HOW CAN WE ASSIST YOU?
In Acapo we have experienced lawyers and other IP consultants who work with the protection of intellectual property rights in the area of textiles, fashion and lifestyle. Contact us if you want advice and assistance in securing your intellectual property.
YOUR BRAND - YOUR REPUTATION!
Within the fashion and textile industries trademark and design protection are important means to, among other things, ensure an advantage on competitors and prevent production and sale of counterfeit goods. For consumers it is also important that the owner of the rights protects his intellectual property and enforce his right to these. Among other things, the consumer is assured that the goods and their trademark have the commercial origin which they claim to have.
Within this area of business it is important that the reputation connected to the trademark is not damaged by illegal sale of imitation products. Such damaging production and sale is difficult to stop if you cannot document that you have the right to the intellectual property which has been infringed.
PROTECT THE UNIQUE!
The Norwegian Trademarks Act gives the proprietor of a trademark a strategic tool which it is very important to use. A valuable trademark which has built up goodwill, success and a good position on the market is often the object of copying and shortcuts to fast income. By securing a trademark through registration you will obtain protection which gives a tool to protect the values which have been built up around the trademark.
For providers of products and services which are directed towards a specific lifestyle it is, as described above, important to protect the intellectual property which is created. This can be trademarks for products which reflect behavior of the consumer as regards physical activity, diet, social behavior, intoxicants and health in general. Here, the protection of product packaging by design registration and securing of a trademark by trademark registration can contribute to ensuring the values created around the product. If the packaging is sufficiently unique and apt to be perceived as a trademark, the packaging may also be used by registration as a three-dimensional trademark. Examples of this are the design of a perfume bottle or a lipstick.
WHAT ARE YOUR COMPETITORS DOING?
Monitoring of trademark registrations in and outside Norway is an important means to keep yourself posted as to whether your trademark is being misused by others. If it is discovered that others have applied for registration of a trademark which is confusingly similar, we will also assist in infringement cases and, if necessary, pursue the infringement through court actions.
PATENT ON TEXTILES?
In addition to trademark and design rights, manufacturers of textiles should also take note that it is possible to obtain a patent on new textile combinations if one can prove that the conditions for obtaining a patent according to Norwegian Patents Act have been fulfilled. Such an example is the patent which formed the basis for the textile material which was introduced to the market under the trademark “Gore-tex”.