Student Union Lettings Limited v Essex Student Lets Limited [2018] EWHC 419 (IPEC) The UK Intellectual Enterprise Court has ruled that Essex Student Lets Limited, a student accommodation letting company, has fallen foul of trade mark infringement and passing-off, courtesy of their use of the mark “SU LETS”. Background The Defendant in…
In a recent statement, the European Commission has confirmed that institutions and individuals based in the UK will no longer be able to register domains using the .eu TLD, as of the UK’s withdrawal date from the EU (which currently stands at 29th March 2019*). For those institutions or individuals who currently own such a…
The UK Intellectual Property Office has recently declared invalid Birkenstock’s UK trade mark registration for the pattern on the sole of their shoes. The decision of the Appointed Person, James Mellor QC, not only considers a slightly unusual mark, it also provides helpful guidance on factors to consider if a brand owner is trying to…
In a recent open letter to the European Commission, representatives of CITMA, AIM, APRAM, BMM, ECTA, INTA and MARQUES set out a collaborative response to the draft withdrawal agreement. This document contains recommendations and considerations relating to the treatment of IP in the draft agreement, as well as a great many acronyms. The key points…
As discussed in our recent post here, the draft withdrawal agreement published by the EU Commission sets out a potential framework for trade mark and design rights AB (Anno Brexit). Certain implications of this framework for trade marks were discussed in our previous post. This post will consider some of the key implications for holders…
This case, L’Oréal Société Anonyme & L’Oréal (UK) Limited v RN Ventures Limited [2018] EWHC 173, involved a claim for infringement of both European Patent (UK) 1 722 699 B1 (“the Patent”) and Registered Community Design Nos. 000407747-001 (“the 747 Design”) and 001175046-001 (“the 046 Design”) (collectively “the RCDs”). The validity of the patent and…
On 28th February, the EU Commission published the Draft Withdrawal Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (the “Draft”), as can be viewed here, with commentary here. In a week of weather warnings, plunging temperatures and de-icer fume…
In Sky v Skykick [2018] EWHC 155 the High Court has asked the CJEU to answer key questions about the validity of UK and EUTM registrations. Sky alleged trade mark infringement of their UK and EUTMs by SkyKick. Skykick denied this and counter-argued that Sky’s registrations were wholly or partly invalid, on the basis that…
In a recent communication, the organisations that represent the main UK IP professions have jointly reached out to the UK Department for Exiting the European Union with a series of recommendations. Essentially, the purpose of the communication was to list concisely the key areas of IP-related concern for rights holders and those who practise in…
Caspian Pizza v Shah [2017] EWCA Civ 1874 When two pizza businesses (previously each party to a franchise agreement) recently went head to head over the right to use the name CASPIAN, the outcome was far from what the claimant had expected. Not only were the proceedings brought against the defendant for trade…
