On May 23 2017 World Trademark Review announced the winners of the 11th WTR Industry Awards at an exclusive ceremony at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Barcelona. The awards are designed to recognise the vital work carried out by in-house trademark counsel and identify the teams and individuals that are performing their functions to the highest possible standards. In the following articles we speak to the winners and explain why they were judged to be the leading examples of industry best practice.
The global user base of social networks continues to grow, and so too does the need for robust IP enforcement online. We asked leading platforms to advise on how brand owners can get the most out of their IP rights tools
Five years on from the introduction of new generic top-level domains, more and more ‘.brands’ are going live, giving potential applicants the opportunity to assess their current deployment
Nick Wood
Indonesia
China
South Africa
Thailand
South Africa
India
In the second of a two-part series, we profile markets which were omitted from the Office of the US Trade Representative’s Notorious Markets List, but which brand owners should have on their radars. This issue, we turn our attention to Asia and Africa
Say Sujintaya and Carlos Dávila-Peniche
Canada
Amendments to the Trademarks Act will likely come into force in 2019. Brand owners should prepare and improve their strategies for protection, trademark acquisition and enforcement in opposition venues
While licensing offers a range of benefits to brand owners, there are numerous pitfalls to avoid. From partner selection to terminations, licensors must take care to ensure that their extensions are win-wins rather than costly missteps
Rami S Yanni
Recent changes to EU trademark law have made it easier to take action against infringing trade names. But how should companies approach situations in which the alleged infringer is an individual trading under his or her own name?
Ranee van der Straaten
United Kingdom
France
United States of America
Disclosure is often one of the first steps in any IP dispute, yet the rules across different jurisdictions can be confusing, as a comparison of the regimes in England and Wales, France and the United States demonstrates
Margaret Arnott
While trademark applications at the US Patent and Trademark Office continue to rise, a new administration and the unexpected resignation of Director Michelle Lee have raised questions as to how its future looks
Tim Lince
Coexistence agreements can be a more palatable solution to disputes than litigation. However, while China’s Trademark Law allows coexistence under certain circumstances, there are risks of which all parties should bear in mind
Paula Pei
