Sector: Banking/Finance

A Munich-based marketer has applied for a trademark in Germany for the term ‘The Panama Papers’, with plans to write a movie and sell merchandise related to the unprecedented leak of 11.5 million files from the database of law firm Mossack Fonseca. An IP expert tells us that if the application progresses to the opposition stage, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists will need to rely on unregistered rights if it seeks to prevent its registration by a third party.

12 April 2016

In a competition between rival applications for the registration of the words ‘certified internal auditor’ as a certification mark, the Israeli Patents, Designs and Trademarks Office exercised the power to hold that, <i>a priori</i>, none of the marks was eligible for registration.

03 March 2016

A US district court has enjoined Insurance Depot Marketing Corporation from any activity in connection with the INSURANCE DEPOT mark and awarded damages amounting to over $1.2 million to the plaintiff, holding that an award of statutory damages under the Lanham Act and the federal Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act would discourage it from using the plaintiff’s mark in the future.

17 February 2016

In a recent case the Federal Court of Australia considered and dealt with submissions concerning the proper exercise of the court’s discretionary power to cancel the registration of a trademark under Section 88 of the Trademarks Act 1995 (Cth).

11 February 2016

Long-running efforts to battle online counterfeiters by pursuing the financial institutions that help them move money around seemed to make headway late last month when the Bank of China handed over records on an accused counterfeiter to a US court. Meanwhile, a study publicised last week suggests that just three state-run banks in China handle the lion’s share of payments for counterfeit goods transactions initiated through spam emails.

04 February 2016

In a recently released decision the Ljubljana Higher Court held that a plaintiff's legal interest in non-use cancellation of a trademark which had not actually been used should always be recognised, although Article 120(1) of the Industrial Property Act appears to provide that only parties with a specific interest can request cancellation.

25 January 2016

In <I>Hanover Ins Co v Urban Outfitters Inc</I> the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has affirmed the district court’s decision that, where an alleged trademark infringement began 16 months before an insurance policy took effect, the insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify pursuant to the 'prior publication' exclusion which barred coverage for liability arising from materials first published before the policy began.

06 January 2016