HOWZAT?

As if the England cricket team weren’t doing enough to lower the morale of their put-upon fans, the IPKat learns from DNA India that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is accusing the ‘Barmy Army’ of die-hard cricket fans of infringing its intellectual property rights. The claim is that merchandise bearing the ECB logo and the word ASHES infringe the ECB’s (presumably trade mark) rights. The ECB has said that it wants to avoid legal action, but hasn’t ruled it out.

The IPKat says that this has hints of Arsenal v Reed (though he doubts that Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer will wax quite so lyrical about leather against willow). Merpel adds, so long as the ECJ avoids the follow on…