Corsearch-Incopro exclusive; social media best practices; behind the scenes at FSC; and much more

WTR invites you to participate in its latest benchmarking survey, focused on online brand protection and the enforcement landscape. If you have five minutes, why not share with us your experiences over the past 12 months, as we consider how practice is evolving in response to emerging threats.

The Long Read

In an exclusive roundtable, we asked three leading IP offices how they are stepping up their diversity, sustainability and accessibility agendas. Read more

Monday 14 June

Ugreson Maistry, trademark and IP counsel at the Forest Stewardship Council, revealed how a hands-on approach helps the IP team push a sustainable brand message. Read more

We headed to South Africa in the latest instalment in our regular series on marketplaces around the globe that are reportedly notorious for being counterfeit havens. Read more

Legal experts explained why “the Second Circuit got it right” in reversing a Federal Trade Commission decision that held that a series of trademark agreements between online contact lens company 1-800 Contacts and its competitors focusing on keyword advertising restrained competition. Read more

Plus:

• Peruvian Trademark Office: progress and plans for the future (Peru)
• Court upholds Nivea Men passing-off claim (South Africa)

Tuesday 15 June

Tuesday’s news round-up saw South Korea reporting record trademark applications, Selfridges for sale, Right Guard under new ownership, and much more. Read more

A groundbreaking new paper claimed that the USPTO has “no mandate” to cancel or refuse trademark protection through its lawful use requirement, with the author calling for the policy to be abolished. Read more

Plus:

• Long-running dispute over STOLICHNAYA and MOSCOVSKAYA vodka marks reignited (Australia)
• Refusal of application for RING upheld on appeal (Iceland)

Wednesday 16 June

Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP’s Sarah Keefe and WBD Pride affinity group co-chairs Tara Cho and Kevin Hall shared their tips for building an inclusive work environment in an effort to make the legal profession a more equitable place for all. Read more

A new discussion paper from the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights highlighted a number of good practices for social media companies to consider in the fight against fakes. Read more

Plus:

• General Court annuls EUIPO decision in HISPANO SUIZA case (European Union)
• Israeli court decides that Schweppes drink imported from Ukraine does not infringe SCHWEPPES mark (Israel)

Thursday 17 June

With covid-19 restrictions varying massively between countries, Sri Lanka’s National Intellectual Property Office issued a series of special contact telephone numbers, while the Slovenia IP Office resumed normal operations and the Polish Patent Office announced its upcoming ‘Business Strengthened by Design - during COVID and post-COVID’ conference. Read more

WTR spoke to IPSecure CEO and founder David Cooper to get the inside track on the pure software-as-a-service platform and how it positions brand protection as a profit centre. Read more

Plus:

• Andean Court of Justice issues new guidelines on what is bad faith and how to assess it (International)
• Blow for Heineken in fight over RADLER mark (Moldova)
• Russian IP Court considers options for indemnity calculation at twice the price of franchise (International report: Russia)
• High Court rules Puma FOOTWARE mark is descriptive (International report: United Kingdom)

Friday 18 June

In Friday’s news digest, the UK Advertising Standards Authority began naming and shaming rule-breaking influencers, the UK Intellectual Property Office issued a Brexit deadline reminder, a US court dismissed claims of misuse of rapper Ice Cube’s likeness, and much more. Read more

The first of a new WTR series revealed the key data points of major registers across Europe and North America. Read more

We sat down with CEOs Tobi Hartmann and Simon Baggs to learn more about Corsearch’s acquisition of Incopro, including what it means for customers, future tech offerings and brand advocacy work. Read more

Plus:

• Supreme People’s Court issues new interpretation on punitive damages in IP cases (China)
• Trading in domain names is not per se bad faith (International)

Saturday 19 June

In our latest Saturday opinion column, we reflected on the relationship between brands and sports stars, after Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to remove two bottles of Coca-Cola from view during a press conference was linked with a $4 billion drop in the soft drink company’s market value. Read more

WTR Special Report: The rise of mass filers and register clutter

In April we launched the first of our new WTR Special Reports, focusing on the rise of mass filers and their impact on the trademark ecosystem. Scrutinising the data behind the filing activities of Michael Gleissner, Ikuhiro Ueda and Chinese entities, we explored the real-world effects of these on brand protection and how rights holders and registries can mitigate their impact. Read more