Remember the days, 16 January 1996 until 4 March 2003, when many thought federal trademark dilution law required proof based on a "likelihood" of dilution, rather than "actual" dilution? Remember when Victor's Little Secret spoiled Victoria's Secret's party?
A company seeking to register the "Lawyers.com" mark received some bad news out of the Federal Circuit. The court upheld the Patent and Trademark Office's determination that the mark was too generic in relation to the kinds of services offered on the website, and affirmed the PTO's denial of the registration.
On July 7, 1994, the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights, chaired by the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks Bruce A. Lehman , issued a Report detailing proposed changes to the 1976 Copyright Act to address computer programs and the Net. This group is a part of the Information Policy Committee, which is one-third of the Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF), chaired by Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, designed to "articulate and implement the Administration's vision for the National Information Infrastructure".
Network Solutions, Inc. ( NSI ) processes more than 600 applications daily for domain names. With this request explosion, Internet users, innocently or intentionally, sometimes select domain names identical or substantially similar to trademarks or service marks of other organizations. NSI has neither the authority or adeptness to adjudicate domain disputes. What's a mark owner to do?
As a mark, a domain name can infringe other marks used in everyday commerce. In the past, Network Solutions, Inc. ("NSI"), which provides domain name registration services, did not participate in domain name disputes. Their new policy requires all applicants to represent the use of their domain name doesn't infringe a third party's mark or company name.
Between December 2nd and 20th, delegates from the member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization ( WIPO ) convened to consider certain conventions concerning copyright in the Internet Age.
Have you heard of Creative Commons? If not yet, you may soon. Creative Commons consists of a US charitable corporation and a UK not-for-profit company that has the underlying message that "some people may not want to exercise all of the intellectual property rights the law affords them."
Free music is now becoming more and more acceptable and mainstream - and believe it or not, it is legal. If this trend continues, it could very well be a long overdue answer to the plight of an arguably devastated music industry.
Legal services outsourcing provider CPA Global has just released the results of its annual State of the IP Industry Survey, which polled IP attorneys and corporate professionals in the U.S. and Britain on everything from the ebb and flow of IP expenditures, to the growth of patent monetization, to the toughest business climates for intellectual property.
The decision in MedImmune v. Genentech has changed the licensing landscape. Licensees and licensors may want to reevaluate existing patent licensing agreements in light of the holding. Both parties should also consider how to protect themselves in future agreements.