In-House Insights

The owner of the DRYROBE trade mark has countered arguments of genericism by showing that it had implemented a robust campaign to maintain distinctiveness, including correcting generic use by consumers and third parties through a range of techniques such as social media campaigns.

The ASA has ruled that ads from three major fashion brands did not comply with the CAP Code for containing misleading environmental claims. All three brands used the word "sustainable" to promote their products. Such broad claims must be qualified and/or substantiated, even if an ad is subject to character limits.

The Government has published its progress report on copyright and AI, ahead of a final report due to be published in March 2026. Unsurprisingly, the responses to its consultation demonstrate a lack of support from respondents for a new exception allowing copyright works to be scraped unless they are opted out.

Over the past 12 months, M&A activity in food and beverage sectors has piqued interest, as companies seek to diversify product portfolios or geographic presence and strengthen market positions amid shifting consumer demands and inflationary pressures, often through acquisitions rather than through innovation alone.

In King Crude Carriers SA & Others v Ridgebury November LLC & Others [2025] UKSC 39, a dispute arose from contracts for the sale of second-hand tanker vessels between the sellers and the buyers.