Trade Mark, Designs and Copyright
Trade mark, designs and copyright protection is critical to the creativity, innovation and investment that go into developing brands. Allen & Overy’s market-leading team helps today’s leading businesses to protect these significant company assets.
More than ever, the world’s top businesses need a strategic and coordinated global approach to Intellectual Property. Our pre-eminent global team has worked on some of the most complex, high-profile and often precedent-setting trade mark, designs and copyright cases of recent times.
Implementing and executing effective global dispute resolution strategies to defend brands is a key part of our expertise. We act for some of the world’s most valuable brands, devising litigation strategies that are effective at all levels of the relevant courts and tribunals.
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Meet our lawyers
Our experience
Warner Bros
in EU-wide trade mark infringement proceedings commenced in the Brussels Commercial Court, and in two sets of parallel invalidity proceedings before the EUIPO.
Nintendo
as their main adviser in France, on a day-to-day basis, on the enforcement of all aspects of its anti-piracy policy in France. Most notably, we advised on its efforts to prohibit the sale of devices designed to circumvent the technical measures protecting the Nintendo consoles, infringing their copyright and trade marks.
SC Johnson
the maker of well-known brands such as Mr Muscle, Autan, Glade, Raid and Off! on all aspects of its trade marks, product designs and advertising/unfair competition work across a number of European jurisdictions.
A global pharmaceutical company
on successful arguments for the registration of its trade mark for the distinctive shape of one of its products in the Czech Republic.
News & insights
Blog Post: 16 December 2021
Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: what next for the UK?
There is still time to provide input to the UKIPO on copyright protection of computer-generated works, copyright exceptions for text and data mining and AI inventorship of patents as the government…
Publications: 07 December 2021
Managing trade mark and design portfolios post-Brexit
As we approach the one year anniversary of the end of the transition period following the UK’s departure from the EU, for many registrants, the dust will now be settling over enlarged trade mark and…
Blog Post: 02 December 2021
The Court of Appeal (Arnold LJ, Laing LJ and Birss LJ) handed down its judgment in Thaler v Comptroller General of Patents Trade Marks And Designs on 21 September 2021. The court held, with Birss LJ…
Blog Post: 23 November 2021
A Rose by Any Other Name: an Australian court rules that AI can be an inventor
On 30 July 2021, the Federal Court of Australia ruled that a machine – that is, a mathematical equation that analysed and processed data – can be an inventor under Australian patent laws. A…
Awards and accolades
- Winner: Copyright & Design Firm of the Year – France, Managing IP EMEA Awards 2020
Recognition of our work
Allen & Overy is not just an able running mate to world-leading brands but a strategic pacesetter.
WTR 1000 International 2020
Allen & Overy was the first UK-based firm to open in Bratislava and now it is one of, if not the most specialised in intellectual property in Slovakia.
WTR 1000 2020
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