This is a great cartoon by Tom Fishburne which shows what happens when innovation hits internal forces... For more really good cartoons on trademarks, patents, marketing, innovation please see Tom Fishburne's fantastic website: http://tomfishburne.com/

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, has published an online tool revealing a short and up-to-date overview on intellectual property (IP) in various countries around the world, including legal information, laws and statistics relating to - trademarks - patents - designs, - copyrights. The Country Profile Database includes WIPO members as well as non-members.

The yearly published EU Report on Counterfeiting reveals a 15% increase in pirated goods. Each year, the European Commission publishes a report describing the customs detentions of articles suspected of infringing intellectual property rights (IPR), such as trademarks, copyrights and patents. These statistics, compiled on the basis of the data transmitted by the EU Member States in accordance with Article 8 of Commission Regulation (EC) 1891/2004, provide useful information to support the analysis of IPR infringements affecting the EU market and the development of appropriate counter-measures. For detailed information (including the above chart), please see the following link with all of the statistics - also broken down by indiviual EU Member States: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/customs/customs_controls/counterfeit_piracy/statistics/

Seminar “Vom Schutzrecht zum Unternehmenswert” – Marken, Designs und andere Rechte in der Unternehmenspraxis

Donnerstag, 15. November 2012

Ort: Eden Hotel Wolff, München (gegenüber Hauptbahnhof) Seminarflyer, Referenten und Anmeldung: http://www.lexdellmeier.info/downloads/seminarflyer-2012.pdf     Thema 1: Die Schaffung von werthaltigen Schutzrechten Thema 2: Die Bewertung von Schutzrechten Thema 3: Werterhaltung, Wertsteigerung und Verteidigung von Schutzrechten

... and today's challenges. Great trademarks and fantastic advertising measures are necessary in order to market and sell your products and services - anywhere!

The Olympic Games reach billions of people in more than 200 countries across the globe. That is one of the main reasons for the high degree of brand awareness with respect to all the Olympic symbols. Everybody associates those symbols with the values of the games: fairness, respect, equality, friendship, courage, inspiration and excellence. They are more than just logos! The International Olympic Committee (IOC) protects the so-called Olympic properties to prevent third parties to make an unauthorized association with the Games. All the rights of the Olympic Properties belong exclusively to the IOC. The logos are all registered - among others - under WIPO’s Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks, which shows that the IOC protects its properties with the ordinary means of trademark protection. But, they also benefit from the Nairobi Treaty, a special legal treaty, adopted in 1981 and administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Nairobi Treaty protects the most famous symbol, the five interlocking rings that represent the coming together of the five continents. The treaty obliges every state that has ratified it to refuse the registration as a mark and to prohibit the use for commercial purposes of any sign consisting of the Olympic symbol(s) by unauthorized third parties. Source/Picture: WIPO and Olympic.org

The World Intellectual Property Organiztion (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, in conjunction with the international business school INSEAD, have just published the Global Innovation Index 2012 Report. The report ranks 141 countries and economies on the basis of their innovation capabilities and their results. The "Top 10" leaders allocated in the Global Innovation Index this year are: 1. Switzerland - 2. Sweden - 3. Singapore - 4. Finland - 5. United Kingdom - 6. Netherlands - 7. Denmark - 8. Hong Kong (China) - 9. Ireland - 10. United States of America ... and as an IP firm headquartered in Munich, Germany, we are pleased to take note of the fact that Germany  - even if not one of the top ten - at least ranks 15th.  As can be taken from the chart above (scource: WIPO) the leaders in the various regions are: Switzerland in Europe, the US in Northern America, Singapore in South East Asia and Oceania, Israel in Northern Africa and Western Asia, Chile in Latin America and the Caribbean, India in Central and Southern Asia, and Mauritius in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to WIPO and INSEAD, "the Global Innovation Index 2012 is a recognition of the key role that innovation serves as a driver of economic growth and prosperity. It is also an acknowledgement of  the need for a broad horizontal vision of innovation that is applicable to both developed and emerging economies, with the inclusion of indicators that go beyond the traditional measures of innovation (such as the level of research and development in a given country)." For more detailed information and the full report including charts, overviews and other statistics please see: http://www.wipo.int/econ_stat/en/economics/gii/

We all want to be more creative, come up with better ideas and want our organizations to be more innovative. The question is: How can we achieve these goals? Be inspired by Steven Johnson's video which gives a great insight on "WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM". Watch the video and you will get a sense and understanding what needs to be done in order to create an environment that allows good - or even great - ideas to develop.

The CTM Advisory Initiative e.V. (CTM AI) is an initiative of Munich Attorneys for promoting the knowledge of the Community trademark. The CTM Advisory Initiative consists of experienced Attorneys from Munich who have decided to promote and proliferate the knowledge of the Community trademark based upon their practical experience gained since the CTM Office opened in 1996. As a member of CTM AI e.V. we take the great pleasure to announce our upcoming talk in Munich on Thursday, July 26, 2012, regarding the new gTLDs and what impact and challenges these will have on trademark owners. The talk by our guest speaker, Sebastian Ritze, Legal Department at united domains, will be held in German. In case of interest, please feel free to send us an email to join. INVITATION IN GERMAN: ______________________________________________________________ EINLADUNG ZUM VORTRAG ______________________________________________________________ “Leitfaden für Markeninhaber im New gTLD Chaos – Schutzmechanismen. Zeitplan. Handlungsempfehlungen.”   Referent und Gastredner: Sebastian Ritze, Justiziar, united domains (Starnberg) ______________________________________________________________ Datum: Donnerstag, 26. Juli 2012 Uhrzeit: 19:00 Uhr bis ca. 20:30 Uhr Ort: Kanzlei Müller Schupfner & Partner, Bavariaring 11, 80336 München ______________________________________________________________ Bei Interesse oder Teilnahme: U.A.w.g. bis Mittwoch, 25. Juli 2012, per Email: CTMAI e.V. c/o LexDellmeier IP Law Firm: info@lexdellmeier.com

The International Trademark Association (INTA) together with united domains (Germany) will host a Roundtable on the new gTLDs: Date / Time: Thursday, 21 June 2012 - 2.00 - 4.00 pm Place: Hotel Sofitel, Munich (Germany) Topic: New Domains - Legal Rights Objections for Trademark Owners Speaker: Erik Wilbers, WIPO Registration: (free of charge) It is time for a wake-up call. One of the biggest challenges for trademark owners in the year 2012 will likely be the new Top Level Domains (so-called "new gTLDs"). Meanwhile, more than 1,200 new gTLD applicants have registered with ICANN and more than 2,000 new gTLD applications have been submitted. On 13 June 2012, ICANN plans to reveal the new gTLDs that have been applied for. After that, trademark owners will have approx. 7 months in order to object to the revealed gTLDs.  The legal rights objection procedure aims at protecting a trademarks and trademark owners. WIPO has been selected by ICANN to administer this dispute resolution procedure for all new gTLDs. Erik Wilbers, the Director of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, will present and explain in detail this rights protection mechanism in English at the INTA Roundtable held on 21 June 2012 - just one week after ICANN plans to reveal all of the applications to the public on 13 June 2012. Overview in short: Launch Schedule for new gTLDs (status: June 2012) Published with kind permission by united domains (USA and Germany) FAQ's can be found in English at the united domains website and und er the following link: http://www.uniteddomains.com/faq/newgtlds/