Presumably Crumpy Cat is the most famous cat in the world. The cat’s (real name Tardar Sauce) career was launched in 2012 when its picture was published on Reddit. The dwarfish face of this grumpy creature goes viral (the official FB-page has 8.7 million likes). The cat’s popularity soon motivates the owner, Tabetha Bundesen, to start the company Grumpy Cat Limited. The cat’s face and the name, Grumpy Cat, are claimed as trademarks in the US and several other countries for a diversity of products. » trademarks

Advertising is legally protected by the constitutional right, freedom of speech. However, can this freedom be limited if certain advertising is harmful or insulting to certain religious groups? This question arises regarding the campaign of the Lithuanian clothing company, Sekmadienis. On the posters there is a man accompanied with the text: “Jesus, what a trousers!”, another poster shows a woman with a bead and the text “Maria, what a dress!” and on the last one Jesus and Maria together with the text: “Jesus Maria, what are you wearing!” » advertising-law

A word trademark registration covers the use of the word in every writing style. For that reason, companies prefer registering trademarks in standard characters. So if the logo chances, the word will still be protected via the wordmark registration. However, sometimes the design of the logo does not clearly reveal which word it contains. In these cases the logo should be protected as a trademark as well. The LOCK-case is a good example. The holder of the German word trademark LOCK files a cancellation action against the European trademark LOCKMASTER. Both trademarks distinguish electric motors. The wordmark LOCK is older than 5 years, so the use of the trademark must be proven. » trademark-registration

There are strict rules regarding the use of the terms ‘Royal’ or ‘purveyor to the Royal household’. These are titles, granted by the King to companies with a prominent position in the Netherlands. Further conditions are that a company must be at least a hundred years old, have no less than a hundred employees and have a formidable reputation. The grant by the King is a favour, not an enforceable right. Companies that use these titles, without the King’s permission, give the impression that all conditions are successfully met. In order to prevent any abuse (and to protect the intellectual property rights of the Royal House), our former Queen Beatrix established a foundation. » tradenames

Many believe that the registration of a logo provides limited protection, but current jurisprudence shows the opposite. The LOCK case and the recent decision concerning the logo of Nationale Nederlanden lead to the conclusion that the figurative element of a logo with words should be protected also. But how far reaches this protection of merely the figurative element? » trademarks