Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, famous for being the most decorated Olympian of all time, may be getting attention for all the wrong reasons recently. He appears to have landed himself in trouble with the International Olympics...

 Trade mark registration is the way to own a brand name, and regular readers will likely appreciate the importance of taking steps to ensure their brands are available, and securing them early on when launching new...

Shireen Smith’s  speech was delivered at the launch party of the Legally Branded book which was held at the British Library on 11 September.

I wrote the book Legally Branded because I believe every business...

Legally Branded was released at our successful launch party at the British Library on 11 September. The night was a blur of activity, filled with networking the chance to take part in an IP quiz, in order to learn something...

What do people actually understand about Intellectual Property? Most people’s knowledge of IP law often comes from high profile cases featuring disputes between household names.

You might have read about Dyson’s...

I recently enjoyed a debate with an economic consultant friend of mine on the implications of plain packaging for cigarettes. As an occasional smoker myself, I was very interested in what proposals to restrict branding...

Last month Cadbury managed to secure a trademark for its signature purple colour after a lengthy battle with Nestle. The outcome means that Cadbury now has the exclusive rights to use its own distinctive colour on its...

Classic pieces of literature are often classics for a reason, and whilst some of them may have been written hundreds of years ago, the wisdom they can impart is extremely relevant even now. So with this in mind, what can we...

Yesterday the IPKat wrote about an interim judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal in the dispute between Interflora and M&S. The case revolves around the question of whether competitors should be able...

Have you seen this message circulating around on Facebook recently?

Facebook has consistently been plagued by privacy and copyright concerns and this is not the first message of its kind to have gone viral in this way....

It is well known that social media can be an important and powerful marketing platform for businesses of all sizes, but what do you do if you have multiple brands, such as different products and services? As a small business...

A lack of attention to the legal side of branding has been the cause of unnecessary setbacks for too many businesses.

There are a large number of trademark infringement lawsuits and the high-profile ones which get into the news...