In today’s fast-paced, brand-driven economy, trade marks are powerful tools that go far beyond simple logos or catchy names. They are the heartbeat of brand identity, embodying the trust, reputation, and quality a business has built up over time. A strong trade mark distinguishes a company’s products or services from competitors, giving it a [...]
Rebranding? Have you ever tried ‘Brad’s Drink’ cola, worn a pair of Blue Ribbon Sports shoes, or used the Internet search engine ‘Backrub’? The chances are that you probably have since these were the original names for Pepsi, Nike and Google, respectively. I’m sure you will agree that the names used today are an improvement [...]
It’s that time of year again. Yes, that’s right, it’s time to buy a new board game to play as a family over the holiday period. What could be more festive than being gathered around the table with family and friends after eating your fill of turkey, sprouts and cranberry sauce to get those competitive [...]
The US battle between two Irish dairy firms concluded in the US courts last month, with the owners of Tipperary branded butter emerging victorious. These images are of trade mark registrations for the products on the US trade mark register. Additional elements are included in the packaging in actual use, which was compared during the [...]
In part one of this series, Cherrie Stewart, Director and Chartered Trade Mark Attorney, looked at some of the risks inherent in trade marks and their management, including cautionary real life tales of trade marks gone astray. There are some ways to mitigate these risks and partnering with a trade mark attorney is one of [...]
In some countries, using a trade mark, i.e., those signs that identify your brand, may lead to an unregistered trade mark right, known as goodwill. Goodwill, in this context, is the attractive force that brings in customers. It's the reason why consumers choose to buy your goods again, based on their positive past experiences with [...]
History of the European Union Trade Mark and the EUIPO Where would we be without the unitary European Union trade mark registration? Before the creation of the European Union trade mark registration, if you wanted to protect your trade mark in multiple countries of the European Union, you had to apply to register the trade [...]
The UKIPO commissioned a study on ‘The impact of complicit social media influencers on male consumption of counterfeit goods in the UK’ and discovered some interesting things. A fairly recent trend is the increasing role influencers play in persuading the public to purchase a large range of goods. Influencers are trusted partners and work their [...]
Last year, we reported on the battle between the supermarket giants Lidl and Tesco over the large yellow circle used by both as a sign to identify their goods and services (see https://maclachlan.ie/the-case-of-the-yellow-dots-lidl-v-tesco/ ). Justice Joanna Smith found in favour of Lidl concerning their claims of trade mark infringement, passing off, and copyright infringement. The [...]
Following a long legal dispute that spanned 30 years, the High Court has concluded that an Irish company in Monaghan, Montex Holdings ( Montex) copied the Trade Mark DIESEL owned by the Italian clothing company Diesel SPA ( Diesel ). The dispute concerned who in fact owned the Trade Mark DIESEL. Montex commenced using the [...]
