5 celebrities and their trademark antics
Drake tried to trademark “God’s Plan”. Back in 2018, Canadian rapper Drake tried to trademark the term “God’s Plan”, a song from his Album “Scorpion”. The filing suggested that he’d planned to use the phrase for clothing, marketing, promotions, and music. What’s more surprising is his application was successful! KISS and the devil […]
Houston pop-up in hot water over SpongeBob theme
Viacom, the parent company of Nickelodeon, is suing Houston based pop-up restaurant claiming that it’s SpongeBob SquarePants theme in violation of multiple trademarks. Viacom claim that The Rusty Krab restaurant is blatant rip-off of the cartoons famous The Krusty Krab. The multiple trademarks include names, images, characters, and re-creations of details from the cartoon. Not […]
Manchester United to be renamed on Football Manager
Manchester United will be renamed on Football Manager games from FM22 onwards, following a trademark dispute with games giant Sega. The football club had argued that Sega and Sports Interactive infringed their trademark over the logo by not using the official Manchester United badge in the game, instead “replacing the club crest with a simplified […]
Oatly loose trademark battle against Glebe Farm Foods
Cambridgeshire Based Glebe Farm Foods have won their David and Goliath legal battle against the multimillion-pound Swedish makers of plant milk, Oatly. We wrote in June of how Oatly took legal action against Glebe Farm Foods, saying their product PureOaty took “unfair advantage” of their own drink. High Court Judge Nicholas Caddick QC ruled in […]
The Two Horse Brand
Did you know that Levi’s wasn’t always known as Levi’s? When the denim brand was first launched in 1886 by designer Levi Strauss, the famous jeans were known as “The Two Horse Brand”. When their patent for the jean-making process was about to expire, they started to use their now famous logo of the two […]
Welsh business forced to change name
The Welsh Language Commissioner, Aled Roberts, has criticised a decision not to allow a Welsh language trademark. He has asked the UK Intellectual Property Office to “reconsider” after it rejected a trademark application from North Wales company, Eryri Clothing, on the grounds that you cannot trademark geographical locations. The Welsh firm tried to trademark the place name of […]
Archewell hits bump over trademark terms
Trademark terms are important, they can mean the difference between obtaining a trademark registration or having your application declined. They are especially important when you are planning to secure sole use of a word. An example of this is currently being played out with the Sussex’s bid to trademark the word ‘Archewell’, the name of […]
Bass, the UK’s oldest trademark
Known as the original brewery to produce pale ale, Bass is one of the most recognisable beer brands in the UK. But did you know that their iconic, yet simple, red logo is also the oldest known trademark in the UK? It is reported that Bass beer was first brewed up in 1777 by William […]
Shein accused of IP infringement
Fast fashion retailer, Shein, has exploded to dominate fashion ecommerce in the past couple of years. If you search for a clothing product on Google, 9 times out of 10 you are going to be presented by a search advert for Shein. Last month, the Chinese company knocked Amazon off the number one spot as […]
Banksy stripped of trademarks
Anonymous street artist, Banksy, has been stripped of two more trademarks (four in total) for his works because he never intended to commercialise them when he applied for the legal protection. Banksy had famously said ‘copyright is for losers’. But that came back to bite him when was told he was acting in ‘bad faith’ […]