5RB hosts Trade Mark Seminar

5RB’s Madeleine Heal, Christina Michalos and Mark Warby QC gave a seminar tonight at the Montague on the Gardens Hotel on various aspects of Trade Mark protection and other merchandising rights.

Topics covered included:

• ‘Shape’ Trade Marks: Including the relationship between shape marks and Community Designs
• Olympic Symbols: What is the effect of the amendment to section 4 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 to add subsection 5 regarding the Olympic symbol and word?
• ‘Identical’: What is ‘identical’ following Reed Executive plc v Reed Business Information Ltd and Compass Publishing v Compass Logistics.
• Merchandising Fame: The commercial exploitation of celebrity. Some thoughts on the roles of trade mark law, and the laws of privacy, confidentiality and libel in protecting and marketing reputation, including problems with registering trade marks, passing off, Douglas v Hello!, gaps in legal protection and strategies for success.

The event was significantly oversubscribed and very well attended by solicitors, trade mark attorneys and in-house counsel.

For copies of the respective speakers’ papers click on the relevant paper:

• Madeleine Heal – Shape Marks and the Misshapen Monopoly and What is ‘Identical’ following Reed and Compass?
• Christina Michalos – Trade Marks and Olympic Symbols
• Mark Warby QC – Merchandising Fame

5RB will host further seminars in the New Year. Keep up-to-date by registering for the monthly 5RB Update which will have details of forthcoming seminars and conferences.