New INTEL Logo
Filed with the PTO December 21.
« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »
December 30, 2005
More On Whether INTEL INSIDE Is Out
In connection with rumors that the INTEL INSIDE mark will be dropped, IPKat provides a gallery of tarnishing images of the INTEL INSIDE mark which makes one wonder: Is tarnishment proof of fame?
Note: the IPKat entry starts with a non-Intel item on geographical indications that is worth reading as well.
December 29, 2005
I Know You Are But What Am I?
From the Splog Desk:
First, Jason Calcanis points out that Online Cash King is republishing his blog without authorization.
Then Online Cash King points out that Online Cash King is republishing his blog without authorization.
Jason: Try this - post the following: I, Onlne Cash King admit to violating the Trademark and Copyright Acts and will consent to an order entered against me enjoining me from all such future acts and paying Jason Calcanis damages in the amount of One Trillion Dollars.
LAWYERS.COM Unregistrable As Generic Term
Citable TTAB decision rejecting application for LAWYERS.COM on genericness grounds.
Echoing TTablog, my reaction to the decision was 'coulda told you that in fewer than 29 pages' although to be fair to the Board, most of the decision is concerned with shutting down a ploy in drafting applications for [generic].com marks.
Trademarks build brands and domain names build pre-brand traffic. When it comes to generic domain names, it appears that you cannot have everything (though some of us will keep trying).
Starbucks v. Charbucks
Starbucks fails to prove CHARBUCKS dark roasted blend 'tarnishes' Starbucks brand. Via Starbucksgossip.
Sly v. Sly
December 28, 2005
GooglePrint Hack To Read 'Most Of' A Book
This hack of Google Print which is being disseminated around the Web today at the blogospheric velocity allows you to read all (or perhaps all of the significant bits) of books on Google Print. The method seems to be especially effective for reference works.
This would seem to suggest that the market for certain types of books may be adversely affected by Google Print.
As this blogger puts it 'why lug around a 1300-page reference when you can just look it up on Google."
December 27, 2005
Rumors Re Intel Dropping 'Intel Inside'
Unsourced rumors re Intel dropping the INTEL INSIDE trademark reported here by the Inquirer.
If things are slow you can go to uspto.gov and do an ownership search for recent filings by Intel (Intel has filed multiple applications for CORE INSIDE, XEON INSIDE and PENTIUM INSIDE, all since Dec. 1).
December 23, 2005
Celebrity Endorsement As Theatre
Must-read: Peyton Manning: The Man And The Brand, via This Blog . . . Hat tip to the less famous Froomkin.
December 22, 2005
Old Soda Cans
Collection of old soda cans. Hat tip Kottke.
December 21, 2005
UK Trademark Office Says Fcuk That To Invalidation Action
Barbie Story Disturbing For Various Reasons
Odd Story Regarding TRO Against Letterman
December 20, 2005
Gotta Catch Them All
Nintendo, owner of the Pokemon property, has protested the use of the name POKEMON by scientist Pier Paolo Pandolfi (pictured above) to refer to the POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic gene in his Nature article "Role of the proto-oncogene Pokemon in cellular transformation and ARF repression."
December 19, 2005
Evolution of the AT&T Logo
Animation of the evolution of the AT&T logo, with music, here.
Katrina Blows, Bush Sucks, Examiner Rejects
Go to the Trademark Search site and look up serial number 78706886 for the mark KATRINA BLOWS, BUSH SUCKS. Go to TDR and look at the office action rejecting the mark on 'sandalous and disparaging' grounds.
Coupla points:
1. How come this application got an office action after two weeks, when every other application waits seven months?
2. Note the usual interesting interplay between free speech and section 2(a).
3. Is 'sucks' that scandalous and disparaging these days?
4. The thought of the applicant getting the President's consent is, uh, funny.
5. Note the last name of the examining attorney.
UPDATE: It has been brought to our attention by a reader who apparently has too much time on his hands that this same examiner has rejected the application LIAR LIAR BUSH ON FIRE. Shouldn't she recuse herself?
Hat tip: JW.
Ferns Belong To All New Zealanders
and therefore the New Zealand Rugby Union cannot register it as a trademark. Via stuff.co.nz.
A Clean Well-Lighted Trademark Suit
Hacking Santa
December 16, 2005
Jones Day Lawyer Target Of Spoof Site, Wins Injunction
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
December 13, 2005
'Let Them Sing It For You'
David Post thinks that this tool from Swedish radio named 'LET THEM SING IT FOR YOU' is a copyright violation.
'False Statements About Trademark License Are Actionable"
43(B)log discusses Northern District Illinois case: 'False Statements About Trademark License Are Actionable.'
December 12, 2005
Pooh and The Termination Notice
Ninth Circuit decides complex case interpreting copyright termination under the 1989 CTEA (Sonny Bono act). From the decision:
This copyright action arises from a termination notice sent
by the appellant to the appellee, seeking to recapture rights to
various characters created by her grandfather, Alan Alexander
Milne, who authored the "Winnie-the-Pooh" children's books.
Milne originally granted various rights in those works to the
appellee in 1930. Then, in 1983, due to a change in copyright
law in 1976, Milne's heirs considered terminating the 1930
grant outright, but instead entered into a new agreement that
revoked the original grant and re-issued rights in the works to
the appellee. The appellant seeks to invalidate the 1983 agree-
ment based on 1998 legislation. The 1998 legislation only
authorizes the termination of copyright agreements executed
before 1978. Because the 1983 revocation and re-grant were
valid, we affirm the district court's decision.
Newsweek on Search Engine Optimization
December 10, 2005
Blog Content Theft: You Can't Make This Stuff Up
Micro Persuasion's post entitled "Blog Content Theft, reporting that two blogs, one named 'Surferdiary.com Advertising Blog" and one named "Podcast Broadcast," were re-publishing word-for-word Micro Persuasion's content.
Here's Surferdiary.com's post entitled 'Blog Content Theft."
Here's Podcast Broadcast's post entitled 'Blog Content Theft.'
7th Circuit Peer to Peer Case
BMG Music v. Gonzalez, 05-11314 (7th Cir Dec. 9, 2005) (Easterbrook, J.)
Surrealist Logo
So it turns out that Salvador Dali designed the CHUPA CHUPS logo.
Law Review Article on Initial Interest Confusion
Initial Interest Confusion: Standing at the Crossroads of Trademark Law by Jennifer Rothman, Cardozo Law Review, Vol. 27, p. 105, 2005,
Abstract:
While the benchmark of trademark infringement traditionally has been a demonstration that consumers are likely to be confused by the use of a similar or identical trademark to identify the goods or services of another, a court-created doctrine called initial interest confusion allows liability for trademark infringement solely on the basis that a consumer might initially be interested, attracted, or distracted by a competitor's, or even a non-competitor's, product or service. Initial interest confusion is being used with increasing frequency, especially on the Internet, to shut down speech critical of trademark holders and their products and services, to prevent comparative advertisements and to otherwise limit information and choices available to consumers.
Contemporary trademark law is at a crossroads and the initial interest confusion doctrine stands at the center of this intersection. This article uses the troublesome doctrine as a prism to analyze three crucial issues that will decide the future of trademark law: The first is whether it is ever acceptable to trade off of the goodwill established by another. The second is whether trademark protection primarily serves to protect consumers from being duped by unethical competitors, or instead primarily serves to bolster the business of individual trademark holders. Finally, the article considers the fundamental question: are trademarks and trademark infringement actions about protecting property rights or about providing more limited rights akin to tort and unfair competition actions? The answers to these questions lead to the conclusion that the initial interest confusion doctrine must be eliminated and trademark infringement returned to its origins as a narrow cause of action primarily directed at protecting consumers from deceptive business practices.
December 09, 2005
DYKES ON BIKES Ride To Publication
TARR shows that DYKES ON BIKES (filed by a lesbian biker group) has been approved for publication. Background on the issue (whether members of a group can register a 'scandalous' pejorative term that applies to that group) here.
Google Increases Font Size Of Adwords To That Of Organic Results
Whether an ad appearing alongside organic search results for a search consisting of a trademark, creates a likelihood of confusion with that trademark, may depend in part on the user's ability to distinguish what on the search results page is an organic result and what is a paid result.
Publicly available research in the topic is sparse and of questionable methodology. However, for what it's worth, such research suggested that users were not easily distinguishing between paid and organic search. However, with the growing public awareness of Google and paid search in general, it may be the case that this research is out-dated.
Be that as it may, it is likely a step backward that it appears that today Google increased the size of the Adwords font so that it is the same size of the organic results.
Google screenshot from Bizresearch.
Dave Winer on Wiki
Dave Winer comments on the flap caused by Adam Curry allegedly anonymously altering the contents of the Wiki entry on podcasting. On a different point, I had mentioned earlier this week that trademark owners whose marks were susceptible to genericide would do well to monitor Wiki entries on those marks.
For what it's worth, I entered 'Wiki [trademark]' as a Google term for 10 different trademarks and got that trademark's Wiki entry as top hit 10 of 10.
December 07, 2005
STARBUCKS v SAMBUCKS
December 06, 2005
'Women Turn To Online Rentals For Handbags'
Instrument Shaped Objects For Beginners
Asking For Trouble
In the Nov/Dec issue, Law Firm, Inc notes that as a result of the Foley Hoag v. Foley Lardner matter, it will be 'keeping an eye on Baker & McKenzie; Baker, Botts, and Baker & Hostetler; Holland & Knight, Holland & Hart; Fish & Richardson and The Fish and Neave IP Group of Ropes & Gray.'
December 05, 2005
From a reader
December 04, 2005
What Does Wiki Say About Your Brand?
Something for trademark lawyers to do when its slow: search Wikipedia to see what it says about your brands. One reason has to do with preventing genericide (I suspect that the lawyers for THERMOS and PING PONG have been in conact with the folk at Wiki.
There's also the corporate image thing. Pick any controversial corporation and check out the listing.
Discussions about the Wiki editing process here and here.
UPDATE: Wikipedia will require registrations to post - discussion here.
Hasbro Defends Irkutsk
Via Slashdot, a demand letter sent to the distributor of a game based on RISK, using Google map:
December 1, 2005
By FedEx and Email
SPAM on spam
Position statement from Hormel, owner of the SPAM trademark, discussing use of 'spam' for un-solicited commercial email.' Statement properly includes attribution to Monty Python.
The Oldest Trademark In Relation To Recorded Sound
. . . is COLUMBIA RECORDS, according to Wiki.
December 03, 2005
Yale Search Engine Symposium Papers
December 01, 2005
43(B)log - False Advertising Law Blog
Rebecca Tushnet, Goergetown Law Professor and comics aficionado, has re-positioned her blog as 43(b)log - False Advertising and More.