The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has successfully registered Scotch whisky as a certification trademark in Hong Kong, enhancing legal protection for the category. This means that the descriptor ‘Scotch whisky’ can only be used on whisky produced in Scotland in line with production and labelling requirements. Rules state that Scotch must be made from the…
Dua Lipa and Warner Music Group are facing a $20m federal lawsuit in Los Angeles from musician Bosko Kante over copyright claims for the song Levitating. In a lawsuit filed on 31 July 2023, Kante claimed Dua Lipa used a talk box recording, made with a device worn around the neck that lets the user…
The Court of Appeal has rejected Apple’s appeal against a ruling which found it infringed two patents on technology it uses in its iPhones and iPads. Optis Cellular Technology first sued Apple over the way it used Optis’ the patented technologies, which it said were essential for 4G connectivity and were found to be used…
Adrian Kwiatkowski, a hacker who stole two unreleased songs from Ed Sheeran and sold them on the dark web for cryptocurrency has been ordered to pay £101,053. About half of the money he has to pay is currently held in Bitcoin. He was charged with copyright infringement and possessing criminal property and was jailed for…
Ed Sheeran has successfully defended another copyright infringement lawsuit in the US after facing a jury trial following claims that his hit “Thinking Out Loud” lifted bits from 1973 Marvin Gaye classic “Let’s Get It On.” He was sued by heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer on the 1973 song who were seeking a…
The High Court has ruled that Aldi infringed the design of Marks & Spencer‘s light-up Christmas gin bottles. This means that Aldi could have to pay damages to M&S or pass on profits from sales of the product. Aldi has said it will appeal against the judgment. The case was the latest legal dispute between the companies, after…
Jonathan and Alicia Horsley who run an independent Pan Asian Street food business called Bao Wow at Darlington Market have been threatened with legal action by Wow Bao a US business based in Chicago which supplies over 500 restaurants across America over their choice of name. Wow Bao claim the use of Bao Wow will…
In a now deleted Instagram post Kanye West accused Adidas of selling a fake version of his signature trainers Yeezy. West stated that the latest adidas, Adilette Slide 22 is a copy of his Yeezy Slide. Both shoes feature a similar lightweight, slip-on design and come in a beige colour. Suffering a dispute can…
Muslim marriage app Muzmatch has lost the right to use its name after a trademark dispute with US dating giant Match Group, which owns Match.com, Hinge and Tinder after Judge Nicholas Caddick sitting in The UK Intellectual Property Enterprise Court on Wednesday ruled that Muzmatch took an “unfair advantage” over the association of the word…
According to reports Waitrose has sent a legal letter to Asda after Asda unveiled its new discount product range, called Just Essentials by Asda. Asda will roll out the new range to replace Smart Price over the summer, however, Waitrose says the branding is too similar to its own Essentials range, which was launched in…