Shall we register a word trademark, image trademark, or a combination?

By definition, a trademark needs to display sufficient distinctiveness to identify the origin and ownership of the products and services. That means generic and descriptive words should be avoided at all costs. The landmark case in United States PTO v. Booking.com B.V, however, proves that a generic term combined with “.com” or another top-level domain can be registered as a trademark if there is sufficient evidence of consumer recognition.

“Testing how the garment fits, testing how comfortable it is to wear and testing how well the fabric holds up in the long term are all things that Shein and the like skip to churn out clothes at the rate that they do. Sweatshops and slave labour allow them to sell the garments for the prices that they do. We do things differently” Read the full story of Vanessa Jones, the founder of Sl’eau, another inspiring brand protected by Trama that brings quality and craftsmanship back to the fashion industry.

Bad Faith trademark filings worldwide have increased significantly over the past years. And while the problem persists, the trademark lawyers still struggle to define consistent minimum acceptable standards for dealing with bad faith trademark applications. Resolution of the ongoing dispute between Lidl and Tesco could have significant implications for future rulings concerning bad faith trademark registrations.