Intellectual Property Law

Sounds original!

Posted on September 29, 2010
From Dennis Crouch: Carl Oppedahl lost his case to register the mark ?patents.com.?  However, that setback did not dissuade him from continuing to push against trademark law limitations. Recently, the USPTO issued a trademark registration certificate for his ?sensory mark...

The skinny on fair use

Posted on September 29, 2010
Originally posted 2009-10-06 22:37:52. Republished by Old Post PromoterHow much dumb can possibly be fit into a size two?  Walter Olson rounds it up: Ralph Lauren lawyers: don?t you dare reproduce our skinny-model photo in the course of criticizing our use of skinny models [BoingBoing] With photoshop, evidently, quite a bit!  Here’s an excerpt from [...

Rat’s rights

Posted on September 29, 2010
Originally posted 2007-03-11 10:20:50. Republished by Old Post PromoterA Chinese company has been refused permission to use the name of a disgraced official as a trademark to sell rat poison.  Xinhua News Agency said the Shenyang Feilong Pharmaceutical Co...

New blawg for Oregon law

Posted on September 29, 2010
Originally posted 2007-03-30 11:08:27. Republished by Old Post Promoter Of course it’s called the Oregon Business Litigation blog! New blawg for Oregon law ©, .

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But it is the Dark Side? Or just plain old The Force?

Posted on September 22, 2010
Evan Brown:  ”Behold the power of in rem actions“: In rem actions over domain names are powerful tools. A trademark owner can undertake these actions when it identifies an infringing domain name but cannot locate the owner of that domain name...

Creative license

Posted on September 22, 2010
Originally posted 2008-05-11 23:02:29. Republished by Old Post PromoterDavid Donoghue reports on an interesting copyright issue blowing around Chicago, my home away from home: The Chicago Tribune’s Ameet Sachdev reported that an ongoing copyright dispute may be coming to a head at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street in Chicago, click here for [...

Likelihood of … whatever

Posted on September 22, 2010
Originally posted 2009-11-10 16:00:52. Republished by Old Post PromoterOkay, folks — this one is for the lawyers, pretty much.  It’s a Contract Interpretation Quiz (I’ve added the emphasis): Interpret this contract, reproduced below in full: In consideration of the sum of One Dollar ($1...

Where there’s smokes

Posted on September 22, 2010
Originally posted 2007-06-27 12:51:36. Republished by Old Post PromoterThe Denver Post reports a very interesting, and for trademark plaintiffs very troubling, decision that the Supreme Court has refused to review. It has to do with one of the standard criteria for the granting of a preliminary injunction in any case: A “balancing of the harms...

Google using trademark policy to shield MoveOn?

Posted on September 22, 2010
Originally posted 2007-10-11 10:09:38. Republished by Old Post Promoter(UPDATED, revised). That’s what Bob Cox is reporting in this story in the Examiner; more here. Google said it would not run anti-MoveOn ads because they supposedly violated its trademark policy prohibiting the use of anyone’s trademarks in online advertising by a third party...

Net Neutrality: Only one thing could be worse.

Posted on September 20, 2010
I haven’t written much about Net Neutrality.  A few years ago I did say this: Concurring Opinions writes in favor of Net Neutrality ? a key issue, and one that affects the ability of everyone in the world to get his thoughts on the Internet, as well as for everyone else to read them...

Hormel canned

Posted on September 20, 2010
The evidence shows that ?spam,? in addition to being petitioner?s trademark, has a well-recognized meaning as a generic term for unsolicited commercial email; the term isused by consumers, the media, Congress, state legislatures and those who sell solutions for such unwanted email...

Coca-Cola, Bolivia and all that

Posted on September 20, 2010
Originally posted 2007-03-19 20:53:24. Republished by Old Post PromoterWilliam Lozito at Name Wire (the newly renamed “Product Naming Blog” — hurray!) reports on the Bolivia / COCA / Coca-Cola, er, dustup. He notes the unmistakable parallel with the Ethiopian coffee trademark problem brewing with Starbucks...

Best Weblog

Posted on September 20, 2010
Originally posted 2007-11-09 12:00:54. Republished by Old Post PromoterThe voting is over, and LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION®, I am proud to say, is still listed among the finalists! Congratulations to David Lat and friends of Above the Law, who just barely edged this blog out as Best Law Blog...

Sixth Circuit IP

Posted on September 20, 2010
Originally posted 2007-02-25 10:39:47. Republished by Old Post Promoter It’s a blog, and naturally we’re flattered to be linked. But boy, isn’t this a fairly scary prospect — IP law broken out by circuit? Come on, this supposed to be one nation, under McCarthy and Nimmer (and whoever), indivisible! Please! Sixth Circuit IP ©, .

Looking smarter

Posted on September 20, 2010
Originally posted 2008-10-16 12:01:23. Republished by Old Post PromoterAn interesting development on the search-engine trademark infringement beat: In a weird development that looked impossible two years back, search engine giant Google Inc. last week agreed to cooperate publicly with Click Forensics, a click-fraud detection company with which it has had a rocky relationship...

Employees can expect some computer privacy

Posted on September 20, 2010
Originally posted 2006-09-25 14:17:00. Republished by Old Post PromoterThe general rule regarding employees and their computers is that they have no reasonable expectation of privacy as to communications or other information on them, as long as their employer has given them notice of that fact...

Marty Schwimmer, old man of IP blogs, still alive

Posted on September 20, 2010
Originally posted 2007-05-22 00:06:05. Republished by Old Post PromoterThe Trademark Blog Is Five Years Old (hat tip to Welch)! That’s the equivalent of 84 in blog years. I would never have thought he’d last this long when I first met Marty...

How Tweet it is

Posted on September 15, 2010
A little topical tweeting music from the last few weeks via @roncoleman: @VBalasubramani: State of Israel buys @Israel Twitter acct from Isr. Melendez (porn pdxr) | Hope they autoclave it @tamerabennett: LEGO brand lost appeal to protect shape of brick as a trademark in EU...

Best of 2009: “Intellectual property and its digestion”

Posted on September 15, 2010
Originally posted 2009-12-24 19:57:33. Republished by Old Post PromoterThis was first posted on February 20, 2009: Back and forth in in social networking space — once Facebook, I digest some key ingredients of intellectual property as it applies to famous burgers (reprinted with Ivan’s permission): Ivan Kevin Alexander Today at 10:35am Hi Ron, I had [...

The magnificent seven

Posted on September 15, 2010
Originally posted 2009-02-15 14:03:30. Republished by Old Post PromoterBlawg Review at the East Central Illinois Criminal Law & DUI Weblog: Today, we will find our inspiration in the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride...

Goldman Sachs, those big losers!

Posted on September 15, 2010
Originally posted 2009-07-17 00:01:51. Republished by Old Post PromoterRemember Mike Morgan, the flaky sort who dast challenge the mighty Men of Gold?   Now it’s over, like just another paid-back multi-billion dollar loan, and here’s how it all ends (via @walterolson): Mike Morgan, a Florida-based investment adviser who started the controversial blog GoldmanSachs666...

Returning balance to the IP equation

Posted on September 13, 2010
My article, “Trademark, Copyright, and the Internet: Time to Return Balance to Civil Litigation” in the August 31, 2010 edition of the Federalist Society’s Engage magazine is now online.  The opening paragraph is as follows: The law and business of intellectual property are in upheaval today...

Intellectual property and its digestion

Posted on September 13, 2010
Originally posted 2009-02-20 13:21:39. Republished by Blog Post PromoterBack and forth in in social networking space — I digest some key ingredients of intellectual property as it applies to famous burgers (reprinted with Ivan’s permission): Ivan Kevin Alexander Today at 10:35am Hi Ron, I had an interesting IP question/hypo that’s been weighing on my mind [...

Yes, you can get your trademark judgment enforced in a foreign country!

Posted on September 13, 2010
Originally posted 2006-12-19 17:59:24. Republished by Old Post PromoterUh, not really.  Not in this lifetime.  But you can get it enforced in Canada, which is the next best thing. Yes, you can get your trademark judgment enforced in a foreign country! ©, .

No respect

Posted on September 13, 2010
Originally posted 2008-02-15 11:17:48. Republished by Old Post PromoterMore aggressive branding gone bad:  A Singapore cosmetics company has withdrawn a line of makeup based on whimsical connections to the founder of Christianity: The products included a “Virtuous vanilla” lip balm and a “Get Tight with Christ” hand and body cream, featuring a picture of Christ [...

Authorized?

Posted on September 13, 2010
Originally posted 2009-01-22 16:48:55. Republished by Old Post PromoterThis better be, because The Force isn’t going to cut it for you these days! Authorized? ©, .

Blawg Review #280

Posted on September 06, 2010
Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year, begins this Wednesday night.  And what could be a more appropriate occasion for Blawg Review?for us to pass judgment on a world of law blogging about law, justice and perhaps even mercy?than the Day of Judgment?  Lest anyone think that Rosh Hashanah is of mere sectarian [...

Secondary Trademark Infringement treatise updated for 2010-11

Posted on September 06, 2010
From the Overview to the update of Secondary Trademark Infringement by Jane Coleman, which is now complete: Of all the contexts in which secondary liability has been raised, whether contributory or vicarious, the Internet has by far generated the most interest and attention...

The infringement that never has to say “likelihood of confusion”

Posted on September 06, 2010
Originally posted 2006-02-21 10:40:47. Republished by Blog Post PromoterProfessor Eric Goldman writes about the latest unfortunate development in the extension of “initial interest confusion,” that “infringement” of the Lanham Act that continues the trend eviscerating the doctrine of nominative fair use...

No, no, a thousand times no. Homey.

Posted on September 06, 2010
Originally posted 2006-05-11 13:18:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Damon Wayans is rejected again in his attempt to file a trademark that only black people would be allowed to use. Or am I missing something? No, no, a thousand times no. Homey. ©, .

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