Intellectual Property Law: Trademark and Colour

Intellectual property
law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
Société Des Produits Nestlé S.A. v Cadbury UK Ltd.................................................................3
Glaxo Wellcome UK Ltd & Anor v Sandoz Ltd & Ors [2019] EWHC 2545 (Ch)....................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Intellectual property refers to the creative work which may be treated as the physical
property or the asset. There are different forms of the intellectual property rights which are
available in the laws of United Kingdom, each have its own familiarity and the level of
protection with the time period. There are four main areas of the intellectual property which
includes copyright, design, patents and trademarks. The people are given the intellectual property
rights for their creation of work and minds1. The intellectual property and intellectual property
rights are two distinct terms where the former means product of an intellect and the later means
the legal right which cover the intellectual property. This report shall deal with the reasoning of
the Cadbury's registration refusal and the later development in the area of law in the decision of
Glaxo Wellcome UK Ltd and another v. Sandoz Ltd and others.
MAIN BODY
Intellectual property rights are the protection given to the individual for their creation of
the work. Trademark is one such intellectual property right which consists of the recognizable
design, sign or the expression which helps in identifying the product or the service of the
particular source2. The trademark given to the service are called the service mark. The owner of
the trademark may be an individual, legal entity or the business organisation. The trademark may
be given on the package, voucher, label or the product.
Société Des Produits Nestlé S.A. v Cadbury UK Ltd
Background of case
Cadbury is a renowned brand of the confectionery industry which deals in different
chocolates, toffees, drinks etc. It was founded in the year 1824 in Birmingham by John Cadbury.
The company has applied for the trademark registration for the colour purple which is based on
the filed evidence of the distinctiveness which was acquired through the use of the mark. The
organisation Cadbury applied for the trademark and its application was accepted and later
published in May 20083. Nestle opposed to the application and argued that the mark is not
1 Bently L and others, Intellectual Property Law (2018)
2 Burshtein S, 'Is A Domain Name Property?' (2015) 1 Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice
3 Graf F, and Kri anac M, 'Program Logic In The Field Of Intellectual Property:
Protectability Under Austrian Law' (2018) 9 Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice