The UK finally left the EU when the transition period ended at 11pm on 31st December 2020. Owners of registered EU trademark owners then awoke on the 1st January 2021to to find they had equivalent rights continuing in the UK. These rights mirror their existing EU rights. With the same dates of filing, registration and renewal, as well as the details of the mark and goods and services. Unfortunately for EU trademark applicants who had filed but had not reached registration, their pending rights did not carry over. Instead they have a 9 month grace period from the start of the year within which to apply in the UK to keep their original date of filing in the EU for seniority. TradeMarkDirect offer competitively priced UK, EU, US and WIPO trademark advice and registration, as well as for any registry in the world for trademarks, designs and copyrights.

  Trade Mark Direct’s founder Mark Kingsley-Williams was recently asked by Barclay’s to provide start-ups with advice on IP. Here’s a short video clip with some of the highlights. https://labs.uk.barclays/support/continuity/what-is-ip-and-why-is-it-important-to-startups

  Its not just words and symbols that can be trademarked, retail  store  layouts capable of trade mark protection, according to the EU Court of Justice Apple  is probably the best known firm to have registered the look of their stores, as well as devices. With US trade mark in relation to a three-dimensional trade mark, consisting of the representation of a  store  layout, for Class 35 services, namely, ‘retail  store  services featuring computers, computer software, computer peripherals, mobile phones, consumer electronics and related accessories and demonstrations of products relating thereto’: Apple  has subsequently sought to extend this trade mark internationally under the Madrid Agreement and this extension has been accepted in some member states but was refused in others, including Germany. Here it was refused on the grounds that it was only a representation of an essential aspect of that undertaking’s business and that consu...

   WE NEED YOU! Join us to fight for the right of UK businesses to use the much loved slogan ‘KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON’ When  ‘KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON’  was used by the British Government in 1939, Britain was facing a possible invasion. Today, we are seeing the long arm of Europe encroaching on our national heritage again. The EU has granted an EU Community Trade Mark to  ‘KEEP CALM AND  CARRY ON’  meaning that only one company may use the slogan for  clothing, mugs, posters and other memorabilia. This could potentially put  many companies out of business. This is wrong and we do not believe it would have been accepted by the UK Trade Mark Registry for the following reasons: ‘KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON’  is part of the UK’s national heritage, first being used in 1939 on government posters to strengthen morale in the face of a possible German invasion Prior to the trade mark being registered, many businesses used  ‘KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON’ ...

A family run clothing manufacturing business in Leicester was sentenced to jail and made to repay earnings made of manufacturing counterfeit clothing, covering 27 trade marks, which include those of Hugo Boss, Nike and Lacoste. The family admitted to offences under the 1994 Trade Marks Act and were prosecuted by Trading Standards. The repayment of sums amounts to £70,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.   If you own an intellectual property right such as a trade mark, copyright, design or patent, then others cannot manufacture, use, sell or import it without your prior permission. If you detect a potential counterfeit or infringement case relating to your rights, we can assist you in review of the facts and setting out a strategy. Trading Standards are less likely to act now due to budget constraints, but action can be taken by us working with other parties and the police.  If you are interested in this, please do not hesitate to contact us .

  When one of the world’s leading Bitcoin exchanges, Mt Gox, collapsed after being hacked for a second time. The Tokyo-based company filed for bankruptcy protection and admitted it had lost around 850,000 Bitcoins due to hacking. At the time their worth was £330m, altough since then they have apparently recovered 200,000 of the virtual currency. Now Mt. Gox, or rather those handling their bankruptcy are looking to sell the Japan and EU trade marks for Bitcoin in order to make some reparations, a company executive said. The trade marks are due to expire in 2021 in Europe and 2022 in Japan. There are also plans to include the domain name (bitcoins.com) in a bundle package with the asking price set at $1million.In February the company had debts of around $56-63 million, so it makes for good incentive to sell off. Mt. Gox said at the time they filed the trade mark they “felt obliged to step up and oppose opportunists around the world from trademarking the ...

  So a trademark is your brand, which can be in a form of a word, picture, symbol, or a combination of these. Interestingly enough, 3D objects and sounds can also be registered aside from word trademarks and logo marks. What it does, is to seperate your brand from other goods and services that your competitors may offer. You should consider owning a trademark because it protects you and your consumers from counterfeit and fraud. Also, legal action for a trademark infringement is relatively cheap, sometimes as little as a few thousand pounds, compared to the hundreds of thousands of pounds you have to pay for an action claim of passing off in UK, same goes in the US. Trademarks allow the Trading Standards Officer or the police to criminally charge against counterfeit who use your trademark without your consent. It’s a good way to protect your hard earned good name, don’t you think? But what exactly will you register? A  word mark  registers the word itself you want to use,...

  So you've got your company name, you are ready to go into business and get your dream rolling. The next smart thing to do is own a trademark for your brand. That’s the  TM  you see superscripted beside the logos of your favorite brands. For starters, your logo, name or whatever it maybe, is your property. You can sell it, franchise it, or even let other people have a license so they can also use it. Apple Inc, which started in 1976, is now a $400 billion dollar business! Under the company are several programs and products registered like Facetime®, iTunes Store®, and QuickTime®. The long list goes on. What if your startup becomes the next big thing? Trademarks are all about brand recognition and making sure you protect your own business. It makes it easier for you to take legal action against anyone using your idea without your permission. For your beloved consumers, trademarks protect them from counterfeiters and fraud. Trademarks allow Trading Standards Officers or th...

  You have heard of trade marks, patents and copyright all at one point or another in the news and it seems most of the time it comes from the tech giant Apple. Apple really seem to stretch the limitation of trade mark, patent and copyright law when it comes to their business plan. And with this most recent approval they are following that trend; trademarking the design and layout of Apples flagship stores. Trade marks are recognizable signs, designs or expressions which identify goods or services of a particular source from others. You can trademark, words, logos, sounds and 3D images… which extends to architectual designs… The description of Apples store trade mark seems so generic that it’s unbelievable they have managed to register it. “…a primarily glass storefront, rectangular recessed lighting traversing the length of the store’s ceiling, Cantilevered shelving and recessed display spaces along the front side walls, rectangular tables arranged in a line in...

  It is a common trend of large companies appearing to bully small business owners over the use of trade marks. Marvel and DC have recently been applying this to their joint registered trade mark ‘superhero’. DC and Marvel are the biggest brands in comic books and superhero franchises. Normally they are rivals but in this case they appear to be working together to attack any users of the term “superhero”. Even in culture references not specific to comic books. The author of  Business Zero To Superhero, a book about setting up a small firm, Graham Jules has been contested by Marvel over his attempted registry of the title for an online website. Jules like many small time business owners is faced with an opposition from a company with infinitely more resources than him. He does not believe they have a claim to the word, saying “As far as I can see, the word superhero was first used in about 1917, before Marvel or DC even existed.’ And Jules is not the only one who has come under...