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Brand Matters

Issue 36: June 2025

Brand Matters

Editor's note

Sally Britton - Mishcon de Reya
Sally Britton, Partner

Last month, we held our annual Style Gallery, our pop up shopping and styling event for luxury brands. Click here for the video highlights from what was a fantastic evening showcasing a range of luxury brands.

In this edition of Brand Matters, we report on a number of developments relating to IP matters, including the UKIPO confirming that the UK+ exhaustion regime – whereby IP rights are exhausted when relevant goods are put on the market in the EEA, allowing those goods to be parallel traded into the UK – will continue to apply, on a permanent basis. Many rights holders will welcome the certainty this brings to existing supply chain processes.  We also report on the changes now in effect in the EU relating to design law and practice (with the UK expected to consult on its own design regime later this year), and some other changes on the horizon of interest to trade mark owners. 

Brand owners will be alive to the risk of cyber attacks, and will have been concerned at recent developments targeting UK retailers' operations. Our Cyber Risk and Investigations team have written a report detailing the immediate and longer-term steps that organisations can take.  They will also be hosting a webinar on 11 June. 

Lastly, we were thrilled to win UK Trade Mark Litigation Team of the Year at Managing IP's EMEA awards in April and I'd like to take this opportunity also to congratulate a member of our team, Associate Dominic Walsh, who won the UK award for Rising Star, which is a fantastic achievement, well done Dom! 

I hope you enjoy reading this edition. If you have any questions arising out of any of the articles, please reach out to me, the author or your usual Mishcon contact. 

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Exhaustion of IP rights and parallel trade: UK+ regime is now permanent

The UK Intellectual Property Office has published an updated response to a consultation conducted by the previous Government on the issue of exhaustion of IP rights and parallel trade. Almost four years since the consultation was launched, the new Government has now reached a firm conclusion, namely that the 'UK+ regime', put in place on Brexit, will continue to apply, on a permanent basis.

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EU design framework: Phase one changes now effective

Phase one of the EU's new design law package is now effective as of 1 May 2025. This marks the initial step in the first overhaul of the EU's design regime in 20 years, with the package of reforms intended to make registration of designs cheaper and easier, and to harmonise member states' national registration procedures.

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Deadline to put UK cloned trade marks into use approaches

From 1 January 2026, if a cloned UK trade mark (i.e. one created on Brexit when all EU trade marks were converted into UK registrations) has not been used in the UK, it may be vulnerable to cancellation for non-use by third parties.

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Scattered Spider takes aim at the UK retail sector

Between 22 and 29 April 2025, major UK retailers experienced cyber attacks that disrupted core business operations. Although not conclusively attributed in all instances, the threat actor group Scattered Spider is suspected to be behind the attacks, which likely involved attempted and successful social engineering, multi-factor authentication (MFA) bypasses, and ransomware deployment.

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UKIPO confirms decision to discontinue series trade marks as part of digital transformation programme

Following a consultation as part of its digital transformation programme, the UKIPO has confirmed the actions it plans to take to improve its service to its users. One of the most significant changes for IP owners is the discontinuation of the series trade mark service. This change will take effect when the UKIPO's new digital trade mark service is launched (development is expected to begin in Autumn 2025) but it will only apply to new applications, with no impact on existing series trade marks.

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High Court clarifies standards for assessing validity and infringement of shape marks

A decision of the High Court concerning the shape of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems (Abbott v Sinocare) has underlined the challenges in establishing that a 3D trade mark has acquired distinctiveness. To be protected, it is necessary to point to the steps taken to educate the public that they should understand the mark not merely as a product, but as also having a meaning as an indicator of origin.

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Commencement of the CMA's new enforcement powers and unfair commercial practices regime

On 6 April 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) new direct enforcement powers and the updated Unfair Commercial Practices (UCP) regime came into force, under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The CMA can now enforce consumer protection law itself through a range of measures such as fines and undertakings, as well as going to court.

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EU AI Act begins to take effect: what to know and how to prepare

On 2 February 2025, Chapters I and II of the EU's AI Act came into force, relating to prohibited AI practices and AI literacy. This article explains their implications to both providers (developers) and deployers (users, except for personal and non-professional activities) of AI systems and suggests steps to take now to plug the compliance gap. Businesses based outside the EU should note that the so-called ‘Brussels effect’ applies to the Act, meaning non-EU businesses implementing systems in the EU, serving EU-based users, or utilising AI outputs within the EU will still fall within its scope.

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Mishcon de Reya recognised at the Managing IP EMEA Awards

Mishcon de Reya's IP Team was named UK Trade Mark Litigation Team of the Year at the 2025 Managing IP EMEA Awards in April. Dominic Walsh, an Associate in the IP team, was awarded Rising Star of the Year. The awards recognise firms, individuals and companies behind the most innovative and challenging IP work of the past year, as well as those driving the international IP market.

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