31 January 2025 · Articles, Contracts, Strategy, Trade Mark, Trademark
Transport for London just lost the first round in a fight with Gap Inc. over a recent trademark application that included sunglasses, bags, wallets and umbrellas! Anyone who has travelled on the London Underground will be familiar with the ‘Mind The Gap’ announcement and floor statements, asking you take care when stepping on and off […]
Read More30 January 2025 · Confidential Information, Domain Name, Information Security, Strategy, Trade Mark, Trademark
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮 $𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 People are your biggest strength and your biggest weakness. How can you let a $billion domain name lapse? In 2015 Google.com was bought for $12. In 2021 google.com.ar was bought for $2. These domain names are used to run billion-dollar businesses so how can these assets be ‘mistakenly […]
Read More24 January 2025 · Brand, Counterfeit, Cyber Security, Information Security, Trade Mark, Trademark
Can you be authentic without a registered trademark? Not with Google, or Outlook, or Outlook, or Microsoft, or Amazon, or MailChimp……….etc. The blue tick (or check mark) is being applied beyond social media, as proof of authenticity, but to get the blue tick you need to have a trademark registered with the an approved intellectual […]
Read More29 November 2024 · Articles, Brand, IP Strategy, Trademark
Some Re-Brands Are Logical To Existing Customers ‘It does what it says on the packet’ Others are ambitious even ‘game changing’, especially when seeking to attract a new target customer. Jeremy Clarkson once described the Jaguar (or jaGuar) driver as flat cap man, and this may well once have been the case. Attention and eyeballs […]
Read More8 November 2024 · Articles, Brand, Influencer, IP Education, IP Strategy, IP Value, Social Media, Trademark
Why Portakabin is Entitled to Fight its Trademark Battle I was very pleased to be quoted in Friday’s The Times. A brilliant article by Harry Wallop demonstrating the importance of defending brand value and reputation using registered trademark rights. The importance of careful selection and management, also surveillance, throughout the life of the brand to […]
Read More22 October 2024 · Articles, Brand, IP Strategy, Trademark
What can you do when Big Co decides they like your name? In 2021 there were 750 companies registered at UK Companies House with Meta in their name. Did Facebook care when they changed their name to Meta? Well they cared enough to spend $60m buying up the trademark assets of U.S. regional bank Meta […]
Read More8 October 2024 · Articles, Brand, Trademark
Deliberate Trademark Infringement by Nike? Big Co knowingly infringes Small Co’s trademark expecting to go to court and win because it could outspend smaller Co? This is what Judge Greenspan said in a trademark fight between Nike and a company called Lontex over the brand Cool Compression. It is a strategy but not one that […]
Read More18 September 2024 · Articles, Brand, Trademark
Why invite trouble when you choose your name? ‘Easy’ anything is going to get challenged by Stelios and his easyGroup lawyers so why would you even bother? Change Your Name? Pop group Easy Life had to change their name to Hard Life after a trademark contest with easyGroup. easyGroup is the owner of more than […]
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3 July 2024 · Brand, Domain Name, Trademark
It is worth getting naming and domain name strategy right
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2 July 2024 · Brand, Copyright, Trademark
Starbuds too close to Starbucks never mind the dope smoking lady . Starbuds is smokin, but for how long? Starbuds are getting the publicity but the party will end and they could be liable for significant damages in compensation for all the sales made using this logo. It is no surprise that Starbucks is not […]
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26 June 2024 · Articles, Brand, Social Media, Trademark
‘Naming is one of the most difficult things you’ll do, because big brands defend their name vigorously’. Michael Hobbs. CHOOSE CAREFULLY If you are a small, specialist nutrition brand from Wigan, why would you knowingly step on the toes of food giants like Nestle, and call your product ‘Crunch’? ‘Why? Because name spaces – the […]
Read More4 June 2024 · Articles, Copyright, Trademark
Its not Just Scarlett Johansson and her voice. Celebrities are under fire with their reputations at stake. Fake celebrity product endorsements are realistic and believable. Political influence We will see wave after wave of fake political endorsements from celebrities during this year of global elections, with real power to influence voter behaviour. Donate to a […]
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