In an Opinion which may have far reaching consequences for sports clubs, merchandisers and brand owners generally, the Advocate General has stated that Arsenal trade marks could be infringed by unofficial merchandise despite the High Court’s finding last year that consumers were not confused as to its origin. As reported in our April 2001 bulletin, … Read more
It was not an abuse of Ordnance Survey’s dominant position in the UK map market, built up with the aid of public funding, for OS to set up a one-stop shop web site for the supply of digital aerial imagery. If you go to www.getmapping.com/ and type in your postcode the chances are you will find an … Read more
The recent High Court decision in the Reed ‘invisible trade mark’ case has confirmed that search engine ‘optimisation’ techniques can amount to trade mark infringement and passing off even if a web site owner’s use of another person’s trade mark is invisible to people searching on the internet. For the defendant Reed Business Information Ltd … Read more
In August last year we reported that the band Reef had failed to secure the registration of their name as a trade mark. The band had applied for the registration of ‘Reef’ as a trade mark in classes of goods including T-shirts and the usual range of band merchandise. The registration was opposed by South … Read more
The law of libel has long struggled with the question of what should be the effect of the publication of a denial by an individual who has been the subject of defamatory allegations. Unlike many other jurisdictions, in the UK the mere repetition of a defamatory statement can bring liability in libel, a principle known … Read more
