Tag: Famous Marks

With Friends Like These: Copyright Implications Of Novelists Drawing Inspiration From The Real Lives They Cross

Fiction writing has a curious claim on truth.  We learn this at the youngest age, listening to fairy tales when the child in us “intuitively comprehends that, although these stories are unreal, they are not untrue …”  Bettelheim, The Uses Of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales  (at 73).  We hear this in … Continue Reading

Australian trade mark law: Defending your well-known brand with a defensive trade mark registration

Australia’s trade mark legislation provides trade mark owners with the ability to register (in certain circumstances) their well-known brands as ‘defensive trade marks’ in respect of particular goods and/or services, even if the owner of the mark has no intention of using the mark in respect of those goods and/or services.… Continue Reading

Maybe Duct Tape Can’t Fix Everything: Slippery Standards As Copyright Goes Bananas

Whether one focuses on the word’s connotation of silliness or excitement, or maybe even anger, or analogizes to the raucous and rhymingly-named team from Savannah that makes up its own baseball rules, US copyright law is currently going a little “bananas.” From ongoing debates about the human element (or requirement) of authorship to debates over what … Continue Reading

Delhi High Court holds that personality rights of deceased persons are not heritable

There has been immense activity surrounding the jurisprudence of celebrity rights in India with numerous judicial pronouncements in recent years. As regards legislation, there is no statute in India that expressly recognises the publicity or personality rights of individuals; therefore, the aspect of inheritance of publicity rights of a deceased person is still not entirely … Continue Reading

Make Your Mark On History: Connecting Tradenames To Landmark Events, People & Places

The phrase “make your mark on history” is a commonplace one with several meanings and connotations.  It is one offered at many high school and college commencement speeches as an exhortation to graduates to have an impact beyond themselves–as future-President, then-Senator John F. Kennedy said when telling Northeastern’s graduating class in 1956 “to make your … Continue Reading

The Training Wheels are Off: The Copyright Implications of Training Generative AI

With the introduction of several readily available applications, artificial intelligence (AI) has leaped into the mainstream and brought with it a host of legal questions.  Following the release in November of the now popular generative AI platform ChatGPT by OpenAI, companies including Microsoft and Google are rushing to release their own generative AI services or … Continue Reading

Free Speech, Chatting About Friends, Kraken/Crackin’ On AI, & Thinking About Fred & Ginger: Generated Content, Amici Curiae, & A Case About Jack Daniels That Dances Around Trademark Issues And Leaves Some Things To Chew On

Lots of people are talking about ChatGPT. Some, like those at Microsoft, see it as a valuable tool to be integrated into their products and platforms; indeed, one of its lawyers thought that the answer provided by ChatGPT to his legal question “sounds like a pretty good lawyer 😉.” But others are wondering whether we … Continue Reading

Swiss federal agency successfully obtains relief in trademark issue before an Indian High Court

The High Court of Delhi recently adjudicated upon a case that involved an appeal from Armasuisse (a Federal Agency of the Swiss Federation) against orders of the Indian Trade Marks registry granting trademark registrations to a private Indian company for the marks SWISS MILITARY and in respect of class 25 goods. As a background, Respondent … Continue Reading

Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano? The answer is more complicated than just Geographical Indication

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

SECONDS & LEFTOVERS AFTER THANKSGIVING: Cleaning Up & Emptying Out The IP Fridge

The American holiday of Thanksgiving is tradition-laden and is celebrated as much for the leftovers after that November Thursday as it is for the turkey on that day, at least according to the US Department of Agriculture.  Indeed, Americans “idolize Thanksgiving left overs,” and the “[t]he overstuffing of America’s fridges has become something of a … Continue Reading

Why Creators Need to Pay Close Attention to the SCOTUS Andy Warhol Infringement Case

The US Supreme Court in March decided it will revisit a dispute over pop artist Andy Warhol’s images of Prince. In taking up the case, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, the Court aims to more clearly define the scope of what’s known as “fair use” in US copyright law. The … Continue Reading

Don’t Be Bamboozled by Environmental Benefit Claims

$5.5 Million FTC Settlements for Bamboo Textile and Environmental Benefit Claims Under Penalty Offense Authority The FTC recently announced that it has reached a $2.5 million settlement with Kohl’s and a $3 million settlement with Walmart for allegedly making misleading representations that textile products were made of bamboo fabric and provided environmental benefits because those products were derived from … Continue Reading

Spring Cleaning: Decluttering From Recent Intellectual Property Detritus & Dusting Off Old Posts

Our favorite thing about spring [is] spring cleaning. It’s a way to say, “I’m dusting off the winter blues and coming out of hibernation.”… At the office, spring cleaning can take on a whole new meaning. It is a chance to reorganize and refresh your workspace and your workflow. Plus, organizing will actually improve your overall focus and … Continue Reading

A DAVID AND GOLIATH STYLE UGG BOOT DISPUTE

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

Supreme Court Finds Google’s Copying of Oracle’s APIs a Fair Use

A recent Supreme Court decision has finally put an end to the longstanding fight between Oracle and Google concerning Google’s use of Oracle’s copyrighted Java Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The Supreme Court’s decision held that, contrary to the decision by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals which was discussed in our previous alert, Google’s use … Continue Reading

WHAT, IN THE NAME OF GOD, …?: Intellectual Property Rights In Holy Names, Sacred Words, & Other Aspects of Creation

The title of this piece tracks a common “phrase of exasperation used to emphasize a question or statement.”  If that be the case, and I think it is, then the subtitle implies the question this piece will address.  That question is “how have various countries’ intellectual property laws addressed efforts to copyright, trademark, or patent … Continue Reading

AUSTRALIAN PATENT LAW UPDATE – THE HIGH COURT HAS OVERTURNED OVER 100 YEARS OF LAW, FAVOURING THE US DOCTRINE OF EXHAUSTION

Late last year, the High Court of Australia overturned more than 100 years of precedent when it handed down its decision in Calidad Pty Ltd v Seiko Epson Corporation [2020] HCA 41 (Calidad v Seiko). Rather than following the existing principle of ‘implied licence’, in its decision, the High Court adopted a US common law … Continue Reading

Out Of Character: Jersey Boys, Detective Stories, & The Case Of Space-Traveling Tardigrades

At heart, and still, I am a non-singing Jersey Boy, and one who grew up reading Sherlock Holmes stories and watching Star Trek, the Original Series (before it even needed that modifier), in reruns in the 1970s while also keeping up with the real Rocky.  And, I have been writing for ILN IP Insider for … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Unanimously Rules That Willfulness Is Not Required to Recover Profits

The U.S. Supreme Court resolved a circuit split on April 23, 2020, by unanimously holding in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc., et al. that a brand owner is not required to prove that a trademark infringer acted willfully in order for the owner to be awarded the infringer’s profits. Background Romag Fasteners, Inc. … Continue Reading

BUSINESSES BEWARE: DEPRECIATION IN GOODWILL CLAIMS NOT BOUND BY INDUSTRY LINES

The Federal Court of Canada (the “FCTD“) recently released Toys “R” Us (Canada) Ltd v Herbs “R” Us Wellness Society, in which it considered whether a cannabis company, Herbs “R” Us Wellness Society (“Herbs R Us“), had breached Sections 20, 7(b) and 22 of Canada’s Trademarks Act (the “Act“) with respect to claims of trademark … Continue Reading

U.S. Supreme Court – Willfulness Is Not a Prerequisite for a Profit Award for Trademark Infringement

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

In Determination of Trademark Parody Fair Use, Culture Differences and the Products Used Should be Considered

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

Stop the Insanity! Sports Trademarks Run Amok

Sports and sports teams have a long history with intellectual property law and, more specifically, trademarks.  Sports teams, colleges, and universities have long trademarked their names and logos, and have routinely and aggressively enforced those rights.  In 1988 Pat Riley, then the head coach of the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers, applied for a … Continue Reading
LexBlog