Creating a commercial database and keeping it up to date is an expensive business and owners of such databases often take precautions to make sure they are not used without permission. One method of doing this is for the owners of databases to plant...
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 , which came into force on 26 May 2011, made changes to the rules that apply to websites using cookies and similar technologies to remember a user’s preferences....
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has reported a noticeable increase in calls to its helpline from businesses that inadvertently included on their websites images that are protected by copyright and subsequently received demands for payment from the...
When one business uses the trade marks of another, an action may be able to be brought for trade mark infringement and possibly also for ‘passing off’ – the term given to the situation in which a business attempts to profit by presenting...
An advertising and media company run by a Mr Casey sought to register the trade mark ‘Carbon Virgin’. The application was opposed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Enterprises Ltd. (VEL) on the grounds of the similarity of the proposed trade mark...
MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) founder Martin Lewis has won summary judgment in the High Court – against a cold calling company – for infringement of his trade marks. This means that Mr Lewis does not have to run to the expense of a full trial on...
Following Lord Justice Jackson’s report on his review of civil litigation costs, a new law has been introduced to make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to bring actions to protect their patent and design rights. The Patents County...
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 , which came into force on 26 May 2011, make certain changes to the laws that cover direct marketing by electronic means. Serious breaches of the rules surrounding the...
When an insulation manufacturer created a road show to demonstrate its products in comparison with those of a competitor, there was always likely to be trouble. The comparison consisted of a series of fire tests, which were intended to demonstrate the...
Copyright is a right that exists as soon as you create the copyright material. You do not have to apply for it. There are some exceptions to copyright, but unless one of these applies, anyone else using your material without your permission is infringing...
A recent trade mark case has confirmed that a trade mark can be infringed when the sound of the mark is infringed, as opposed to the mark itself. The case arose when the international toy manufacturer Hasbro alleged that its trade mark...
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 , which came into force on 26 May 2011, make certain changes to the laws that cover direct marketing by electronic means. Serious breaches of the rules surrounding the...
Trade marks can come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can include names and numbers – but cannot, says the European Court of Justice (ECJ), include a number which is merely descriptive. The decision followed an attempt to register as a Community...
When considering legal action regarding material which is on the Internet, often one of the most difficult questions one has to face is that of where the material is ‘made available’. Since a website can be physically situated anywhere, where...
In a recent case , firms which used trade marks to which they were not entitled felt the wrath of the court. The case concerned the National Guild of Removers & Storers (NGRS), a trade association for businesses in the removal and storage industry. NGRS...
Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are the pictorial means by which computer users can interact with their machines and, as such, they are often designed with great care and at great expense. It is no surprise, therefore, that the creators of GUIs wish to...
When copyright is licensed, use of the copyright material is limited to that contemplated by the parties at the time the licence is created. This decision of the Court of Appeal has implications for many users of licensed material. The case arose when a...
Clauses limiting liability under contracts have always been contentious, so a recent decision is to be welcomed because it sets out clearly the limitations which apply to exclusion clauses. The case involved GB Gas Holdings (Centrica) and Accenture, which...
The Digital Economy Act 2010 aims to combat the seeming tsunami of copyright infringement on the Internet. In principle, the way the Act will do this is simple. When a copyright owner advises an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that a website it hosts is...
A recent case has illustrated that, when it comes to trade marks, first impressions are important. In the case concerned, a firm sought to oppose a trade mark application by another firm which has a similar name and was in a similar business. The firm...
In order to prevent smaller firms from being deterred from litigating claims over intellectual property rights because of the costs involved, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced that from 1 October 2010 the limit of recoverable costs in an action in...
Earlier in the year, OFCOM held a consultation on a draft initial obligations code of practice designed to reduce copyright infringement on the Internet. The code, entitled ‘Online Infringement of Copyright and the Digital Economy Act 2010 ’...
A recent case highlights the importance of getting standard terms in contracts right. It involved a hotel group, which entered into a contract with a computer software firm specialising in software for managing hotels. A standard term in the software...
The Government Equalities Office has signalled its intention to proceed with the introduction of the Equality Act 2010 according to the previously announced timetable, which means that its core provisions came into force on 1 October. Under existing...
The Court of Appeal has issued its ruling in an interesting intellectual property (IP) case, involving copycat scents, which follows recent European rulings. The case was brought by l’Oréal and other makers of luxury perfumes. They took...
If you are considering bringing an action for infringement of a patent, you may wish to consider obtaining an independent opinion. For £200, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) will review the issues under dispute and give an opinion on...
Breach of copyright on the Internet is relatively common, but it is still a breach of the law and one for which there is no defence based on ignorance. Copyright is an absolute right, which arises automatically. Nothing has to be done to obtain it: it arises...
As part of the pre-election ‘wash-up’, the Digital Economy Act 2010 became law, bringing with it the right for the Secretary of State to create secondary legislation to require Internet Service Providers to take ‘technical measures’...
As programmers are probably already aware, designers of computer software in the UK are not normally able to patent their work, even if the software is innovative. The US, which takes a different approach to the issue, has long...
A recent case before the EU General Court led to the failure of an attempt to register a Community Trade Mark (CTM). The Court found that the proposed mark (which was not a real word in Spanish) was too similar to an existing Spanish trade mark for a...
Star Wars ‘Stormtrooper’ helmets are not sculptures within the meaning of UK copyright legislation and cannot be protected as such under English Law. Neither can a US court judgment against a UK maker of plastic toy helmets be enforced in...
It is common for a contract to be written so that if one party to it becomes insolvent the contract ceases, but when the contract relates to the creation of something of value to both parties and this is jointly owned, the situation can become more...
Many people think that making use of images from the Internet is allowed and that such images are free for anyone to use. However, unless the owner of an image has specifically granted a public right of use, it is copyright and the owner may sue for breach...
The Advocate General has recently given his opinion that the use of a competitor’s trade mark as a ‘key word’, in order to trigger the appearance of one’s own advertisement when an Internet search is carried out, is not an...
The ruling in a recent patent dispute will give comfort to developers of products that are patented after the developer has already ‘let the cat out of the bag’. The general rule is that a patent cannot be defended if the subject matter of the...
The Government has announced that it intends to levy fines of up to £500,000 (yes, £1/2 million) for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) . It is time for a DPA compliance review!...
Online auction house eBay has secured an important result in its battle to avoid liability for counterfeit goods sold via its trading website, following a recent ruling by the High Court. Cosmetics giant L’Oréal failed in its claim to make eBay...
Brand value is an increasingly important issue in an economy in which intellectual property underpins the value of many businesses. The UK Intellectual Property Office has initiated a process to arrive at a new standard for the valuation of brands. For more...
The UK Intellectual Property Office has introduced a number of changes that will apply to applications for new trade mark registration. View the changes . ...
Businesses which own patents need to have a system in place to ensure that they do not lapse by default. Failure to pay patent renewal fees will mean that the patent lapses and the previously patented material is then capable of being exploited by anyone. ...
In a knowledge-based economy, it is critical to protect your brand from unauthorised use by unscrupulous third parties. Some business owners do not believe there is any point in registering their trading or brand name because they consider their...
In the UK, copyright is automatic: there is no need to register it. It is the property of the creator as soon as it is created. However, it is not sufficient to be able to prove that you thought of something before someone else, since copyright does not...
There can be few, if any, musical instruments as instantly identifiable as the Fender Stratocaster® and Telecaster®. Although the names have been registered trade marks owned by the Fender Corporation for many years, the company had not attempted to...
The ever-growing list of public authorities entitled to enter and search premises (including a person’s home) includes the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has the right under Schedule 9 of the Data Protection Act 1998. To...
Copyright of written and other visual material is an automatic right and does not have to be applied for: it lasts for 70 years after the owner or creator of the copyright has died. Because it is an automatic right, there is no register of copyright. This...
It is common practice in many organisations for users of subscription resources to ‘borrow’ other people’s log-in details and, indeed, many licensing agreements are based on ‘average number of user’ or ‘maximum number of...
On 1 October 2008, new rules relating to the registration of company names came into force. These allow companies to object more easily to the registration of a company name which could be confused with theirs. The new rules can be found on the website of...
Since 1 October 2008, owners of valuable trade marks need to be quicker off the mark to oppose applications which may infringe their trade marks. The reason for this is that the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has reduced the time for registering...
Patent disputes in the UK are dealt with by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) , the body responsible for the administration of intellectual property rights in the UK. If you wish to claim that one of your patents has been infringed,...
On 1 October 2008, new rules relating to the registration of company names came into force. These will allow companies to object more easily to the registration of a company name which could be confused with theirs. In the first case following the change,...
The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has launched an anti-counterfeiting toolkit for businesses that are plagued by counterfeit versions of their goods. Such problems are rife not only in the entertainment industry, but also...
