Downing IP

04/11/2025

Is it worth registering your trade mark? We’d say yes, it looks like the S1 karting series would agree.

The best time to register your trade mark is about 1-2 years before an unexpected surprise arrives. The second best time is now…

Trademark clash means Honda can’t use its preferred badge for Brit-bound kei car ➡️ https://top-gear.visitlink.me/0FbOF0

05/10/2023

Owning a registered trade mark is like having another key member of your team – constantly working to bring you success.

26/04/2023

Did you know the Intellectual Property Office keep a database of people who fail to pay a costs order made against them?

Well, they do, and the list is here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-mark-disputes-unpaid-costs-orders/unpaid-costs-orders-case-details The latest addition is the Turkish company Omega Otomotiv Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, owners of Masai 4x4 (https://www.facebook.com/masai4x4), who tried to claim that their "Masai" trade mark for 4x4 parts & accessories was too similar to our client's "Makai" trade mark for yachts. Needless to say, our client was succesful, we await payment from Masai with bated breath...

14/08/2021

Nice mention for Michael in today’s issue of ‘Land Rover Monthly’!

11/06/2021

Professional help is more expensive, right?

Not necessarily... a client has just forwarded the trade mark renewal notice they've had from "Stern Young & Partners", a firm that isn't registered with or regulated by our regulator (IPReg) and whose sole director doesn't appear to be a qualified attorney (or to be named Stern, or Young, or have any partners...). Their proposed service charge for the renewal is a cool 460% more than ours.

If anyone gets a letter from Stern Young & Partners, then do let us know. We're very confident that we can beat them on price, and your registration will be in qualified hands...

01/07/2020

A quick video insight into how Intellectual Property work has changed over the years...

I love doing this job, it plays to the barely hidden geek really. I have a succession of people coming into here and describing the new idea they’ve had, the...

24/06/2020

As you know, the UK will be leaving the EU at the end of the transition period – currently set for 31 December 2020 and with the UK government adamant that they will not be extending the date. This will affect EU trade marks & designs, in that they will cease to have effect in the UK. To protect rights owners, the UK has said that for any EU registrations that are granted before the end of the transition, a corresponding UK registration will be created, free of charge. That’s great, but what about applications that are pending?

For those, applicants can still retain the filing date (etc), but they will have to make a new application to the UK Registry, and there will be a fee for this. The typical time to registration for an EU trade mark is about 4-6 months, so we are now going into an uncertain time when you can file an EU trade mark application, but you won’t know whether it will cover all 28 countries or just 27. We’ve decided to solve that for our clients with a one-off Brexit offer aimed at letting you carry on with confidence.

If we file an EU trade mark application for you between now and the end of the transition period (whenever that is), we guarantee that the application will cover the UK. That means, if it is still pending when the transition period ends, we will file a fresh UK application for you claiming the date of the EU application, at no extra cost to you. We will cover the filing fee, so you can carry on filing with confidence.

Now, we can’t promise that either the UK (or the EU) application will be successful – we can’t change the rules for allowability! So if the EU Registry refuses the application before the transition period ends, that’s that. Equally, the UK Registry might refuse the new application. And for new cases after we’ve left the EU completely, you will need to file applications in both the EU and the UK offices if you want to cover all 28 countries. But in the meantime, between now and the end of the transition, we’re taking out the uncertainty for you.

Please let me know if you have any questions,,,