IP hub

Avoiding IP pitfalls that can sink M&A deals

Published on 16 September 2026. By Jeremiah Chew, Partner

In most M&A transactions, intellectual property (IP) and intangible assets are core value drivers. Brands, technology, data, software, know-how and licences often constitute a significant portion of a target’s enterprise value. Global investment in intangible assets reportedly exceeded $10 trillion in 2025, growing 3.6 times faster than tangible investment since 2008.

Allegations of AI editing of competitor images – a complete stand off!

Published on 11 September 2026. By Ciara Cullen, Partner, Consumer Brands & Retail Sector Lead and Joshy Thomas, Senior Knowledge Lawyer and Oliver Sainter, Senior Associate

This claim, in its early stages in the IPEC caught our eye. The parties, direct competitors of each other, are UK suppliers of exhibition stands. XL Displays (XL) in its claim alleges that Display Wizard (Wizard) has breached its copyright in a series of images used on XL's website, across its social media platforms, and in online marketing, advertisements and email campaigns. It does not claim that direct copies have been reutilised, but that there's been a "substantial reproduction" of those images.

IP right infringement by re-posting of photographs on social media – assessing damages, calculation of interest and costs recovery in the IPEC

Published on 10 September 2026. By Ciara Cullen, Partner, Consumer Brands & Retail Sector Lead and Ellie Chakarto, Senior Associate and Georgia Davis, Of Counsel

The claimant, Andrew Tipping, co-created the automotive magazine Max Power and shot certain photographs originally produced for publication in the magazine. Mark Smith, the defendant, photographed pages from hard copy issues of the magazine dating from the 1990s to the early 2010s. Reproducing around 31,000 of the photographs, between 2018 and 2021 he posted them on Facebook and Instagram, together with corresponding text, under the name "maxpowerreunion".

Will the UK tinker with CDPA 1998 to introduce other unique Peter Pan style perpetual royalty rights to fund the arts?

Published on 13 August 2026. By Joshua Charalambous, Partner and Joshy Thomas, Senior Knowledge Lawyer

Richard Morrison of The Times has written a piece (pw) on a proposal, by former government advisor Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, to raise funds for the arts by cloning the Peter Pan/Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) right to receive perpetual royalties after the expiration of copyright, and applying it to other works. The royalties would be paid into a cultural endowment fund, administered by a collective rights organisation and used "for good".

The hosting defence – shining a light on algorithms and content creator partnerships

Published on 10 August 2026. By Sarah Mountain, Partner and Rupert Cowper-Coles , Partner

The hosting exemption originated in the E-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC) and has since been moved, largely unchanged, into the Digital Services Act (EU) 2022/2065 (DSA). This framework provides that an operator is not liable for information it is merely hosting if it does not have actual knowledge of unlawful activity or information.

Signing your name away

Published on 14 April 2026. By Sarah Mountain, Partner

In March 2026, the Estée Lauder group of companies, including Jo Malone Ltd and Inc, brought a High Court claim against Joanna Willcox (aka Jo Malone), Jo Loves and Zara UK. At the nub of the spat is the use of various credit lines including: 'created by Jo Malone CBE, founder of Jo Loves' on signage, product labelling, packaging, websites, and social media in respect of a Jo Loves x Zara fragrance collab.

Kick-ed out – UKIPO applies Supreme Court SkyKick decision in ENERJO opposition

Published on 17 June 2025. By Sarah Mountain, Partner

In the case of ENERJO (O/0439/24), the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) upheld an opposition against an application filed by Cashflow – the specification for which ran to a whopping 81 A4 pages! It found that "the sheer size and disparate nature" of the goods and services applied for amounted to bad faith, citing the Supreme Court’s decision in SkyKick, the weapon of choice for those wanting to challenge overly broad specifications. A detailed analysis of the decision follows.

Cheers Thatchers!–Lemon-Aid for Brand Owners as Court of Appeal Decision Suggests Greater Protection for Brand Owners from “Lookalike” Packaging

Published on 13 June 2025. By Ciara Cullen, Partner, Consumer Brands & Retail Sector Lead and Joshy Thomas, Senior Knowledge Lawyer and Harpreet Kaur, Senior Associate

Cheers Thatchers!–Lemon-Aid for Brand Owners as Court of Appeal Decision Suggests Greater Protection for Brand Owners from “Lookalike” Packaging

EU Design regulation changes coming on 1 May 2025: What businesses need to know

Published on 14 April 2025. By Georgia Davis, Of Counsel

1 May 2025 sees the first in a series of implementations of the long-awaited changes to EU design law.

Aesthetic appeal and craftsmanship are not enough: WaterRower fails to secure copyright protection as a UK work of artistic craftsmanship

Published on 13 December 2024. By Ciara Cullen, Partner, Consumer Brands & Retail Sector Lead and Joshy Thomas, Senior Knowledge Lawyer

The term "artistic craftsmanship" has no statutory definition under UK copyright law – a position that has only been made more challenging by a conflict between EU and UK case law in this area. In this hotly anticipated judgment, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) sought to determine what it means to be a work of artistic craftsmanship in the context of s 4(1)(c) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA).

AGA Saga – AGA retrofitter liable for trade mark infringement, but Lifestyle Equities saves director from joint tortfeasorship

Published on 23 August 2024. By Georgia Davis, Of Counsel

In AGA Rangemaster Group v UK Innovations Group, [2024] EWHC 1727 (IPEC), AGA Rangemaster UK Ltd (AGA), brought a successful claim against UK Innovations Group Ltd (UK Innovations) and its director Michael McGinley for trade mark infringement in relation to their marketing and sales of AGA cookers that had been "retrofitted" with electrifying control panels, using UK Innovations' specialised "eControl System".

APPY result in infringement and invalidity proceedings relating to "Builder" trade marks for app-building software

Published on 19 August 2024. By Sarah Mountain, Partner

In Engineer.AI Global Ltd v Appy Pie Ltd, HHJ Melissa Clarke held that the claimant's registered trade marks for BUILDER (and variations thereof) for app-building software were partially invalid and not infringed by the defendants. This decision also provides a useful summary of the law on the key principles of trade mark disputes and also a look at targeting, trade marks relating to AI and the costs capping regime in the IPEC.

McDonald's BIG MAC trade mark – General Court gives decision on evidence of genuine use

Published on 30 July 2024. By Ciara Cullen, Partner, Consumer Brands & Retail Sector Lead and Harpreet Kaur, Senior Associate

In a decision that, practically, provides for only a tiny loss of protection for the behemoth brand and trade mark, on 5 June 2024 the European General Court (General Court) partially revoked McDonald's BIG MAC trade mark (the EUTM) in the EU (Supermac's (Holdings) Ltd v EUIPO (Case T 58/23)).

Accessory liability: when will directors be held liable for IP infringements committed by their companies – and what is counted as "profits"?

Published on 20 June 2024. By Rory Graham, Associate

The Supreme Court in Lifestyle Equities CV & Anor v Ahmed & Anor [2024] UKSC 17, has allowed an appeal by two company directors who were found liable as accessories to trade mark infringement by the company in which they were directors. The decision provides helpful clarification on the required elements for accessory liability in the context of IP right infringement claims and confirms the sums to be included in an account of profits if liability is established (spoiler alert: a director's salary is not considered to be "profit").

Supreme Court dismisses Amazon's appeal in landmark decision on consumer targeting

Published on 29 April 2024. By Sarah Mountain, Partner

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court has dismissed Amazon's appeal against a Court of Appeal (CoA) decision, which found that the sale of branded goods on Amazon's US site, amazon.com, infringed UK and EU trade marks by virtue of the fact that UK consumers had been targeted.

Benchmarkalikes – Aldi's Taurus cloudy cider lemon leaves Thatchers Cider with a headache

Published on 29 April 2024. By Joshy Thomas, Senior Knowledge Lawyer

In a recently dismissed claim for trade mark infringement and passing off brought by Thatchers Cider we see so called lookalike or "copycat" products continue to provide a major headache for brands. It's the latest in a line of cases showing that the answer to issues arising from supermarkets' "inspired" alternatives, increasingly is rarely found in trade mark or passing off rights.

The status of parallel trade in the European Union and the UK

Published on 12 April 2024. By Jani Ihalainen, Associate

The following article is a collaboration between Jani Ihalainen of RPC and PDGB (Virginie Coursière-Pluntz and Benjamin Jacob), RPC's partner firm in France through its TerraLex network.

Ginfringement: Success for M&S in the Court of Appeal in registered design spat with Aldi

Published on 15 March 2024. By Rory Graham, Associate and Georgia Davis, Of Counsel

M&S and Aldi's gin bottle battle over design rights has reached a conclusion (for now) as the Court of Appeal has unanimously upheld the IPEC's decision that Aldi's bottle infringed M&S' design.

Clear as gin: M&S and Aldi take liquor bottle battle to the Court of Appeal

Published on 26 January 2024. By Rory Graham, Associate and Georgia Davis, Of Counsel

Intellectual property enthusiasts' favourite supermarket adversaries were back at loggerheads this week as M&S and Aldi appear before the Court of Appeal. The pair sought to thrash out a first instance decision handed down in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) regarding alleged infringement of M&S' registered design rights in a gin bottle.

Online platforms should Swatch out: Samsung found liable for infringing third-party content available on the Samsung Galaxy App store

Published on 22 January 2024. By Sarah Mountain, Partner

The Court of Appeal in Montres Breguet SA v Samsung Electronics [2023] EWCA Civ 1478 has dismissed Samsung's appeal and upheld a first instance decision which found it liable for trade mark infringement in relation to third-party watch faces available on the Samsung Galaxy App store. This judgment provides guidance on what constitutes "use" of a sign by an online app store and the applicability of the e-Commerce Directive hosting defence.

Thaler v Comptroller [2023] UKSC 49: the UKSC rules that AI cannot be an 'inventor'

10 January 2024

To the surprise of no one, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) has finally ruled that an artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be an inventor for the purposes of UK patent law. This judgment accords with the decisions of the lower courts in the UK and the initial ruling of the UKIPO. It also reflects similar findings from most of courts around the world where the claimant, Dr Thaler, brought similar actions.

The Sky's the limit for trade mark applications. Or is it?

Published on 12 July 2023. By Ellie Chakarto, Senior Associate and Sarah Mountain, Partner

The Unified Patent Court – Are the benefits of national courts being forgotten amidst the excitement of the UPC opening?

03 July 2023

Patent Litigation Partner Matthew Jones is joined by Sarah Breckenridge, Investment Manager at Erso Capital to discuss the recent excitement surrounding the opening of the Unified Patent Court.

Generative AI and intellectual property rights—the UK government's position

Published on 03 May 2023. By Joshy Thomas, Senior Knowledge Lawyer and Helen Armstrong, Partner and Jani Ihalainen, Associate

The IPO is to produce a code of practice by the summer that will provide guidance to support AI firms in accessing copyright protected works as an input to their models.

M&S v Aldi – lookalike claims lit up by design rights

Published on 24 March 2023. By Ciara Cullen, Partner, Consumer Brands & Retail Sector Lead and Harpreet Kaur, Senior Associate and Jack McAlone, Associate

As lookalike products rise in prominence, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court's (IPEC) recent ruling that the sale and advertisement of Aldi's 'Infusionist' range of favoured gins infringed M&S's UK registered designs protecting the light-up bottles containing its 'Snow Globe' gin range (Marks and Spencer PLC v Aldi Stores Limited [2023] EWHC 178) highlights the utility of registered design rights in circumstances where other intellectual property rights (IPR) are often less able to provide protection.