Some years back, a young Kenyan graduate, working as an intern for a public state corporation, developed an innovative solution that earned his employer a global innovation award. However, his application for intellectual property rights was ignored by his employer, who continued to bask in the fame and glory of the global award. Was the … Continue Reading
The World Intellectual Property Organization announced on May 24, 2024, a treaty on intellectual property, genetic resources, and associated traditional knowledge that was twenty-five years in the making. As WIPO’s press release noted, “[n]egotiations for this Treaty began at WIPO in 2001, initiated in 1999 with a proposal by Colombia, where discussions were notable for … Continue Reading
From the Big Mac v Big Jack to the KFC v HFC – 2023 was the year of the burger. In Australia, the burger debate was first brought to our attention in 2020 following a marketing campaign by Hungry Jack’s Pty Ltd (Hungry Jack’s) for its limited-edition Big Jack burger. Hungry Jack’s (better known as … Continue Reading
“Yes, the law is about words…,” says Ben Chiriboga in writing about the essential skills that lawyers must have. And Ken White noted more recently that “the entire project of the law is about words meaning specific things.” But our problem often is that the law, or lawyers, frequently use unfamiliar or exotic terms that … Continue Reading
Exclusive rights over a trademark in Colombia arise solely from registration. Therefore, the general rule is that a trademark registered or protected under the legislation of a different country may not be used as valid grounds for opposition against a trademark application in Colombia. However there are exceptions to this rule, namely, by filing an … Continue Reading
One of the ways that a “Geographical Indication”, or a “GI” can be protected in Australia is by registration of a ‘certification trade mark’. Certification trade marks are a specific type of trade mark registration designed to identify goods or services that meet certain standards or hold certain characteristics, including (but not limited to) goods … Continue Reading
In the recent case of The European Union vs. Union of India and Ors., W.P.(C)-IPD 5/2022 and W.P.(C)-IPD 6/2022, the Petitioner (European Union) filed two writ petitions against two orders passed by the Controller General of Patents for deemed abandonment of its patent applications. By way of background, the Petitioner had initially engaged a European … Continue Reading
Suppose that you have an invention disclosure for a design of an article that you want to protect. When you review the invention disclosure, you notice that the design is ornamental, for example, a pattern, on an article such as a chair. You want to file a patent application to protect the design. Can you … Continue Reading
Admittedly, the second word in that title is a mouthful—but Paraskavedekatriaphobia is a real word, with an etymology and definition. It even has a synonym, friggatriskaidekaphobia. Each means “fear of Friday the 13th.” Though I am tempted to write this October piece about Halloween (whether it is the day or the movies by that name, … Continue Reading
Just over five years after the California-based retail giant Deckers Outdoor Corp. (Deckers) filed a lawsuit against Sydney-based footwear company, Australian Leather Pty Ltd (Australian Leather) for trademark infringement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled in favour of Deckers. The Court of Appeals affirmed the previous decision of the district … Continue Reading
Foreign entities looking to register Australian domain names need to be aware that the eligibility requirements have changed and the threshold is now much higher. If a foreign entity is relying on a registered Australia trademark to meet the Australia presence requirement, they must ensure that their domain is an exact match to that trademark. … Continue Reading
“One man’s legally sanctioned privateer is another man’s pirate.” [James Wadsworth, Global Piracy: A Documentary History of Seaborne Banditry (2019), at p. 8] We live in a time of contradictions and confusion, and today we aim to explore how some such tensions have manifested themselves in the area of intellectual property law. On the one … Continue Reading
In its unanimous April 23, 2020 opinion in Romag Fasteners v. Fossil, Inc., the Supreme Court made clear once and for all that a successful trademark plaintiff is not required to establish that the defendant’s infringement was willful to be entitled to an award of the infringer’s profits. In other words, profits may be disgorged … Continue Reading
Generally speaking, “trademark parody fair use” is a defense where an unauthorized trademark user claims that the use should be shielded from liability because of public interests such as freedom of speech. In Taiwan, while there were court judgments that recognized “trademark parody fair use”, there is no clear language for such defense in the … Continue Reading
Within a year after the 1787 Edinburgh edition of his poems, American editions…were published in both Philadelphia and New York. Ever since we [Americans] have adopted the beauty, the humor and the wisdom of Robert Burns as part of our own culture and our own idiom—-often, even usually, without knowing the source in Scotland’s ploughman poet. … Continue Reading
Chinese (Mandarin) is the national language in Taiwan. To expand the market in Taiwan, many foreign companies will select the Chinese translation or transliteration of their foreign brands as locally used brands (trademarks) so that the consumers in Taiwan may identify more easily. However, in Chinese language, one character may have multiple pronunciations or meanings. … Continue Reading
On June 17, 2019, Canada’s Trademarks Act changed, resulting in its modernization. Canada has now joined five international intellectual property treaties, including the Madrid Protocol, Singapore Treaty and Nice Agreement, all related to trademarks. There has been a great deal of activity to get ready for the changes. To implement the changes, the Canadian Trademarks … Continue Reading
The relationship of wine, beer, and spirits has often proved complicated and confusing for the tippler, regardless of country. There are old saws that many repeat, and report on, that say things like “Beer Before Liquor, Never Sicker; Liquor Before Beer, You’re In The Clear” and “Wine Before Beer Leaves You Queer, But Beer Before … Continue Reading
On 24 April 2018 the Intellectual Property Court published its Decision in case A41 85807/2016 between Swiss-based Novartis AG and local generic Nativa LLC. The IP Court’s position in this case may result in an extra defense granted for patent holders against unfair practice of registration of generics drugs until patent expiry.… Continue Reading
First Witch: When shall we three meet again/In thunder, lightning, or in rain? Second Witch: When the hurlyburly’s done,/When the battle’s lost and won. Third Witch: That will be ere the set of sun. *** ALL: Fair is foul, and foul is fair:/Hover through the fog and filthy air. [MacBeth, Act 1, Scene 2] … Continue Reading
A Hong Kong-based electronic toy manufacturer and its U.S. subsidiary agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) $650,000 to settle allegations that they violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children without providing appropriate notice and consent, and by failing to take reasonable steps to secure the data … Continue Reading
Introduction From Bullseye to Mastermind and from The Chase to Eggheads, it is undeniable that the public love a TV game show. Who (in the UK) doesn’t remember Judith Keppel sensationally becoming the first winner of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? A total of 14.9 million UK viewers (that is about a quarter of … Continue Reading
** Originally published by DRI in August 2017 edition of For The Defense ** Intellectual property laws are aimed at allowing intellectual property owners to hold rights in their property for a certain period of time to the exclusion of all others. Exclusivity is the essential purpose of intellectual property rights. Conversely, the essence of fair … Continue Reading
The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) with its decision X 2r 33/10, announced on August 21, 2012, rejects claims for infringement of MPEG-2 video coding patents by a Greek DVD manufacturer: The DVD, as such, is NOT a means of infringement of the patent claim in dispute. On August 21, 2012 the German Federal … Continue Reading
