Trade mark registrations are not immune to challenge. Missing the opportunity to oppose an application for a trade mark before it is registered does not mean it is too late to take action because even after registration it can still be possible to cancel or have a registered trade mark declared invalid.

Amazon Brand Registry was established to provide additional powers to prevent your competitors selling products using a similar name on Amazon. It provides enhanced search facilities to allow you to discover potential infringers and will proactively warn against suspected infringing listings.

Using images online without permission is not as prevalent as you might think, purely because the law offers image owners substantial protection against theft, unauthorised use, or copyright infringement. Copyright applies to photographs, drawings, digital designs and even video content. As long as you can prove the image belongs to you, nobody has the right to use it without your expressed permission.

The definition of intellectual property is: ‘any type of intangible property that is a result of creativity’. This covers designs, logos, and artistic or literary, works as well as inventions. If you suspect another person or business of infringing on your intellectual property, you could take legal action.

The Intellectual Property Office will usually send the owner of a registered trade mark a letter giving notice that an application has been received for the registration of a similar trade mark. This is usually the first they will have heard of the competitor.

We are often asked if businesses need to ask their existing contacts to opt-in to receive marketing communications again once the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in May 2018. This an important decision, the consequences for getting it wrong can include reputational damage and significant fines by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

There are some common myths around the ability of a limited company to prevent competitors using its name. Often we are approached by frustrated businesses who have discovered someone else has been using their name but have no registered trade mark. They ask what protection their registered company name offers. Sadly the answer is almost nothing.

Unregistered design rights (referred to as just ‘design rights’) are a valuable asset which tends to be forgotten. These are just 3 reasons why they should not be overlooked:

Your website is your shop front but many don’t do enough to show customers they are just a trustworthy as bricks and mortar.

The great benefit of social media as a marketing tool is its immediate and powerful market reach. The use of hashtags (words and phrases preceded by the ‘#’ symbol to identify and search for trending topics) has become a popular method of consumer engagement.

Website privacy policies are often ignored or copied from a competitor.  This approach fails to recognise the value that a privacy policy can have to a business as well as the huge risk of failing to comply with data protection legislation.

Once a trade mark is registered, others will be prevented from registering a confusingly similar mark for the same or similar services.  This poses a problem for a business with a similar name who also wish to register it.