Does my business need to be trademarked?

Acknowledging the full extent of brand infringement, FC Liverpool has attempted to register a trademark for the word Liverpool in an attempt to extend its scope of brand protection. These efforts have been unsuccessful following a heated public debate, with the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) rejecting the application due to the geographical significance of the city of Liverpool. Yet, Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur represent examples of football clubs that have succeeded in their efforts to register trademarks for the words Chelsea and Tottenham. This viewpoint explores the seemingly subtle, yet significant, differences in these cases and explores the wider implications for brand protection.

With the recent rise of luxury resale, we can also see increased counterfeit products, with fashion brands being a favourite target. As the trend is likely to continue in the upcoming years, the fashion industry faces an increased risk of facing even more losses due to fake luxury merchandise. How can fashion brands protect themselves and ensure cosumers are getting authentic product?

“Our goal at Cyber Expedite™ is to modernise the cyber security service procurement industry, to help organisations answer one simple question: I know I need a security service; I just don’t know what to ask for and who provides that service. We put so much effort into trading names and reviewing web domain registrations etc, why would you not want to protect that?” Cyber Expedite, founded by Niall McEvoy, seeks to add value to every organisation by simplifying the scoping and delivery of cyber security solutions and services.