Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Large UK brands have been told they will need to rein in “aggressive” intellectual property claims after the country’s highest court found that media company Sky acted in “bad faith” by registering trademarks for a wide range of products it did not intend to sell.

In a highly anticipated ruling on a case dating back eight years, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said some trademarks registered by Sky, which claimed intellectual property rights for goods including antiperspirants, tuxedos and biofuels, were so broad as to be unenforceable.

Lawyers said the judgment, which overturned an earlier decision from the Court of Appeal, could make it harder for companies wanting to prevent others in different industries from using their brand names and logos.

Geoff Steward, partner at Addleshaw Goddard, said the ruling would require a “radical rethink” among brand owners who had long sought “the widest possible intellectual property protection”.

“Gone are the days of overreaching to gain wider trademark monopolies,” he said.

Peter Vaughan, chartered trademark attorney and associate professor at Nottingham Law School, described the ruling as “a victory for David over Goliath in many ways”.

“Some of the more aggressive [trademark] enforcement strategies of major brands are likely to have to stop to some degree,” he said.

Sky brought a High Court claim against US tech company SkyKick in 2016, alleging that it had infringed five of its trademarks. But the Seattle-based company challenged the validity of Sky’s trademarks, which covered products including shampoo, carbon monoxide detectors and slippers as well as the goods and services for which it is better known.

The High Court, in a series of judgments, found that Sky had to an extent applied for trademarks in “bad faith”, as they covered such a broad range of goods and services that the company could not have intended to use them all.

The case went to the Court of Appeal, which found in Sky’s favour in 2021. But in an unanimous judgment on Wednesday, the five Supreme Court judges found the “Court of Appeal was wrong to reverse” the initial finding.

The High Court had been “entitled to find that the Sky marks were applied for in bad faith to the extent that it did”, they found.

In an unusual move, the Supreme Court went ahead with its judgment even though Sky and SkyKick settled their dispute — which had been narrowed to a smaller number of goods and services — in September.

SkyKick said it had decided to rebrand following its acquisition by ConnectWise and that both it and Sky “determined that their respective interests would be best served by concluding these long running disputes.”

Sky said in a statement: “Sky, like many other businesses, historically filed a range of trade marks in accordance with relevant guidance available at the time.”

The Supreme Court judgment “concludes a lengthy legal process to clarify the correct application of the law. We acknowledge this clarification and will follow this moving forward.”

Kerry Russell, intellectual property expert at law firm Shakespeare Martineau, said the decision had “sent shockwaves throughout trademark law”.

Companies would need to “give careful consideration” about whether the types of products for which they file trademark applications “are really likely to be used by them” in the near future.

BLACK Friday is at the end of the month, but many retailers have already launched early sales.

Black Friday is a prime time to buy Christmas gifts for less than usual, or pick up some winter essentials, with deals across tech, beauty, fashion, broadband and home.

1

This year, Black Friday officially falls on November 29.

But the event is no longer just one day, with those hunting down a deal having until December 2, or so-called Cyber Monday, to make the most of the sales – and some stores run their bargains even longer.

In the next few weeks, there will be thousands of great savings on beauty sets, gaming essentials, trending toys and plenty more.

Late November is always a great time for discounted tech, with big-name brands like Apple, Shark, Ninja, and Samsung all included in price cuts.

Fashion fans, meanwhile, can score savings on clothing, designer bags and popular footwear from designer retailers like UGG and Dr Martens.

For those who already have their eye on something, they should start looking at prices now rather than waiting for the official Black Friday eventto begin.

That way they could get ahead of others hoping to nab the same item.

When are the Black Friday sales this year?

Amazon UK has already announced that its Black Friday Week sale is returning from November 21 – December 2, offering customers hundreds of thousands of deals.

Martin Lewis‘ Money Saving Expert has revealed its latest predictions on when Black Friday sales will start.

It’s predicting that supermarket chain Lidl will kick off its Black Friday sale on Monday 25 November, which is the same as last year.

Last year, items included an Air Fryer for £80.

But it’s important not to be taken in by the hype surrounding Black Friday and end up buying something you don’t need or can’t afford.

Always do your own price comparisons to ensure you are getting the best deal possible.

You can use online price comparison sites like Price Spy and Trolley to see if a product you have found is the cheapest compared with others.

You can also use the Google Shopping/Product tab to do a quick scan of other offers across the internet.

Which Black Friday sales have already launched?

Amazon customers can already find early deals from leading brands including Ninja, Bose, Tefal, and LG.

Customers can head to Amazon.co.uk/blackfriday to shop early Black Friday deals.

Tesco has rolled out a host of early Black Friday deals with shoppers able to bag discounts worth up to 69%.

The UK’s biggest supermarket has joined other retailers in slashing prices on products ahead of the mega sales event on November 29.

Shoppers can pick up everything from electricals, to homeware, cooking and luggage in stores.

However, Tesco said not every product will be available across all its stores, they’re not available online and it’s while stocks last, so you’ll want to be quick.

You can find your nearest Tesco store by using the retailer’s branch locator tool on its website.

Budget chain Aldi announced that its Black Friday Specialbuys deals would hit shelves from 7 November – but once they’re gone, they’re gone.

This year Aldi fans will be able to snap up some incredible tech deals on TVs, air fryers and even drones.

Boots has launched its Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals well in advance of the anticipated sale event, although some of the best deals are typically saved until the big day itself.

Early highlights include Dyson hair tools reduced by up to £150, while shoppers can save over £300 on selected Oral-B toothbrushes.

Along with Black Friday deals, the high street chain is launching limited Star Gift discounts and 3 for 2 on many gifting ranges.

Plus, those who have a Boots Advantage Card can save even more too – so it’s worth signing up.

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free

Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world

Kamala Harris’s fears of a progressive backlash killed a plan for her to appear on Joe Rogan’s podcast, a campaign official has said, shedding light on a decision that infuriated some Democrats who are reeling after Donald Trump’s election victory.

The Harris campaign and Rogan, whose audience is bigger than that of many television networks, had discussed an interview for his podcast — a move some Democrats hoped would help Harris reach young men who were gravitating towards Trump.

The talks faltered because of concerns at how the interview would be perceived within the Democratic party, said Jennifer Palmieri, a senior adviser to Harris’s husband, Douglas Emhoff, during the campaign.

“There was a backlash with some of our progressive staff that didn’t want her to be on it, and how there would be a backlash,” Palmieri said on Wednesday.

Palmieri, who previously worked in the White House and for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, is among the first officials from the Harris campaign to go into detail over a decision that some Democrats fear may have contributed to their loss.

Just over a week after Harris’s heavy defeat the party is hunting for scapegoats, with some operatives blaming President Joe Biden. Others have said the campaign flubbed its media strategy and was too cautious with alternative media.

Rogan, who endorsed Trump the night before the US election, is widely viewed as the most popular podcaster in the country. He holds a particularly large following among young men — a demographic Trump successfully spent much of the past year courting through appearances across a “manosphere” of YouTubers and podcasters.

Palmieri also said news leaking that Harris was in talks to do Rogan’s show created a “very weird dynamic” with the podcaster.

“Because all of a sudden he’s on his heels about how his audience is going to react to this, and the demands that they were going to put on him to be tough on her,” Palmieri said at a conference organised by The Clearing House, a payments group owned by large US banks.

A representative from Harris’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s interview with Rogan has been viewed nearly 50mn times on YouTube, while the interview with vice-president-elect JD Vance racked up 16mn views.

By comparison, about 29mn people watched Harris’s speech to the Democratic National Convention and fewer than 8mn watched her interview on Fox News.

Rogan, a former UFC commentator, has gained a large following particularly among men for his hours-long, often meandering conversations with guests on a wide range of topics, including martial arts, aliens, workout routines and politics.

He also stirs controversy. In 2022, musicians including Joni Mitchell pulled their music from Spotify in protest against the platform’s ties with Rogan, who had recently interviewed a virologist who was critical of coronavirus vaccines. Backlash swelled when musician India.Arie posted a video of Rogan using the N-word multiple times on his show. Spotify removed more than 100 of his podcast episodes from its app.

Democratic senator Bernie Sanders this week argued members of his party should be speaking to podcasters such as Rogan. “I think we’ve got to get — and clearly you have an alternative media out there, a lot of podcasts that millions and millions of viewers — get on the show,” he told CNN on Sunday.

A BIZARRE seven-bedroom home that once stood as a lighthouse is now up for grabs.

The unique property, which beckons buyers with the promise of its very own hot tub, has even featured on a hit BBC show.

12

12

Advertisement

12

12

12

West Usk lighthouse used to protect ships harbouring in the Severn estuary, near Newport, Wales, and now offers potential homeowners breathtaking sea views.

When you’re not looking out onto open waters, there are sandy beaches, salt marshes and coastal mudflats teeming with a variety of wildlife.

The Gwent Levels area, a site of special scientific interest, was first inhabited the monks of Tintern Abbey and Goldcliff Prior in the middle ages.

West Usk lighthouse itself is a Grade II listed building die to “special interest for its highly unusual plan form”.

House hunters may be intrigued to learn about the lighthouse’s rich history, dating all the way back to 1821.

It was designed by James Walker, who was a consultant engineer at the time.

Ben Batchelor and John Williams of Newport built the 17 metre tall property, which at the time is understood to have consisted of just the tower.

Meanwhile, documents show the lighthouse was extended in 1867.

The interior layout originally consisted of wedge shaped rooms around the central spiral staircase.

There were two symmetrical quarters, built for two lighthouse keepers and their families.

It stopped being used in 1922 and was sold for £670, before laying abandoned until the 1960s when it was renovated.

But, within two decades it was left by the wayside once again.

In 1987, new owners took on the building and transformed it into a modern home.

With help from CADW and the Welsh Tourist Board they even managed to salvage the original lantern room.

12

12

12

Advertisement

12

The former lighthouse was then used as a B&B, and a wedding venue.

It even appeared in the BBC Cymru Wales series of Doctor Who, in an episode called Fugitive of the Judoon.

Actress Jodie Whittaker, who portrayed The Doctor, filmed inside the lighthouse and even climbed the tower.

And, it featured on the BBC’s My Unique B&B.

The lighthouse is now once again a private home up for sale.

It boasts a luxurious roof terrace below the lantern room which offers 360 panoramic views of the surrounding sea and landscapes.

These stunning vistas can be enjoyed from the hot tub out on the deck.

There’s also a garden, on which sits another property called the Lightkeeper’s Lodge.

And, this has it’s own superking size bed, kitchenette and ensuite.

Within the main lighthouse building there are seven bedrooms sprawled out across two floors, excluding a living room and dining room.

There’s more than enough land to use for weddings and a car park, on the 14,520 square foot property.

The lighthouse is now on the market with the JNS property investment company, which states the sale includes the lighthouse, the lodge, a lifeboat, three static caravans and a dalek oddly enough.

It has a price tag of £2,250,000 and has the potential to make up to £454,000 in rental income per year according to the company.

12

12

Advertisement

12

The Israeli right has rejoiced after US president-elect Donald Trump nominated ardent supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iran hawks to his incoming administration.

Nominees including Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for defence secretary, and Mike Huckabee, the future US ambassador to Israel, were adored on the Israeli right for their unflinching support for Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon. Huckabee has also supported their desire to annex the occupied West Bank.

Steve Witkoff, an American-Jewish real estate tycoon set to be Trump’s Middle East envoy, is also a prominent pro-Israeli voice in the US.

Nadav Shtrauchler, a political strategist who has worked with Netanyahu, said: “The Israeli right is thinking of moving independence day to November 13. They could not have dreamt of appointments like these . . . it’s a major blessing.”

The appointments project “strength, determination, and this is a good thing for the US but also good for us”, Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, told Israeli Army Radio on Wednesday. “This doesn’t mean that everything we want they’ll say yes, but I think the attitude will be that of someone who understands the situation.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right minister of national security, posted “Mike Huckabee” on X alongside emojis of a heart and American and Israeli flags.

Others, such as incoming UN ambassador Elise Stefanik and mooted secretary of state Marco Rubio, are also known for their staunch support for Israel.

A video of Rubio telling pro-Palestinian activists in the halls of Congress that he rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, shortly after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack triggered the war, went viral across Israeli social media this week.

“I want them to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on,” the Florida senator said of Israel. “I think Hamas is 100 per cent to blame [for the civilian deaths in Gaza] . . . Make sure you post that please.”

Stefanik, a New York congresswoman, needed little introduction to the Israeli public, with her broadsides against US university presidents last year over allegedly unchecked campus antisemitism garnering mass attention.

Senior ministers in the Netanyahu government — the most far-right in Israel’s history, which includes many settlers — are making plans for the coming Trump administration.

On Tuesday, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said 2025 would be “the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria”, using the Jewish biblical name favoured by Israeli nationalists for the West Bank, which Palestinians see as the heart of a future state.

Huckabee used the same terminology for the territory when asked on Israeli Army Radio on Wednesday whether the Trump administration would greenlight annexation.

Trump “already demonstrated in his first term, that there has never been an American president that has been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel”, Huckabee said. “I fully expect that to continue.”

In his first term, Trump reversed years of US policy with pro-Israeli moves including recognising Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights and moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, which is disputed between Palestinians and Israelis.

Huckabee and Rubio are extremely well-known to the Netanyahu government, said a person familiar with Israeli thinking, with both having visited Israel’s prime minister on several occasions over the past year.

Hegseth’s nomination also received extensive attention, helped in part by a 2022 interview with the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 in which he admonished Joe Biden’s administration for actively undermining Netanyahu and his Likud Party.

“We have a deep state in America, there’s a deep state in Israel as well — [Netanyahu] had to fight through that,” Hegseth said at the time.

Since Trump’s election last week, Palestinian Authority officials such as President Mahmoud Abbas who were sidelined during the US president-elect’s first term have congratulated him but remained largely quiet on his administration picks.

One prominent Palestinian activist in East Jerusalem, Samer Sinijlawi, said he could easily see the incoming Trump appointments “being a catastrophe” for the Palestinian cause.

But he summed up the sense among many Palestinians that Biden had been disastrous during the past year of conflict. “I’ve never seen a president accept such humiliation” like Biden did from Netanyahu, he added.

“If Trump wants to do something then these aides will fall in line. He knows he’s the centre of the world,” Sinijlawi said.

Despite adulation for Netanyahu from the incoming Trump administration, some Israeli analysts and officials observed the president-elect is an unpredictable figure with his own priorities.

“There could still be challenges, and you may see a ‘bearhug’” from the Trump administration that could limit what Israel does, said Shtrauchler, the political strategist.

The person familiar with Israeli thinking said there is an understanding among Israeli officials that the US president-elect would like to “resolve the situations” in Lebanon and Gaza and does not want to see “all-out regional war between Iran and Israel”.

“It’s not like Bibi will have free rein,” the person added. “There was definite euphoria last week [when Trump won], and there is still great happiness now, but it’s a bit more realistic . . . Netanyahu and his people know they need to deliver.”

THOUSANDS of Brits are eligible for up to £75 in free supermarket vouchers, which will give them a boost as the cost of living increases.

From 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025 the Government is providing support to a number of homes through the Household Support Fund which is worth £421million.

2

2

Advertisement

Each council across England has been allocated a share of the pot and decides who to distribute the support to.

The funding will go to low-income households and will go towards food, energy bills, and other key bills, as well as other areas.

Part of the Household Support Fund is the issuing of vouchers for supermarkets to go towards essential food and household products.

“Funding is aimed at anyone who’s vulnerable or cannot pay for essentials,” the UK Government has said.

“You do not have to be getting benefits to get help from your local council.”

Applicants who prove that they are facing hardship will be awarded vouchers based on the size of their household.

Here are the varying amounts:

• Households with one or more adults will get £50 in supermarket vouchers.
• Households with one child will also get £50 worth of vouchers.
• Households with two or more children will get £75 of support.

Applications can be made through local councils and Citizens Advice.

People included in the target group for the funding include families with children, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers, disabled people, larger families and single-person households.

However, there are other households that could also be eligible for the support as each council has its own criteria.

All applications will be processed on a case-by-case basis.

The documents included in the applications should include proof of ID, a recent pill or proof of address that you live in the council the funding comes from, evidence of benefits, and evidence of hardship.

Any voucher issued can only be used for essential items and food and cannot be sold for money.

Cash payments will not be issued in place of vouchers.

It should be noted that successful applicants will only get a one-off support offering per household.

The majority of vouchers will be e-vouchers sent to recipients via email which could take up to 72 hours.

Applicants who fail to provide an email address will receive their voucher in the post.

MORE SUPPORT

Another form of support is being issued to those who have lost winter fuel payments.

Hundreds of households can apply for a £200 payment to help cover energy bills as part of the Household Support Fund.

It comes after the Government changed the eligibility criteria for the winter fuel payment meaning only those on certain benefits, including pension credit, will receive the up to £300 payment.

The best thing to do for either of these support packages is to contact your local authority to see if any help is on offer.

You can find what council area you fall under by using the Government’s council locator tool via Gov.uk.

The Sun recently shared a guide and interactive map to help those unsure figure out what they may be able to claim.

How has the Household Support Fund evolved?

Advertisement

The Household Support Fund was first launched in October 2021 to help Brits pay their way through winter amid the cost of living crisis.

Councils up and down the country got a slice of the £421million funding available to dish out to Brits in need.

It was then extended in the 2022 Spring Budget and for a second time in October 2022 to help those on the lowest incomes with the rising cost of living.

The DWP then confirmed a third extension of the scheme through to March 31, 2024.

Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt extended the HSF for the fourth time while delivering his Spring Budget on March 6, 2024.

Advertisement

In September 2024, the Government announced a fifth extension.