More WTR award winner exclusives; Indian dispute initiative; Maradona in the metaverse; and much more
Everything we covered on WTR over the past seven days – and all you need to know from the world of trademarks to set yourself up for the start of another busy week.
The Long Read
Trademark professionals express cautious optimism post-covid in this year’s WTR Benchmarking Survey.
Exclusive insights from WTR Industry Award winners
Over the past two weeks WTR has been publishing a special series profiling the corporate trademark team winners of the 2022 WTR Industry Awards.
With exclusive insight from those tasked with protecting some of the world’s biggest brands, the second half of the series is available here:
- “Build your village” – Lifetime Achievement Award, Dolores Moro
- Camaraderie spurs success – Europe, Middle East and Africa Team of the Year, FIFA
- Team spirit and a crypto push – Fashion, Cosmetics and Luxury Goods Team of the Year, Puma
- Acquisitions, rebrands, NFTs – Food, Beverages and Tobacco Team of the Year, PepsiCo
- Rebrand shows the power of business connectivity – Household and Consumer Goods Team of the Year, Reckitt
- The rise of multiple billion-dollar brands – Retail Team of the Year, Target
- Teamwork amid a growing portfolio – Sport, Entertainment and Media Team of the Year, NBCUniversal
- A customer-centric focus – Software and Online Services Team of the Year, Amazon.com
- Aligning with the business rebrand – Technology and Consumer Electronics Team of the Year, Meta
Elsewhere on WTR this week…
Monday 1 August
Maradona enters the metaverse, offering lessons for any brand seeking a fresh start.
Plus:
- General Court assesses bad faith in trademark revival dispute (European Union)
- Amendments to the Rules and Regulations on Inter Partes Proceedings take effect (Philippines)
Tuesday 2 August
Industry and law enforcement try to block a late loophole in the new EU cybersecurity directive.
Brands celebrate England’s Euros win, Myanmar issues new trademark forms, Hello Kitty launches a series of NFTs, and more.
Plus:
- Transit of counterfeit goods: a Turkish perspective (Turkey)
- No winners here: a case can have no prevailing party (United States)
Wednesday 3 August
Manolo Blahnik’s legal adviser, DLA Piper, recounts its 22-year trademark battle to register the designer’s brand in China.
Plus:
- It’s official! GATORADE marks are the first to be declared notorious (Dominican Republic)
- LA IRLANDESA - a tale of ‘buttery’ bad faith (European Union)
Thursday 4 August
The Indian trademark registry launches a major new initiative to resolve IP disputes at a record pace.
Plus:
- Hells Angels succeeds in trademark infringement claim against Redbubble for a second time (Australia)
- General Court: Board of Appeal failed to examine links between parties in order to assess bad faith (European Union)
- Is it possible to register country names as trademarks? (Market Insight: Poland)
- IP Court clarifies criteria for assessing distinctive marks (Market Insight: Russia)
Friday 5 August
Prosecco being recognised in New Zealand; the Better Call Saul trademark dispute; the EUIPO launching a new API platform; and more.
Plus:
- Milan court admits parent company's liability for infringement and allows INDICAM’s participation in relevant trials (Italy)
- No two ways: Nestlé blocks opposition by a2 Milk (Singapore)
Saturday 6 August
The Elon Musk versus Twitter dispute is a reminder that all brands must be prepared for targeting by individuals with passionate fan bases.
WTR Special Report: a data deep dive into the trademark landscape
WTR’s latest Special Report presents a data deep dive into the trademark landscape – revealing the biggest portfolio owners, insight from our annual benchmarking survey and US litigation patterns.