Patent wars extend into brand protection

Businesses are taking a tougher stance in defence of their brands, according to new figures from the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) showing an increase in attempts to block rival trademark registrations.

The number of attempts by companies to prevent a rival from registering a conflicting trademark increased by 17 per cent last year to 1,775, the data showed.

Businesses with registered trademarks can try to prevent other companies from registering a conflicting, or similar sounding, mark by lodging a formal challenge to the IPO – and several high-profile international businesses have recently been successful in fending off rivals.

Luxury fashion designer Giorgio Armani attempted to stop the registration of the trademark “Benjamin Armani”, by a retailer of baby buggies, cribs, high chairs, and children’s car seats.

Syco Entertainment, Simon Cowell’s TV production company and owner of the X-Factor reality television show, also challenged a trademark application made by jewellery retailer, SGI Jewellery for the registration of the trademark “Little Mix” – the name of one of show’s winning acts.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/430ed456-f314-11e3-91d8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz34mQHPc1r

Apple iWatch could tap into patented weightlifting sensor

Apple's much-rumored iWatch might be able to serve as your own virtual weightlifting coach.

A granted patent dubbed "Shoe wear-out sensor, body-bar sensing system, unitless activity assessment and associated methods" as published on Tuesday by the US Patent and Trademark Office describes a sensor that attaches to a weighlifting body bar in order to monitor and record your capabilities and progess.


The original patent filing advanced the notion of a "shoe wear-out sensor," meaning it would be incorporated into your sneakers or other footware. But in revising the filing over time, Apple steered more in the direction of a sensor that fits on the body bar and transmits the results to a mobile device, such as a smartwatch as outlined below:

"In one embodiment, display 512 (shown in dotted outline) is part of a watch (or a MP3 player or a cell phone) that may be seen when worn or used by the user when performing exercises; and measurements determined by processor 504 are transmitted to the watch (or to the MP3 player or cell phone) for display upon display 512."

 http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-iwatch-could-tap-into-patented-weightlifting-sensor/