Written by Laura Gathercole

Battle of the ciders – has Aldi pushed the infringement boundaries too far this time?

The Court of Appeal says yes, with its recent unanimous decision in Thatchers Cider Company v Aldi Stores [2025] EWCA Civ 5. Briffa previously reported on the case of Thatchers…

Artists – copyright & designs

Copyright Copyright is one of the most important IP rights that will protect artistic works. For artists, understanding copyright means it may be utilised to protect your original works and…

Should you mention a competitor’s product in your advert?

Advertising that in any way identifies a competitor, or a competitor’s product, is known as comparative advertising. With comparative advertising, there is a fine line between encouraging fair competition and…

Can you obtain a patent for inventions made by AI?

The recent decision by the UK Supreme Court in Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2023] UKSC 49 (“Thaler”), authored by Lord Kitchin, has provided some clarification…

Which company should bring a claim for defamation?

Background Two UK entities in the Dyson group of companies (Dyson Technology and Dyson Ltd) along with Dyson’s founder, Sir James Dyson, brought a libel (defamation) claim against Channel 4…

Can a functional piece of exercise equipment attract copyright protection?

Traditionally, a functional 3D machine would not have been considered to be protected by copyright as work of artistic craftsmanship, with copyright protection for works of artistic craftsmanship being reserved…

Infringing products and unjustified threats: the case of Carku v NOCO

The doctrine of unjustified threats provides protection against a party being threatened unfairly with legal action when there has not actually been any infringement. It is an objective test where…

Host liability – when can the ‘hosting defence’ be relied on

Are hosts liable for the actions of their users? The recent decision of Montres Breguet v Samsung confirms that, in some cases, they are. This decision provides useful guidance in…

High Court affirms decision of UKIPO in ‘Wonder Woman’ trade mark appeal

Background The appellant, DC Comics (Partnership), is the owner of the trade mark WONDER WOMAN, associated with the superhero character. DC Comics opposed the registration of the trade mark WONDER…

Iconic Moon Boot shape lacks distinctiveness…

…according to the EU General Court, despite the fact that over 20 million pairs have been sold, and they have even been displayed in museums such as the Louvre. The…

A case of trade mark infringement – Equisafety v Battle, Hayward and Bowe

A recent case of trade mark infringement and passing off involved issues such as bad faith, descriptiveness and director’s liability, all of which were all decided in a one-day IPEC…

Copyright and the importance of evidence of creation

The High Court recently heard a case where the claimant, Kelly-Marie Smith, alleged that the lyrics and melody in the chorus of a song she composed, ‘Can You Tell Me’,…

Google introduces feature enabling under 18s to remove their images from image search

Are you worried about your child’s images showing up on image searches? Google has published new guidance to enable children to have more control over their digital footprint. Minors and…

EU judgment on bad faith in trade marks

If a competitor files a trade mark for a name you have been using, can you stop them even if you don’t actually have the trade mark yourself? A recent…