ROSIE BURBIDGE

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Walk like a PANTHÉ - Visual perception is key for fashion trade marks says EU

Mar 9
2 min

Walk like a PANTHÉ - Visual perception is key for fashion trade marks says EU

Is there a likelihood of confusion between the figurative signs pictured below (PANTHÉ and PANTHER) for “Clothing; Headgear” in Class 25? The EU General Court said "No". In doing so, they upheld a decision of the EUIPO Board of Appeal. The case is El Corte Inglés v EUIPO/MKR Design Srl (Case T-117/20). The judgment was published on 10 February 2021. So what happened? Spanish retailer El Corte Inglés opposed an EUTM application for the sign listed above (PANTHÉ) which was file

Goodbye Aunt Jemima, hello Pearl Milling Company

Mar 9
1 min

Goodbye Aunt Jemima, hello Pearl Milling Company

Trade marks may theoretically last forever but brands are subject to change. The Aunt Jemima brand of pancake mix and syrup will be renamed Pearl Milling Company, in response to concerns about racial stereotypes. The new brand harks back to the name of the originator of the self-rising pancake max and was announced by Quaker Oats (part of PepsiCo) on 10 February 2021. The Aunt Jemima brand, like the Washington Redskins, is being retired following the global attention that was

How do you win a fashion dispute? Find out why I love unregistered designs

Mar 7
5 min

How do you win a fashion dispute? Find out why I love unregistered designs

How can you stop someone from systematically copying your brand? What if it went further than just your designs and covered everything from your marketing strategy to your models? This major new UK fashion case shows the consequences which range from the predictable (copying valid designs has consequences) to the surprising (it isn't necessarily possible to stop all copycat behaviour). This case is a bit of a marathon read but it's a fantastic primer for anyone wanting to und

Image protection in the UK and beyond

Mar 7
1 min

Image protection in the UK and beyond

Image rights are both hugely important and a fallacy. The UK, has no specific law of "image rights" but it is possible to protect a person's image through a patchwork of laws including passing off, trade marks, data protection and privacy. Rosie has contributed a chapter on the UK approach to image rights for Imagen y Derecho de la Moda, a South American Year Book which is available for purchase here! Rosie's article (which is translated into Spanish) provides an overview of

If you Trespass on a trade mark you won't have a FUNTIME

Jun 8, 2020
4 min

If you Trespass on a trade mark you won't have a FUNTIME

The IPEC looked at children's toys in Luen Fat Metal and Plastic Manufactory Limited v Jacobs & Turner Limited t/a Trespass [2019] EWHC 11. Prepare for a fun time! Background The Claimant owns: a series of 3 UK word marks: FUNTIME, FUN TIME, and FUN-TIME in respect of “Class 28: Games, toys and playthings; electronic games”. an EU trade mark for the word FUNTIME for the same goods in class 28. The EU registration includes a note that “The trade mark was inherently distinctive

Skykick - why does it matter & what could it mean for trade marks? Counsel's perspective

May 25, 2019
3 min

Skykick - why does it matter & what could it mean for trade marks? Counsel's perspective

IPSoc recently had the latest in its successful run of education events. The talk from Simon Malynicz QC, SkyKick's leading counsel, gave an insider's perspective in the trade mark dispute which could have an important impact on trade mark law for many years to come. For background on the Skykick dispute see here, the referred questions are here. A handy summary from Simon's slides is below. In Simon's view, the dispute goes to the heart of what the trade mark register is for

Domain names and Google Ads - what's the current position?

Nov 25, 2018
6 min

Domain names and Google Ads - what's the current position?

Can a US corporation selling construction software only in the Americas under the name ARGOS be sued for infringement of a registered trade mark by a UK based consumer goods retailer who trades mainly in the UK and Ireland under the same name? This question is posed by Floyd LJ in the introduction to the Court of Appeal decision on the Argos Ltd v Argos Systems Inc [2018] EWCA Civ 2211. The formulation of the question may make it easy to guess the Court of Appeal's ultimate d