The famous British fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood O.B.E (“Dame Vivienne”) is probably best known for her association with the punk movement, but she is also a very successful business woman and reached the stratosphere with her designs in recent years. Her designs and the designs of the…
The Olympic Commission has a contractual obligation to those who are official sponsors and licensees to effectively police the infringement of the Olympic Trade Marks (as well as the other Intellectual Property associated with the Games). The Olympic Commission’s approach is also guided by the fact that this…
Following the announcement on 6 July 2005, and the obvious joy of having the world’s largest sporting event on our front door, British businesses started to see ££ signs! With even characters in Eastenders plotting to make their millions from merchandising ahead of the event, business owners were…
In a series of Blogs we are going to consider the trademark issues affecting businesses ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games: 1) What are the “Olympic Trade Marks”? 2) What legal protection do those Olympic Trade Marks have? 3) Who can use the Olympic Trade Marks? 4) What will the Olympic Commission…
As we said in our last Blog, the Olympic Trade Marks are legally protected by a combination of registered trade marks. Way back in 1995 extra protection was given by Parliament through the “Games’ Marks: the Olympic Symbol etc. (Protection) Act 1995” referred to as “OSPA”. This…
A few days ago the English High Court handed down a decision which may have important implications for internet governance. This was the decision of Mann J in Toth v Emirates [2012] EWHC 517. Michael Toth is what is sometimes called a domainer. He had registered the domain name and Emirates…
When companies develop new brands, concentration is often focused on the effectiveness of the new brand in a marketing sense. Little thought is given to searching to make sure that the new trade mark does not pose a legal risk to the business. For example, some companies believe…
We are very proud and extremely pleased to announce that Waterfront Solicitors has been named in the latest edition of The Legal 500 – the “Clients Guide to the best Law firms”. We are particularly delighted to have received recognition in both the IT and telecoms andIntellectual Property categories. Partners Carole Hailey, Piers Strickland and Matthew Harris were…