By way of follow up to our post of 22 November last year on the Unsolicited Telecommunications Bill 2013/14, the UK government has announced that the Bill will not progress any further. The Bill had been fully considered by the House of Lords and was due to progress into the House of Commons. However, the 2013/2014 session … Continue Reading
What is it? A new top-level domain name (TLD) permitting registration of (brand).LONDON, with priority given to London businesses, organisations and individuals. Anyone with a presence or interest in London should consider seeking to register a .LONDON domain name. It is expected that domain names will be allocated by August or September 2014. Who is … Continue Reading
Running an international prize promotion is an increasingly popular way for brands to engage with their consumers. Given the obvious benefits of the Internet, brands and their advisors often seek to operate those promotions through third party social media platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, or on bespoke platforms. While there are many benefits … Continue Reading
Most companies by now have made their footprint in social media, including on leading platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. With 500 million Tweets being sent per day, companies need to get creative to come up with enough content to engage their consumers. One popular technique is to send Tweets that contain links to third-party content, along … Continue Reading
Our new quarterly publication – Hot Topics in Intellectual Property and Technology – highlights the most significant legal developments in the UK and Europe in the areas of intellectual property and technology, contract, data protection and privacy, trade secrets and advertising and media. Our Hot Topics briefing is intended to keep you abreast of key … Continue Reading
Following last week’s High Court ruling in the claim brought by Lush against Amazon, online retailers targeting the UK should review how they use brand names on their websites and as search engine keywords to generate sponsored adverts, or risk liability for trade mark infringement. The claim Lush, the well-known UK cosmetics company, owns a … Continue Reading
The UK Government has expressly recognised the call by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a change in UK law to enable it to issue fines against companies that make 100s rather than 1000s of nuisance calls (cold calls from companies trying to sell goods or services). The ICO is the UK’s regulator of … Continue Reading
Sweepstakes have traditionally been widely used by marketers in the U.S., as they can be good at generating publicity and driving consumers to a company’s product (think Publisher’s Clearing House). After all, who doesn’t love something for free? In this digital age, sweepstakes are becoming even more popular as companies can better reach their consumers through social … Continue Reading
Branding is the key to commercial success in sport. Just think: where would the New York Yankees be without their iconic NY logo? Or the Chicago Bulls without their iconic bull’s head? How much money would the Australian Football League (AFL) make if they didn’t own the logos for every team, and couldn’t sell official … Continue Reading
WIPO has released its latest global intellectual property report, with a focus on branding activities of organisations in the global marketplace. The report’s title is Brands: Reputation and Image in the Global Marketplace and provides new information about how global companies use their brands. For legal practitioners, in-house counsel and employees working in the branding space, it … Continue Reading
