In the United Kingdom it is not a requirement for a trade mark or design licence to be registered at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), so why bother? If a licence is not registered, any rights held by a licensee are ineffective against any third party to whom the licensor’s rights are later assigned to provided that the third party is ignorant or unaware of the licence. This means the third party takes free from the licence and can ultimately prevent the licensee f

What connects Leonardo Da Vinci, a Christmas miracle and the possible award of exemplary damages? The answer lies in a recent High Court judgment by Mr Justice Jacobs (Salt Ship Design AS v Prysmian Powerlink SRL). The case concerned designs for a cable lay vessel produced by Salt Ship Design for Prysmian. The judge found that Prysmian (a company with annual revenue of €10 billion) had made the designs available to another designer, Vard Design AS, which was associated with t

When can component parts of a product be protected as unregistered Community designs (UCDs)? The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) recently answered that question in a case concerning design rights in a Ferrari car (Case C-123/20). The case, which was before the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) related to the Ferrari FXX K model, presented to the public in December 2014 (pictured). Ferrari alleged that Mansory Design (and Mansory’s CEO) infringed its UCDs by marketing ki

Passing off in the jewellery world can be a challenge - particularly where first names are used in connection with a business. This claim was brought by Alyssa Smith Jewellery Limited, founded by Alyssa Smith, against Alisa Goodstone, who trades as Alyssa Jewellery Design. Ms Smith has operated a business since 2009, including via the websites www.alyssa-smith.com and (later) www.alyssasmith.co.uk as well as using the Twitter handle @AlyssaJewellery. She claimed goodwill in t

In short, "yes". Cybersquatters are a growing threat to brands. This trend has accelerated as e-commerce grows and consumers spend more time online. A new report suggests that cyber-squatters are cannier and more cunning than you might imagine. For brand owners, resolving domain name issues and filing defensive registrations eats up considerable time and effort. But as many have found to their cost, ignoring cybersquatting can lead to consumer confusion, loss of sales, fraud