TRADE MARK TREATS

NETWORK or network?

The Register reports that a band of UK telecom companies aren’t too happy. They object to the registration by Wireless Facilities Inc of NEXT GENERATION NETWORKS. They argue that Next Generation Network is a generic term for networks which use digital technology to connect phone calls and other network traffic more efficiently than traditional telecoms networks. Moreover, Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator has set up an industry group named Next Generation Networks UK to oversee the establishment of such networks.

The IPKat wonders if this is an example of a term which is generic among those in the trade but isn’t familiar to the eventual consumers of such services.


Coming up

On Wednesday – Louis Vuitton v Google in the Paris Court of Appeals (according to the International Herald Tribune)
On 13 July – the Advocate General’s Opinion in the Dyson trade mark case.