The Coca-Cola Company v. Robert Troy Hoff

Acknowledging the full extent of brand infringement, FC Liverpool has attempted to register a trademark for the word Liverpool in an attempt to extend its scope of brand protection. These efforts have been unsuccessful following a heated public debate, with the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) rejecting the application due to the geographical significance of the city of Liverpool. Yet, Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur represent examples of football clubs that have succeeded in their efforts to register trademarks for the words Chelsea and Tottenham. This viewpoint explores the seemingly subtle, yet significant, differences in these cases and explores the wider implications for brand protection.

Taking a creative spin on an already established and renown brand may seem as a good strategy for devising a name for a startup company but it may backfire. This article summarises one of the contemporary cases in this area, revealing that Airbnb’s trademark protects the company against unexpected threats.

“Testing how the garment fits, testing how comfortable it is to wear and testing how well the fabric holds up in the long term are all things that Shein and the like skip to churn out clothes at the rate that they do. Sweatshops and slave labour allow them to sell the garments for the prices that they do. We do things differently” Read the full story of Vanessa Jones, the founder of Sl’eau, another inspiring brand protected by Trama that brings quality and craftsmanship back to the fashion industry.