The Internet is throwing up a number of examples of cases in which information is ‘recycled’ in breach of copyright and a legal action results. In one such case, the court ruled that if the actions of an organisation ‘inevitably’ lead...
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a statement re-emphasising that awareness of Internet ‘cookies’ has increased to such an extent that it is now ‘appropriate...to rely on a responsible implementation of implied...
Following the publication of the Hargreaves review on copyright law, the Government has published proposals to modernise copyright law in order to bring it up to date in the light of modern technology. It is considered that changes need to be made for the...
When a business profits because it gives the appearance of being (or its products appear to be those of) another business, it is effectively taking the goodwill of the other company. This is called ‘passing off’ in legal terminology. In such...
When considering a trade mark, it is the mark as a whole which needs to be looked at. The obviousness of this point was illustrated by a recent case in the General Court of the European Union . The Court had to consider a claim that the trade mark of major...
Cadbury, the makers of Dairy Milk and other popular chocolate bars, has been successful with a claim that the colour of purple the company uses for the wrappings of its milk chocolate products is so closely connected with its brand and distinctive enough in...
Some people may think that once you have obtained patent protection for your product, you need do nothing further to protect your rights against infringement or to claim damages from an infringer. However, in many jurisdictions, merely being the owner of a...
There have been many cases over the years which deal with ‘family names’ in trade marks – ‘easyJet’ having brought some of the more memorable ones. Recently, US banking giant Citibank opposed a registration application by an...
When a supplier sought to protect its trade mark against a company that was breaching its right to control the first sale of its products in Europe, the claim was disputed on the ground that the trade mark owner had engaged in activity which had unlawfully...
After an eight-year legal battle, the European Court of Justice has confirmed that the ‘Gold Bunny’ packaging used by chocolatier Lindt is insufficiently distinct to warrant registration as a three-dimensional trade mark. Lindt sought to...
