The Turner Little team explains why it’s vital that businesses protect their trademarked intellectual property (IP) from infringement if they wish to succeed.
Nestlé case
As Turner Little previously explained, the European Court of Justice recently ruled against Nestlé, the largest food manufacturer by revenue in the world, in a landmark case. The company wanted the Court to allow it to trademark the shape of its four-fingered KitKat product in the UK.
Nestlé argued that even without other distinctive features, e.g. the KitKat’s iconic red and white packaging, the bar is recognisable as a KitKat due to its shape. This is the basis they used to argue that the four-fingered shape could be trademarked. The European Court of Justice said that under The Trademark Act 1994, the four-fingered shape isn’t distinctive enough for trademarking in the UK.
Trademark infringements
The Act provides the owner of a registered trademark with exclusivity rights. This safeguards IP from infringement or use in the UK without the trademark owner’s express consent. Therefore if someone uses an identical/similar mark in connection with identical/similar goods without your permission, you have the right to sue them for trademark infringement.
For your case to be successful, you need to establish that trademark infringement has occurred. This is a relatively simple process if the mark is identical to your IP and was used in connection with the same goods and/or services you supply. If the mark was similar but not identical, you need to illustrate that the use of the trademark was likely to cause, or had caused, confusion on the part of the public.
It’s also worth noting that if the mark has a public reputation, you have also have the right to prevent use of the same or a similar sign. This holds true even if the mark was used in connection with goods and/or services which aren’t similar to your own. This only applies, however, if this usage is detrimental to, or takes unfair advantage of, the trademark’s reputation or distinct character.
Trademarkable signs
Therefore if you want to protect your business’ IP, you need to know which signs you can legally trademark under the Trademark Act 1994. You can register a trademark for any sign that distinguishes the goods or services of your business from those of another, as long as it can be represented graphically.
This means that you can trademark signs such as internet domain names, words e.g. Apple for computers, colours e.g. red for Vodafone, and letters/initials like HMV. By the same logic you can also trademark signs like slogans, shapes of products, sounds (for instance the iconic ‘roar’ of the MGM lion) and even smells.
Turner Little
When you register a business trademark, it becomes one of your company’s most vital assets. If someone else uses your trademark, they’ll profit from your IP and maybe even damage your firm’s reputation. Turner Little provides the Trademark services you need to register a trademark and challenge somebody if they infringe your IP, to protect your business’ reputation.
Turner Little was founded in 1998 and it has since become a well-established UK based professional Company Registration Agents, Registered Bank Intermediaries and Business Consultants, as well as Trust providers.
