Inc [2024] EWCA Civ 29, the Court of Appeal has ruled that when considering post-sale confusion consideration should be given as to how trade marks or potentially infringing… Read more »

Originally designed and built to provide the US army with ‘High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles’ (HMMWVs), it is believed that Arnold Schwarzenegger was instrumental in getting Hummers to the civilian market after they caught his attention when he was filming a movie. He was so taken with them that he approached the manufacturers and played… Read more »

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 »

The word “Metaverse” has been around for some time. It was coined by Neal Stephenson in the 1992 novel “Snow Crash”, but its wider adoption has been more recent. In 2022, 30 years since the term was first published, “Metaverse” came second-place in the Oxford English Dictionary word of the year. It is fair to… Read more »

It is not a surprise that the UK IPO has seen an increase in the number of trade mark applications which attempt to protect goods and services offered in the Metaverse. In Tribunal Practice Notice 2/2023 (“TPN 2/23”), which was published in April 2023, the UK IPO issued guidance on the correct classification of non-fungible… Read more »