Latest blogs
Avoiding Bratz: cross-company understanding of IP necessary
United States - One thing that can be learnt from the dispute between Mattel and MGA Entertainment over the Bratz doll brand is that not every employee of any given company understands IP rights. Knowledge of intellectual property runs through the veins of some companies - WTR recently heard from Siemens about that corporation's IP-aware 400,000 employees (full details will be published this autumn). For others, fostering this sort of understanding is trickier. Read blogAdam Smith | July 29 2010
ICANN responds to questions over potential trademark rebuff
International - ICANN has responded to the blog post WTR published yesterday that speculated whether the board would close the chapter on trademark protection mechanisms in the new gTLD programme without full analysis of the latest round of comments. The body has now stated that the board will receive the analysis in time for its September retreat. Read blogAdam Smith | July 28 2010
Did ICANN just imply that the new gTLDs process will snub trademarks?
International - Here's some exclusive news from ICANN, and trademark owners will not like it. The organisation has indicated that the trademark concerns surrounding new gTLDs will not be put to bed in time for the board's retreat in September. This will alarm mark owners because Peter Dengate Thrush, ICANN's chair, has told WTR: "If the issues are not cleared up by September then we'll be forced to make some decisions. If the community can't decide, we'll step in and force it into some sort of arrangement or decision." Read blogAdam Smith | July 27 2010
Updates and analysis
Country correspondent - Anti-counterfeiting
Brazil - Although the country lacks both a centralized IP rights database and a standard procedure for border seizures, a range of anti-counterfeiting measures are available in Brazil. Full text
Back to basics: converting your brand for a Chinese audience ![[premium]](/images/rounds/premium.png)
When it comes to transliterating a brand to suit the Chinese market, the first step is to forget all you know about how language works in the West. Get this process wrong and your trademark will be open to attack. Full text
Trademark infringement – is there an app for that?
The launch of the Apple iPad increases the need for software developers to walk the fine line between policing marks and allowing nominative use. Full text
World Trademark Review Yearbook 2009/2010
Ukraine - Provisions relating to the protection of trademark rights are contained in, among other things, the Civil Code of Ukraine, effective as of January 1 2004, last amended on May 21 2009, and the Commercial Code of Ukraine, effective as of January 1 2004, last amended on April 30 2009. Full text
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