An integral part of the UK intellectual property system has been a focus on balancing creator protection with fair competition and consumer choice. Brexit means that this balance must once again be assessed as the EEA regime in relation to exhaustion (i.e. the movement of parallel imports AKA grey market goods) no longer applies in the UK. On 7 June 2021, the UK Government launched a consultation to collate views on the future of the exhaustion of IP rights in the UK. The con

Occasionally IP disputes break into the public domain. This one has to do with Nike, a famous brand, and also to do with Satan. Rosie and Crafty Counsel investigated this issue as part of the Crafty Counsel Investigates series. Whilst the dispute was quickly resolved, the wider issues for brand owners worldwide remain noteworthy. What happened? A company called MSCHF was up to no good. They took some Nike Air trainers, added a drop of blood and water, and repackaged them as a

In its annual review of markets that engage in or facilitate counterfeiting and piracy, the US Trade Representative has named 39 online markets (including many of Amazon’s foreign domains, Shopee and Taobao) and 34 physical markets. The European Commission published a similar list in its Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List in December 2020. Both lists provide useful information on the challenges IP rights owners face in enforcing their rights in the various online marketplaces,

Just under four years ago the UK Intellectual Property Office commissioned research to address the lack of existing data on design infringement. The results of that research were published last week. My key takeaway is that the designs community does not appreciate the value of designs - particularly unregistered designs. This post aims to change that. Unregistered vs unregistered designs In the report, unregistered designs were rated at the bottom of the list of useful right

Throughout Europe, and indeed in most jurisdictions worldwide, copyright arises automatically upon the creation of the work. Copyright is therefore a very flexible right which has come to the rescue of many a fashion brand. For the major international copyright treaties such as the Berne Convention and TRIPS, it is an essential requirement that all signatories (in practice most countries worldwide) offer automatic protection for copyright works. While you do not need to regis

Exhaustion of rights is a concept which applies to all IP rights in Europe. Basically it means that if a product is sold ("put onto the market") in the European Economic Area (EEA), the owner of the IP rights in that product can’t prevent its resale elsewhere in the EEA. EEA = all EU member states + Iceland + Norway + Liechtenstein. E.g. if I buy one a scarf in Italy, the owner of the intellectual property rights in that scarf can’t stop me reselling it in Germany because the