BEER, BALLS AND BAR

1 Budding appeal

Anheuser-Busch is to appeal OHIM’s decision to refuse it a Community trade mark. Just Drinks.com reports that the makers of American Budweiser filed an appeal with the CFI on 26 September. The IPKat will drink to that!


2 Distinguished but not distinctive

The gentlemen of the press have been forced to turn their minds to trade mark law, in order to report the fact that the UK Trade Marks Registry has refused Sir Alex Ferguson a trade mark in the term ALEX FERGUSON for posters, photographs and the like on grounds of lack of distinctive character. The experience hasn’t been a happy one for, inter alia, the Independent, which describes the decision given by Charles Hamilton (wrongly described as a High Court judge) as “almost as opaque as one of the Scotsman's press conferences”. The IPKat thinks that there’s a problem somewhere if the trade mark system (and in fact the IP system as a whole) is so misunderstood by journalists. Perhaps both sides need to make efforts to give clearer information and to understand each other better.


3 Off to the Baa

IPKat co-blogmeister Ilanah has joined the Middle Temple as a student member, ahead of her foray into the Bar (expected 2007!) She’d be interested to hear from other IPKat readers who are members of the same Inn. You can contact her here.