This issue is packed full of articles offering analysis, how-tos and comments on the most important IP issues.

Colour trademarks are rarer than hen’s teeth, so Cadbury’s win for its ‘iconic’ purple gets full attention on page 11. How can brands emulate the confectioner’s success? With difficulty, it appears.

Continuing with trademarks, we take deep dives into a desire by US lawyers for a better definition of what constitutes an expressive work, as outlined in the Rogers test (page 6), plus The Ohio State University’s ‘THE’ mark (page 12).

Back in the UK, we examine how a dispute between supermarkets Lidl and Tesco reflects a tough environment for retailers (page 9). And follow the contortions forced on cannabis brands by the EU (page 8).

Meanwhile, arguably the biggest patent story of the year so far was a non-event: the denial by the US Supreme Court to hear American Axle, thereby consigning patent owners to continue facing ambiguous invalidation via so-called “Alice motions”, as we discover on page 13.

And finally, we speak to a senior IP official at the World Trade Organization who worked to the early hours on the COVID vaccine “enabler”, as he calls it (page 7).

I hope you enjoy the issue.