Copyright & Trademark Law Community Copyright & Trademark

Who Owns #Hashtags?

arina.shulga@gmail.com (Arina Shulga) — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:16:00 -0400

Proliferation of social media continues to stretch the boundaries of the law and its definitions. It prompts us to apply the proven legal concepts to new technological and social phenomena with no clear and well-defined answers.

A good example is a question of whether Twitter hashtags are anybody's intellectual property. If yes, then can a non-descriptive hashtag be used as a trademark? Does it mean that we need to expand our trademark searches to include Twitter hashtags?

First, let's look at the definition of a hashtag. A hashtag is a word preceded by a "#" symbol that was first proposed by Chris Messina to tag topics of interest

Nimmer on Copyright: Celebrating 50 Years -- A Copyright Matters Event

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:06:00 -0400

Please click the Attachment: post above to view the brochure.

DLA Piper Alert-NLA v Meltwater: The UK Supreme Court Makes a Reference to CJEU on the Issue of Temporary Copies

DLAPiper@placeholder.com (DLA Piper) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:44:00 -0400

The UK Supreme Court has handed down its judgment in the case of Public Relations Consultants Association Limited (PRCA) and the Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA) & Others. Whilst expressing the view that merely viewing copyright material online (as opposed to downloading or printing that material) does not amount to copyright infringement, it has nevertheless made a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union for clarification of its understanding of European law, given that the judgment will have important implications for many millions of people across the European Union.

The issues

Meltwater operates an online

"Do Not Track" Impasse Threatens Future of Online Behavioral Advertising

david.bender@dlapiper.com (David Bender) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:27:00 -0400

Excerpt:

Online Behavioral Advertising ("OBA") involves the use of information collected about consumers for the purpose of targeting them with ads based on their interests. This information is collected from the consumers' web surfing, their queries to search engines, and even from the content of their e-mails. The past few years have witnessed a robust debate over the types of conduct (if any) that ought properly to be permitted in implementing OBA. Among the stakeholders are various components of the OBA industry, governments, consumer advocates, and consumers themselves. Proponents of OBA claim that it funds the World Wide Web, and

Why Legal and Marketing Conflict on How to Choose a Trademark

Sands.Anderson@placeholder.com (Sands Anderson PC) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:42:00 -0400

by Donna Ray Berkelhammer

If you work with startups as I do, one of the first issues is choosing the company or product name.

I have worked with countless marketing companies that advised their clients to "be descriptive" when selecting the name of a company or product. Having a name that describes an aspect of the product or service allegedly makes it easier to market that product. You allegedly don't have to spend as much consumer education or advertising.

But, truly descriptive marks get relatively little protection under the trademark law.

Of Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights

Sands.Anderson@placeholder.com (Sands Anderson PC) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 09:19:00 -0400

by Donna Ray Berkelhammer

Entrepreneurs often know they need to protect their intellectual property, but often they don't understand what kind of intangible asset can be protected and under what law.

Patents:

Patents protect devices, processes, article of manufacture or composition of matter. The inventor basically has a monopoly for approximately 20 years from the date of filing to make, use, distribute or sell the invention. To get patent protection, the invention must be useful, novel and non-obvious; it may not be just an idea, theory

Fourth Circuit Holds Trademark Infringement Defendant Threw in the [Paper] Towel with Respect to Preclusion Defenses

Troutman.Sanders@placeholder.com (Troutman Sanders) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:34:00 -0400

by Stan Hammer

In its second published opinion vacating the judgment of the district court, the Fourth Circuit recently ordered that a jury's verdict awarding Georgia-Pacific nearly $800,000 in damages for trademark infringement be reinstated. Georgia-Pacific Consumer Prods., LP v. Von Drehle Corp., No. 12-1444 (4th Cir. Mar. 14, 2013) [an enhanced version of this opinion is available to lexis.com subscribers

LexisNexis Acquires 55 Analytical Titles from Oxford University Press

Gears@placeholder.com (LexisNexis Patent Law Community Staff) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:38:00 -0400

LexisNexis has acquired 55 analytical titles from Oxford University Press, U.S. Law Division, and will integrate them into the Matthew Bender® portfolio of legal products. 36 Intellectual Property titles highlight the portfolio. The titles are available for purchase on the LexisNexis Store; e-book and online versions will be available in June.

Please click on the Attachment: link at the top of the post to view or download the entire list (.pdf)

Foley & Lardner: ICANN Opens Trademark Clearinghouse as Part of Imminent Domain Name Expansion

FoleyandLardner@placeholder.com (Foley & Lardner LLP) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:24:00 -0400

With the launch of possibly hundreds of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) on the horizon, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will open on March 26, 2013 the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), in which brand owners can record their trademarks. The TMCH is a centralized repository for validated trademark information that can help protect against unauthorized registrations of trademarks as second-level domains (SLDs) within the new gTLD program.

Trademark owners are concerned about their principal brands being registered by third parties as SLDs (i.e., the word "before the dot") in new gTLDs open to

Kenyon and Kenyon LLP: New gTLD Trademark Clearinghouse Opening March 26, 2013

KenyonandKenyon@placeholder.com (Kenyon & Kenyon LLP) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:28:00 -0400

by Michael Kelly and Michelle Mancino Marsh

The new generic Top-Level Domain ("gTLD") program will soon be bringing a flood of diversity to the internet's domain name system. Over 1,900 new gTLD applications have been submitted for gTLDs such as ".apple," ".shoes," or ".llc," and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"), the organization that devised the program, expects technical testing for the new domains to

Developments In NC State Trademark Law

msperling@brookspierce.com (Mack Sperling) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:49:00 -0400

When I last wrote about SCI North Carolina Funeral Services, LLC v. McEwen Ellington Funeral Services, Inc., Judge Murphy had entered a TRO against the Defendants for trademark infringement over their use of the McEwen name in their funeral home business. The case seemed cut and dried then, and it looked like that the Defendants had no defense to the infringement claim.

Last week, Judge Murphy entered a preliminary injunction in the same case in The NAACP has accused an unofficial Chicago branch of infringing its trademark. In a complaint filed yesterday in the Northern District of Illinois, the NAACP South Side Branch has been accused of trademark infringement, dilution, false advertising, and fraud.

"Defendants are engaged

Someday, You Might Need a Trademark License to Use Christmas’ Red-Green Color Scheme

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:16:00 -0400

Okay, so Christmas' red-green motif isn't actually in jeopardy, but the use of colors (in particular, red and green) as trademarks is becoming a reoccurring legal theme.

First, it was red.

In the case of Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent,

Do You Consider Hyperlinking to Be Copyright Infringement? The Question Has Come Up in Europe

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:37:00 -0400

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has been asked to provide a ruling on how EU copyright law applies to hyperlinks. Late last year, a Swedish court asked the CJEU:

If anyone other than the holder of copyright in a certain work supplies a clickable link to the work on his

Dear Parents, We Own Your Child’s Copyrights, Signed – The School Board

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:09:00 -0400

A Board of Education in Maryland is attempting to exert ownership over the copyrights of teachers, students and employees.

According to Fox News, a proposed draft from Maryland's Prince George County Board would provide the Board with copyright ownership in works "created by employees and/or students specifically for use" by the

New York Pro Bono Files Cyberpiracy Lawsuit to Recover www.lawhelpny.org Domain Name

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:49:00 -0400

Pro Bono Net, Inc. is accusing a Vietnamese domain name registrant of cyberpiracy in conjunction with the registration of www.lawhelpny.org.

"Internet users are likely to be misled into believing that the website is affiliated with Pro Bono Net's LAWHELP services," the complaint argues.

The alleged registrant

University of Oklahoma Files Cybersquatting Complaint against Registrant of soonernetwork.com

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:49:00 -0400

The University of Oklahoma (OU) is suing Hugh Michael Glenn, who registered the domain name soonernetwork.com and linked it to the image of a longhorn, representing OU's rival the University of Texas.

The image also displayed the phrase "Go Longhorns!!!" and stated that the domain was for

Nimmer on Copyright Cited in 3000th Federal Court Decision

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:58:00 -0400

Nimmer on Copyright (searchable version available to lexis.com subscribers) was cited in its

Eric E. Bensen on The Supreme Court's Decision Respecting the Impact of a Covenant Not to Sue on a Defendant's Standing to Seek a Declaratory Judgment of Trademark Invalidity

ericbensen@paulhastings.com (Eric E Bensen) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:36:00 -0400

Can a trademark owner avoid a declaratory judgment that its mark is invalid by granting an accused infringer a covenant not to sue and seeking dismissal of the action? In Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc. [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers], the U.S. Supreme

An Unpleasant Coincidence: Cheese & Underwear at the Center of Two New Trademark Battles

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:40:00 -0400

Some things just don't go together, and it goes without saying that two of those things are cheese and underwear. This is a safe bet. However, the two recently came together in the trademark world; that is, cheese and underwear connected like two planets aligning only once every millennium.

Last Thursday, Kraft made cheese the focal point of its trademark complaint against Cracker Barrel. And on the same day, Jockey accused Hanes of infringing its mark for women's undergarments.

By Edwin Komen

Blehm v. Jacobs, 10th Cir., No. 11-1479, December 27, 2012 [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]

Flu Shots of Texas, a mobile wellness-shot business, has sued Flu Shots of Colorado, LLC and B 12 Shots of Colorado, accusing them of infringing the protected marks "To Beat the Flu... We Come to You" and "Flu Shots of America."

According to the complaint filed last Friday, the defendants

Borrower Avoids Trademark and Cybersquatting Accusations in Bashing Its Lender Online

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 10:02:00 -0400

A Minnesota federal court rejected trademark and cybersquatting claims levied against a borrower that created a website to warn consumers about what it perceived to be a lender's fraudulent business practices. Jalin Realty Capital Advisors v. A Better Wireless, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2461 (D. Minn. January 8, 2013) [enhanced