The  August 2017 issue of the European Trade Mark Reports (ETMR) has now been published, once again a few days before its cover date.

To remind readers, the ETMR is a series of law reports published monthly by Sweet & Maxwell. It contains English-language reports, together with informative headnotes, of recent decisions from national and EU courts and intellectual property offices.  

Two decisions are reported in this issue, both being from England and Wales. One is an office decision on whether the words TALK FOR are capable of being a registered trade mark at all (there are also some passing-off and bad faith points). The other is a Court of Appeal battle between Glaxo Wellcome and Sandoz over the ability of an unconventional trade mark -- in this instance a dark purple -- conveyed an unfair competitive advantage.

MARQUES members are reminded as usual that, if they have been involved in European trade mark litigation which is of significant interest, and if they can provide an English-language text of the full decision of the court, the ETMR will be delighted to consider it for publication. Communications should be sent to the Editor, Dr Stavroula Karapapa at s.karapapa@reading.ac.uk.