Top Judge Recommends IP Court Reforms

A review of civil litigation costs by Lord Justice Jackson includes a recommendation to implement proposed reforms to the Patents County Court.  The aim is to increase access to justice for SME’s in Patent and Trade Mark cases. Read the rest of this entry »

New UKIPO Tribunal Practice

Following the FIRECRAFT decision we reported last month, the UKIPO has indicated that in trade mark invalidation proceedings where earlier rights are claimed, it will not now allow the lower cost option of taking a decision from the case papers, but will require there to be a final hearing attended by the parties or their representatives.

High Court Confirms Status of UKIPO Tribunal as a Court of Competent Jurisdiction

Decision of 10th November 2009 by Mr. Justice Peter Smith in William Evans and Susan Mary Evans in partnership trading together as Firecraft and Focal Point Fires Plc

In November  2008, a Hearing Officer at the UK Intellectual Property Office (“IPO”) held that the Defendant’s United Kingdom Trade Mark Registration of FIRECRAFT for items such as gas fires and electric fires was invalid.  The registration had been the subject of an application for a declaration of invalidity on the basis that the Claimant had an earlier right in the word FIRECRAFT which was used in relation to stone fireplaces. Read the rest of this entry »

UK Filing Fees Reduced

The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (“IPO”) is to offer a reduced fee for trade mark applications filed electronically from 1st October 2009.
Wildbore & Gibbons has been filing trade mark applications electronically for some years.  Apart from the attorney work, this also involves our arranging payment of the official fee of £200 for the first class of goods or services in each application, plus £50 for each additional class.
From 1st October 2009, the new fee for electronic filing is reduced to £170 for an application in one class, with the official fee for additional classes remaining at £50.  At the same time, however, the official fee for requesting an extension of time – in an opposition, for example – goes up from £50 to £100.
A further change is to restrict the ability to cover a series of marks in a single application.  A series of marks are those that differ only as to features of a non-distinctive character.  Whereas previously there was no limit to the number of marks that could be included in a series, that number will now be restricted to six, and there will no longer be a cost saving on the filing fee if the series is for more than two marks.  It will also no longer be possible to divide a single application for a series of two or more similar marks into separate applications, and thus a significant cost saving is removed for applicants whose two marks in a series, for example, are each acceptable for registration but are held not to constitute a series because of dissimilarities.
The lower application fee for electronic filing will benefit the vast majority of our clients.  The IPO is clearly anxious to preserve its market share in Europe following the recent reduction in official fees for European Community trade marks but nevertheless a Community trade mark remains good value if a trade mark is intended for several countries of the European Union.
If you need any further information about these changes, or generally regarding trade mark procedures and costs in the United Kingdom or the European Union, please contact us.

The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (“IPO”) is to offer a reduced fee for trade mark applications filed electronically from 1st October 2009.

Wildbore & Gibbons has been filing trade mark applications electronically for some years.  Apart from the attorney work, this also involves our arranging payment of the official fee of £200 for the first class of goods or services in each application, plus £50 for each additional class.

Read the rest of this entry »

European Community Trade Marks – The UK opts out of searching

From 1 January 2009, the United Kingdom has ceased to provide trade mark reports to the Community Trade Marks Office when applications for Community Trade Marks (CTMs) are filed. Ireland, Portugal and Sweden, have also withdrawn from the national search scheme. Read the rest of this entry »

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