INTA announces 2021 Annual Meeting date; concerns raised over low-cost filing agencies; new report hits out at ICANN WHOIS policy; and much more

Monday 1 February

We reported growing concerns over the activity of mysterious low-cost trademark filing agency Trademark Terminal and similar entities, including Trademark Axis, Trademark Falcon, Trademark Funnel and Trademark Regal. Read more

A new report hitting out at ICANN policy revealed that only 13.5% of domains have publicly available contact data – making it significantly harder for law enforcement and brand owners to fight infringement and cybercrime. Read more

Plus:

• Good news for Bacardi as General Court finds likelihood of confusion between 42 BELOW and BLEND 42 VODKA (European Union)
• IPEC considers post-sale confusion and passing off in fashion industry (United Kingdom)

Tuesday 2 February

Tuesday’s news round-up saw Asos swooping in on Topshop and Miss Selfridge brands, Philip Morris International and the US Department of Homeland Security joining forces, India rejecting an injunction request against COVISHIELD, and much more. Read more

The WTR Brand Elite project uncovered a 4.4% return across 2020, with our collective of companies overcoming volatile stock markets to outperform a number of major indices, including the NYSE and FTSE 100. Read more

EUIPO deputy executive director Andrea Di Carlo sat down with WTR to explain how the office’s Ideas Powered for Business fund plans to stimulate SME trademark filings and the ways in which these efforts will continue in 2021. Read more

Plus:

• Expert report proves to be crucial in determining whether Nike products were genuine (Peru)
• High Court confirms that domain names qualify as personal intangible property in contract dispute (United Kingdom)

Wednesday 3 February

We were pleased to announce that keynote addresses at the upcoming WTR Connect event in March will be given by leaders at ABB, the National IP Rights Coordination Centre at US Homeland Security, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and WIPO. Read more

In an exclusive interview with WTR, the new EUIPO deputy director for international cooperation, Sandris Laganovskis, discussed the opportunities and challenges that he foresees in the role – including those raised by the covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. Read more

New closures were announced at the IP offices of Finland, Peru and Slovakia in response to the ongoing pandemic. Read more

Plus:

• Court of Appeal holds that declarations of non-infringement are available under Trademarks Act (Malaysia)
• Second Circuit: no appellate jurisdiction to review post-verdict appeal of previously denied summary judgment motion (United States)

Thursday 4 February

WTR caught up with leaders at three firms ranked as ‘Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality’ in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index to hear how their policies are benefitting employees and practices in general. Read more

We examined a new academic paper calling on US Congress to pass legislation that will deny trademark registration for specific categories of vulgar, profane and obscene language and imagery. Read more

Plus:

• Eurasian integration in the IP sphere: ratification begins for the EAEU Treaty on Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin (International)
• Madrid Court of Appeal confirms sentence for commercialisation of products infringing musical groups’ trademarks (Spain)
• First Angolan IP Congress confirmed (International report: Africa)
• Possibility of individuals filing trademark applications on the horizon (International report: Russia)

Friday 5 February

Super Bowl anti-counterfeiting efforts, Taylor Swift legal response to infringement claims and changes to the UKIPO online trademark application form were among the topics covered in Friday’s news digest. Read more

WTR data analysis lifted the lid on Lego filings to discover how the legacy brand’s simultaneously proactive and reactive strategy ensures that it stays relevant in a market that is generally unkind to traditional retailers. Read more

We ran through this year's INTA events schedule after the news broke that the 2021 Annual Meeting will take place on 15-19 November in Houston. Read more

Plus:

• Sky partly successful in invalidity proceedings against SKYLIFE (European Union)
• Ukrainian drug manufacturer fined for unfair competition (Ukraine)

Saturday 6 February

This week’s opinion piece argued that while efforts to help more SMEs benefit from IP ownership are to be applauded, more needs to be done to protect them from scammers. Read more

Book your place at WTR Connect today