Another political campaign with allegations of cybersquatting and infringement, this time in Wisconsin.
2002
More on Jeb Bush as Trademark Lawyer
There is a long and tortuous history concerning the trademark for HAVANA CLUB rum. There was a pre-Castro HAVANA CLUB rum and there is a present day Cuban HAVANA CLUB rum.
Bacardi (successor in interest to the pre-Castro rum) was influential in getting the U.S. to adopt legislation to ban importation of the Cuban version…
Senate Passes Madrid Protocol International Trademark Treaty
INTA is informing its members that the United States Senate passed the advice and consent resolution for the Madrid Protocol, an International treaty allowing for easier filing of trademark applications in multiple jurisdictions. The next step for the Protocol is the promulgation of rules by the USPTO. In addition, the U.S. must deposit its…
Apples of Oregon and South African ROOIBOS Tea
The term ROOIBOS (pronounced “royboss”), meaning “red bush”, is a generic term for a type of tea indigenous to South Africa. An American company registered the name as a trademark in the U.S. The National Law Journal Intellectual Property supplement this week has an interesting article on the dispute and the question of protection…
Grille vs. Grille
The Seventh Circuit will be hearing arguments this week on Daimler Chrysler’s allegation that the grille of the Hummer is confusingly similar to that of Daimlers Jeep. Here are photos of the grilles in question.
Is Resistance Futile Against the .ORG?
ICANN has re-delegated the administration of the .org TLD to the Internet Society and Afilias (the .info registry). Here are the comments from the losing bidders about perceived short-comings in the bidding process.
Most risque pun under the circumstances here.
Food and Gas This Exit
A reader forwarded me this item on Quaker Steak & Lube Restaurant. The author must have had motor oil on the mind because the article contains the seemingly unprovoked quote:
“Quaker Steak & Lube says it doesn’t have problems with trademark infringement with the Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., manufacturer of Quaker State oil and parent company…
Counterfeit Products on the Internet
Fortune.com article on counterfeit products on the Internet.
Self-Help for Motion Picture Copyright Owners
This Washington Post article discusses a new technology which increases the distortion when a camcorder attempts to record the image on a movie screen (but does not alter the image to the naked eye). Successful application of the technology could reduce movie piracy.
SCIONISM
SCION is a new brand from Toyota, to be rolled out in June 2003. It means offspring (or a shoot from a plant). BusinessWeek published the name in March when someone spotted the trademark application (once again showing the value of trademark databases). Register.com appears to have handled the domain name registrations for Toyota, and…