Trademark Classification

So you’re over the first hurdle: you know what your trademark will look like (you’ve come up with a great name and/or logo) but now you must consider the list of goods and services you wish your trademark to cover.  Goods and services are split up into classes for the purposes of trademark applications. The…

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What you need to know before you start a franchise

Whether you’re actively considering taking your business to the next level through franchising or you’re just getting started on launching your idea, it pays to be aware of the potential implications of franchising. Since the ability to successfully run a franchise scheme depends on having effective protection of your IP in place, we always advise…

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Why life expectancy is shaping copyright law

In Aprils’ budget the government of Canada announced plans to extend copyright protection for artists from 50 years to 70 years. This means that rather than enjoying copyright protection on recorded works for 50 years after release, artists and record companies won’t have to worry about songs passing into the public domain until much later.…

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What does plain packaging mean for intellectual property?

Following votes in the House of Commons and House of Lords in March in favour of standardising cigarette packaging, we could see rules finalised that will force cigarette packets sold in England to adopt the same uniform look. David Cameron recently repeated his party’s commitment to introducing ‘healthy’ packaging in their manifesto. What this means…

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Livin’ La Vida Cocoa – Purple Trademarks for Chocolate

Cadbury’s purple reigns or a purple haze? That is the question. Cadbury have the following trade mark currently registered: The mark consists of the colour purple (Pantone 2685C) as shown on the form of application, applied to the whole visible surface, or being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface, of the packaging…

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