U.K. supermarket no longer legally trumps a literal country Iceland Foods, which operates Iceland supermarkets in the U.K., no longer holds the EU trademark on the word “Iceland,” which is, of course, a sovereign country. The EU Intellectual Property Organisation granted the food company said trademark back in 2014, but that trademark is now invalidated after the supermarket tried to stop the country from mentioning itself in a slogan, prompting the country to sue.
Impact of the UK’s withdrawalfrom the EU – EUTMs and RCDsOn 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom (UK) notified its intention to leave the European Union (EU).As a consequence, unless a withdrawal agreement is ratified or another date determined by the European Council, in agreement with the UK, the UK will become a third country and EU law will ex lege (Article 50(3) TEU) cease to apply to the UK (so called “hard Brexit” scenario).The withdrawal day is currently set for 30 March 2019.This section contains the relevant information on how the EUIPO intends to handle the circumstances in which EUTM and RCD Regulations would cease to apply to the UK as from the withdrawal day.
Delivering the deal negotiated with the EU remains the government’s top priority. This has not changed.However, the government must prepare for every eventuality, including a no deal scenario. For 2 years, the government has been implementing a significant programme of work to ensure that the UK is prepared to leave the EU on 29 March 2019.
Politicians are creating a great degree of chaos for trademark attorneys, according to the Rt Hon Lord Chris Smith of Finsbury, chair of Intellectual Property Regulation Board
As of 23 January 2019 the Brunei Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO) has made its trade mark and design data available to the TMview and DesignView search tools.
By a judgment rendered on 6 December 2018 in case T-848/16, Deichmann v EUIPO – Vans (V), the General Court confirmed that extracts from TMview are acceptable evidence in inter partes proceedings before EUIPO in order to substantiate earlier trade marks registered with the participating offices, as long as they contain all relevant data.
As of 12 November 2018, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) will use the list of goods and services from the harmonised database (HDB) in TMclass and IMPI’s online tool ClasNiza.
Ecuador joins TMclassAs of 25 September 2018, Ecuador’s National Service of Intellectual Rights (SENADI) joins TMclass with the latest version of the Nice classification.This latest addition brings the total number of national and regional IP Offices, including ARIPO, OAPI, WIPO and EUIPO, involved in the tool to 72.
