Trade mark registration in the UK and European Union

UK IP Office enhances design services

August 31, 2016 by

The appearance of a product defined by different types of features like the shape, the patterns, the lines and the colour can benefit from the protection that comes with the design registration.

In order for it to be registered, a design has to be new and original.

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The originality is analyzed from the consumer’s point of view. If the overall impression that the design produces to an imaginary user is different from that produced by the already registered designs then the new design is having an individual character.

A design is considered new if no identical design has been made public before the date of the filing application. This can pose challenges for the applicant as the fast paced business environment is continuously changing and new designs are registered every day.

In order to keep up with the development of the businesses and meet today’s designers expectations, the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom has improved significantly the Designs Journal that will be available from the 5th of September 2016.

The most important added feature refers to the short amount of time for the designs to be displayed.

Therefore, from the 5th September 2016, the new version of the designs Journal will display designs in maximum 24 hours from their registration.

A fast and new styled design search will help business owners in making accurate decisions regarding their intellectual property in a timely manner.

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Intellectual Property for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

August 1, 2016 by

A recent study regarding the connection between the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and intellectual property rights registration has been released by the European Union IP Office.

In the attempt to understand the reasons for which priority is not always given to intellectual property by SMEs, we have analyzed the study in order to find a way to encourage the innovators to enjoy the full benefits of their creative products and services.

As a general view, the majority of the SMEs consider themselves to be innovative and the most important protection for this type of enterprises are domain name registration, followed by trade marks.

SMEs consider that the process of innovation can be defined by four stages: conducting research and development, inventing new products, processes or services, creating internal tools or processes to build or implement final products or services and undertaking the risks and costs of making, selling and marketing a commercial product. According to this business model, SMEs have registered intellectual property rights at the second and the fourth step.

The main reasons for which SMEs registered an intellectual property right are the following: prevent copying (79%), better legal certainty (74%), increase of the value and image (73%), more effective enforcement (50%), improvement of the negotiation position (45%), obtaining license revenues (23%), improvement of the changes of financing (22%).

Also, the study shows that a big majority of companies that proceeded with IPR registration report positive effects like: increased reputation or image of reliability (78%), strengthening of long-term business prospects (58%),  increased turnover (57%), expanded markets (47%), new opportunities of collaboration with other companies (46%), boost of profitability (33%) increased employment (21%), easier access to financing (16%).

Intellectual property is definitely a great asset for any business. However, there is still a small percent of SMEs that have registered their intellectual property right compared to the large enterprises that benefit from the intellectual property protection.

The survey shows the set of circumstances that have a negative impact on the decision to register intellectual property rights.

The respondents across all over the European Union brought into attention the obstacles that influence them when considering intellectual property protection: 35 % stated that they do not take any measures to protect their innovations because they do not see any benefit of doing so.  A further 13 % do not have enough knowledge on how to protect innovations, while 10 % say the procedures are too costly. Other answers range from the feeling that procedures are too long and burdensome (8 %) or that they want to avoid litigation (5 %).

Some factors can make SMEs register IPRs as they would be assured of receiving adequate protection, if it would be easier to take legal action and if the process would be easier to understand and access.

When asked under what conditions companies would consider registering an intellectual property right, the main factors mentioned are: if I could be sure of adequate protection (30 %), if it would be easier to take legal action against infringers and get appropriate compensation and other remedies (30 %), if the process could be easier to understand (28 %), if the registration would be easier to access (26 %), and if it would be cheaper to register or renew an IPR (22 %).

These results indicate that a combination of changes would be needed to encourage SMEs to register IPRs by the IP Offices.

In this context, IP law firms can also have a strong impact by sharing their knowledge through all the channels and presenting the procedure in a way that SMEs would perceive it as being accessible.

 

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Copyright in the Digital World

July 7, 2016 by

The digital world offers many opportunities for creators and innovators all around the world.

The intellectual property right that plays a major role in the digital world is copyright. Copyright protects the rights of authors, artists, architects, programmers, advertisers or any other owner of ideas expressed through creation.

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As the world is being more connected than ever, challenges arise from the intellectual property point of view. Copyright infringement is, as the Minister for Intellectual Property of the United Kingdom said, a running sore for creative industries for far too long. In the digital world, this has taken even larger proportions. A study supported by the UK Intellectual Property Office shows that 15%, (equating to approximately 6.7 million) of UK internet users aged 12+ consumed at least one item of online content illegally over the three-month period March-May 2016. Music was by far the most-consumed content type, both digitally (355 million tracks) and physically (88 million tracks) over the three-month period. Further, according to the study, it is estimated that 78 million music tracks were accessed illegally online in the analyzed period.

Even though a more recent study released on the 5th July 2016 shows a fall in infringement due to the fact that people turned to streaming services, online infringement continues to have a major impact on the creative industries.

At the community level, new regulations are proposed to be implemented in the European Union by the end of 2016 as a part of a special project for ‘a more modern, more European copyright framework’. This project, Digital Single Market, aims to make online content available in all of the European Union countries and adapt copyright rules to the new technologies.

As it is self evident the urge for the need of intellectual property protection, we are committed to support the hard work of creators and innovators as we offer our services so they benefit from both economic and moral rights of the result of their creativity.

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Protected: Fee Schedule EU

June 30, 2016 by

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June 30, 2016 by

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Brexit’s impact on UK and EU trademarks

June 28, 2016 by

The United Kingdom has decided to withdraw from the European Union. This decision has been taken by public referendum. The withdrawal process  will most likely take 2 years from the time that the UK Government files a formal request to the EU.

As all arrangements of the United Kingdom with the European Union will lapse unless amendments are agreed, all trademarks applied before EUIPO will cease to have an effect in UK unless negotiated otherwise by the member countries.

The only trademarks protected in the United Kingdom might be the national trademark registrations.

The legal landscape will probably change significantly and all trademark owners are now in the position to question the best way to protect their trademarks and secure their rights.

An arrangement according to which the EU trademarks will extend protection automatically in UK is uncertain if we consider the resources involved in the process.

Therefore, it is a safe precaution to file new trademark applications before UKPTO.

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How the right trade mark application strategy can save you the opposition costs for the European Union trade marks

May 10, 2016 by

According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office Annual Report, the number of trademark applications received in 2014 has been of 117.496 followed by an increase and reaching a number of 130 398 trademark filings in 2015. In March 2016 only, the number of EU trademark applications to be examined  was of 13,927.

The high number of trademark applications can be explained by the numerous advantages that an European Union trademark comes along with its registration:

  • Competitive costs: a single trademark registration fee paid that has decreased according to the EU Regulation that entered into force on the 23rd March 2016;
  • A single and smooth trademark registration procedure;
  • Extended protection across all of the European Union countries.

For any business that is not just local and has the potential to extend the products or services to more than one European Union member state, a registered trademark before the European Union IP Office is the most feasible solution for a full brand protection.

However, several disadvantages have to be taken into account.

According to EUIPO, the number of oppositions received has been of 17,355 in 2015. A raw estimation of the same IP Office reveals that 1 in 5 EU trademark applications is opposed by third parties. Even though the opposition rate has slightly declined compared to previous years, the risk of the opposition continues to be a challenge for business owners that try to register a trademark before EUIPO.

In March 2016 only, 1,493 EU trademark applications have been opposed by third parties.

One of the causes of the number of oppositions received by EU trademarks is that, since an EUTM is enforceable in all of the member states, the national trademark applications can be used to oppose the registration of an EU trademark and an EU trademark can be used to oppose the registration of a national trademark.

Moreover, language plays an important role also. As descriptiveness is an absolute ground for refusal of an European Union trademark, if the  EU trademark application is considered descriptive in only one language of the countries of the European Union, the trademark can be the subject of an opposition.

In order to avoid the high costs that an opposition may incur, national trademark registration is the optimal solution for many brands when the brand is local or a EUTM is not available. It is also worth mentioning that the absolute grounds for refusal apply differently in the member states of the European Union or the trademark offices are not so inflexible regarding the trademark applications.

The proof that the national trademark registration is a solution that brands opt for is the number of trademarks filed in the United Kingdom that is one of the the top applicant countries of the European Union: 94,688 UK national trade marks registered in 2014.

For an optimal strategy on trademark applications in Europe, our intellectual property specialists may provide you with a professional advice so one can fully benefit of the value that a trademark registration adds to a business.

 

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Apple loses trademark infringement dispute for the word trademark IPHONE in China

May 5, 2016 by

Apple Inc., the owner of more than 260 trademarks registered worldwide, has lost a dispute for the word trademark IPHONE in China against Xintong Tiandi Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., a company that sells leather phone cases.

The first trademark IPHONE was filed by Apple Inc. on the 18th October 2002 in class 9 that mainly covers all computer programs and software.

On the 29th September 2007, Xintong Tiandi Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.,  filed the trademark IPHONE in class 18 that covers leather goods, including leather cases for different use.

According to the relative grounds for the refusal of a trademark, when there is a likelihood of confusion for the public because the trademark filed for is identical with an earlier trademark and the goods/ services of the two marks are similar, the trademark may be refused.

Since the goods and services of the two trademarks IPHONE are different, the application filed by Xintong Tiandi Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. was not rejected.

Even though Apple Inc. filed an opposition in 2012 before the Intellectual Property Office of China, this has not been accepted because, according to Legal Daily,  Apple Inc. could not prove that iPhone was a well known trademark in 2007 as iPhone reached the Chinese market in 2009.

The decision has been made final by the Beijing High Court.

This situation is not likely to happen in Europe, as Apple Inc. has filed the European Union trademark IPHONE before the European Union Intellectual Property Office in several classes of goods and services, including class 18 that covers leather goods.

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