WHAT WE MONITOR
TRADEMARKS
Overview
It is important to understand why a mark is likely to cause confusion in the marketplace. For one thing, you do not want to spend the time and money submitting a trademark application that may be rejected due to the likelihood of confusion. Organisations should also be aware of similar marks and whether the use of these marks constitutes infringement.
FAQ's
Registered trademarks are protected by law. However, trademark violations occur on a daily basis, and you will certainly want to be informed as soon as someone infringes your rights. Trademarks Worldwide Ltd promptly notifies you about anyone using a trademark similar to yours. Such knowledge enables you to take effective action against trademark infringements.
Currently, we are incorporating trademarks from the US, UK, and Trademarks Worldwide Ltd into our databases.
Open your personal account to review the results of your monitoring subscription at any time. In addition, you may choose to receive either a weekly or monthly report, or you can look up the results yourself.
Our computer systems assess similarity by employing a combination of different algorithms. Although it is our trade secret how this process truly works (similar to how Google® does not disclose the details of how search results are ranked), we can inform you that the Levenshtein distance plays a vital role, along with other factors.
Currently, we are analysing trademarks from the EU, UK, and US. We are continuously expanding our portfolio and will soon be able to analyse trademarks from every country.
News
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Bayer Weighs Monsanto Bankruptcy as Roundup Litigation Mounts, While Securing Domain Victory in WIPO Dispute
Bayer AG is escalating efforts to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, while preparing for the possibility of a bankruptcy filing for its U.S. agriculture unit, Monsanto, if negotiations falter. With more than 67,000 cases pending and $16 billion already earmarked for legal settlements, Bayer is exploring dual strategies: pushing for court-led resolution in Missouri and weighing Chapter 11 as a legal firewall. The German pharmaceutical and chemical conglomerate has retained restructuring advisers and is under pressure, with its share price down roughly 75% since acquiring Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, in a parallel trademark enforcement action, Bayer Consumer Care AG secured a WIPO panel ruling ordering the transfer of <bepanthencream.com>, a domain impersonating its skincare brand BEPANTHEN. The decision, issued on 21 April 2025, affirmed that the domain was registered and used in bad faith. These developments underscore Bayer’s multi-front legal strategy—managing mass-tort risk in the U.S. while aggressively protecting brand assets globally. The chart below shows Bayer Group's total assets from 2009 to 2023, illustrating its significant financial growth over the years.
16/05/2025
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McDonald’s Wins EU Trademark Opposition Over Phonetically Similar Coffee Brand
On 13 May 2025, the EUIPO Opposition Division upheld McDonald’s opposition to trademark for a coffee-related brand resembling 'MAK', ruling that it posed a likelihood of confusion with McDonald’s earlier mark 'GREEK MAC'. The decision states that the contested mark targeted identical goods—namely coffee beverages— and bore high aural similarity despite only low visual resemblance. The analysis focused on English-speaking consumers in Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden, for whom the verbal elements 'MAC' and 'MAK' were deemed phonetically indistinct. The descriptive or weakly distinctive nature of the term 'GREEK' further amplified the significance of the overlapping elements. While McDonald’s invoked a family of marks based on the 'Mc' prefix (e.g., McCafe, Big Mac, McRib), the Division ultimately concluded the opposition on the grounds of individual mark conflict rather than series association. Following visualisation shows detailed information on the opposed 'MAK' trademark.
14/05/2025
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BMW Secures Victory in WIPO Dispute Over Gaming Domains Mimicking Its Brand
In a ruling issued on 1 May 2025, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center ordered the transfer of two disputed domain names — <bmw.game> and <bmwonling.com> — to German automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), finding both registrations to be clear cases of cybersquatting. The panel concluded that the domains, which were used to promote online gaming services, were confusingly similar to BMW’s globally recognised trademark, noting that the mark was fully incorporated in both names. With no evidence of the registrants holding rights or legitimate interests, and given BMW’s longstanding trademark rights—dating back to 1929 in Germany and 1955 in the U.S.—the panel found it inconceivable that the respondents were unaware of the brand. The use of the BMW mark to attract users for commercial gain, coupled with the absence of a response from the domain holders, led to a determination of bad faith.
09/05/2025