Latest World Trademark Review; Doggie doings

The IPKat has been perusing his very handsome copy of the January/February issue of the World Trademark Review, published bimonthly by Globe. Alas, the review's website still hasn't updated its artwork so the Kat can't show you what this issue's cover looks like. Content in this issue includes

* co-editor Véronique Musson's cover story on the controversial issue of the registration of Lego bricks as trade marks and the consequent patchiness of legal protection;

* Vladimir Biriulin writing on the efforts made by Russia to update its trade mark registration and enforcement infrastructure in the light of modern commercial and industrial needs;

* Matthias Koch and Kathrin Samwer (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Cologne office) giving their consideration to the impact on the European Court of Justice ruling in Case C-539/03 Roche v Primus on the cross-border enforcement of trade marks in Europe.

According to the IPKat's calculations, the next issue of the WTR is likely to be the one it takes to Chicago to showcase its marketing drive at the INTA Meeting; he bets it'll be a cracker.


Ever wary of the threat posed by dogs, the IPKat notices the creation of some new breeds. According to an article on The Telegraph, the old, 'traditional' breeds of dog - many of which were created for roles that are no longer needed - are giving way to new 'designer' breeds. So while bloodhounds and dandie dinmont terriers die out, watch out for the puggle (= pug + beagle) and the labradoodle (= labrador + poodle).

Says the IPKat, what we are seeing here is the creation of a new layer of allusive or quasi-descriptive generic terms. It will be interesting to see whether, and how, the new canine names are protected against uses that are confusing or dilutionary. Perhaps the IPDog can tell us ...

Left: This surreal dog and its owner is among the works for sale via Art Hit

Merpel says, I bet the choice of new breeds is really determined by how stupid their names sound. But what do puggles and labradoodles call themselves, that's the real question.

Sausage dogs (that's the English for Wiener dogs) here
Hot dogs here
Salty dog here