Region: Ireland

The EUIPO has partially invalidated McDonald’s EU trademarks for the ‘Mc’ prefix. As with the recent BIG MAC decision, McDonald’s was deemed to have submitted insufficient evidence to claim use for the disputed marks.

07 August 2019

The Irish controller of patents, designs and trademarks has upheld that Mars’ opposition against Cadbury’s application for the registration of the mark FINGERS for chocolate, confectionery and biscuits in Class 30.

04 July 2019

A recent case which went all the way to the Irish Court of Appeal illustrates the difficulties faced by new market entrants when trying to come up with a safe name to avoid potential action from existing market leaders.

23 April 2019

We analyse the Irish trademark landscape to see if brands are prepared for the planned Brexit exit day in just over a month, and how this market has developed over the past decade.

15 February 2019

In our latest round-up, we look at Brainbase raising money to bolster its licensing platform, the discovery of fake leukaemia drugs, the EUIPO turning to blockchain to fight counterfeiting, and much more.

08 February 2019

Important changes to Irish trademark law came into effect on 14 January 2019. This update highlights a number of key changes that trademark owners and attorneys should be aware of.

18 January 2019

In the most recent judgment in the long-running dispute between Italian fashion label Diesel and Irish clothing company Montex, the Court of Appeal has confirmed a strict test for admitting new evidence on appeal in trademark cases.

26 October 2018

The Irish controller for patents, designs and trademarks has found that, although two AUTOKEY marks were liable to be refused under two different sections of the Trademarks Act, the marks had acquired distinctiveness through use.

11 September 2018

The ability to raise the own-name defence in Europe is about to come to an end. This article examines the consequences of recent own-name legislative changes for businesses in Europe.

07 September 2018

In the third of our five-part series, trademark counsel from law firms across Europe provide an overview of the performance of their countries’ EU trademark courts over the last two years.

24 August 2018