Trade Marks

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Trade Marks

  • Getting tangled in The Ivy

     A recent dispute concerning the use of the name “THE IVY” by a restaurant in Glasgow has served as a useful reminder of the value in carrying out trademark clearance searches before starting to trade. Last year, the owners of “Glasgow’s Ivy Bar and Restaurant” receiv...
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  • IPR infringement and mobile apps – why Apple provides an online reporting tool

    Last week’s iOS Dev Weekly email contained an item on the online facility provided by Apple to allow you to report alleged IPR infringement issues with apps on the App Store: …If you are having copyright or trademark issues [or in fact any other IPR] with your app Apple now have a dedica...
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  • A deep fried Mars a day…… TechBlogger quoted in BBC News story

    Scotland is famous for many culinary delights, including haggis, Irn Bru and of course the deep fried Mars bar.  According to press reports a few months ago, the Carron Fish Bar in Stonehaven (which claims to have created the latter deep fried delicacy) was considering applying for Protected G...
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  • Let the Games begin – but beware of the brand!

    My colleague Robert Buchan and I have written an article on the current hot topic of brand protection of the London Olympics.  The article looks at the wide ranging law in place to prevent non sponsors from seeking to associate themselves with the London Olympics.  In particular, the article w...
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  • Sharing your user generated content from the Olympics – what can and can’t you do?

    Are you going to the Olympics this year? Then before you get your camera/smartphone out you should have a quick read of LOCOG‘s terms and conditions. For those that don’t want to read the terms and conditions in full, I have set out a commentary (not a critque) on the key terms below. Ca...
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  • Is ACTA dead in the water?

    The European Parliament has delivered a resounding veto to the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). In my previous blog on ACTA, I wrote about the widespread opposition to ACTA on the grounds that it contains: …vaguely worded provisions which could potentially allow internet service pro...
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  • Our view on YouView

    In a revelation that will probably strike terror into the heart of my bosses here at Brodies, a few years ago I actually applied to be on The Apprentice. I didn’t get asked to partcipate, presumably because my CV didn’t make enough wild claims about having “invented electricityR...
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  • Holy social media lawman…should lawyers use Twitter and Facebook?

    The legal profession and social media To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question. Numerous surveys indicate that social media networks are an important source of new work and we are all glued to our smartphones and tablets sharing views and information with a global audience. It therefore seems ...
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  • Brodies launches Intellectual Property survey on how organisations value their intellectual assets

    In conjunction with ADS, SCDI and ScotlandIS, Brodies is launching a 60 second survey to identify how key intellectual property (IP) assets are dealt with and the IP issues which matter most to businesses today. We want to hear your views and appreciate your participation. Year on year investment i...
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  • Law Society of Scotland World IP Day Conference 2012

    This year’s Law Society of Scotland World IP Day Conference was held at the Faculty of Advocates on 27 April 2012. The conference boasted two top notch speakers Pete Wishart MP and Aileen Alexander who will be active players in the field of IP over the next few years. Mr Wishart is the MP for....
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  • The final ACTA?

    Depending on your viewpoint, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is either a necessary tool for the international protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights or an unwarranted intrusion into people’s private lives which will be abused by rights holders and amounts to ...
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  • 99 Problems? Trade marking Blue Ivy Carter

    Rolling Stone has reported that Jay-Z and Beyonce want to trade mark the name of their new daughter, “Blue Ivy Carter”. It’s being claimed that the new parents have plans to reserve their child’s name in the US for possible use as a brand name for a line of baby-related prod...
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  • Article in B2B Marketing magazine on legal issues and apps development

    I have an article in this month’s B2B Marketing magazine. The article looks at some of the legal issues to bear in mind when developing apps for platforms such as iOS, Android, and Blackberry. Although the aticle appears in a publication that deals with business to business marketing (the clue...
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