We are delighted to announce the appointment of two new directors to MacLachlan & Donaldson. Carla MacLachlan has been with the firm since 1991 and works as a Trade Mark Attorney, specialising particularly in assisting local start-up businesses protecting their intellectual property. Carla has a background in marketing which makes her particularly suited to this role. [...]
It was announced on 13th November 2014 that a local division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will be established in Ireland when the State, as is hoped, ratifies the agreement for the establishment of the UPC. The new Court will have exclusive competence in respect of European patents and European patents with unitary effect, and it [...]
Bernadette Walsh will be attending INTA’s 2014 Leadership Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America. According to the INTA website, the "sessions will feature experienced speakers on hot and evolving topics such as social media scams, privilege, privacy and data security and the effects of culture on trademarks. In addition to these forward-thinking topics, [...]
The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has settled an action for passing off against two companies alleged to have issued official looking letters offering to renew patent and trade mark registrations for a fee significantly higher than the fee charged by the IPO. The two companies, Patent and Trade Mark Office and Patent and Trade [...]
A long running dispute in Ireland concerning ownership of the MARIE CLAIRE trade mark in respect of clothing has finally been resolved. In a judgement delivered on July 21 2014, Mr. Justice Barrett of the Irish Commercial Court refused an application by Marie Claire Netherlands B.V(MCN) for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court his [...]
The Office for the Harmonization in the Internal Market (the OHIM) will not refuse an application to register a trade mark even if the same trade mark is already registered, unless the owner of the earlier registration successfully opposes the application. Largely as a result of the Community Regulation establishing the European Community system, a [...]
Following up on our post in June this year on the CJEU decision (Karen Millen Fashions Ltd v Dunnes Stores, Dunnes Stores (Limerick) Ltd) in relation to how the so-called “individual character” of a design is to be assessed, the legal skirmish between the parties is now over after almost six years. The Supreme Court of Ireland [...]
The 89th Conference of the Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group is being held this year in Chicago from 8th – 11th OCTOBER 2014. The theme of the Conference is THE MULTI-FACETED PERSONALITY OF A PHARMACEUTICAL TRADE MARK. Bernadette Walsh from our office will be attending this Conference.
Isabel Meenan from our Belfast office will be attending the CIPA Congress London from 2nd to 3rd October 2014. Now in its 19th year, the CIPA Congress combined with the IPAG Conference is the UK’s largest patent event. This year's Congress is called "The Lifecycle of Intellectual Property - Intellectual Property from Cradle to Grave".
Denis McCarthy will be attending the 44th AIPPI Congress in Toronto from September 14 to September 17. AIPPI is the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property. About 2500 attendees from around the world are expected to join in this Congress.