I just received an email request from Bangladesh asking if he could have the Bangladesh MECCA COLA rights. Resisting the temptation to ask for an upfront cash payment, I directed him here.
Explanation to those just joining us: because the Google gods love blogs, my site is one of the first non-Arabic sites appearing
The NY Times, which doesn’t want you to link to them, reports that Aeroflot has hired a London branding consultant, Identica, to help it re-brand. The airline labors under the perception that it is the worst airline in the world, a belief perhaps caused by the number of crashes it has (36 in 1991 alone,
Indian cybersquatting case regarding DELHIHIGHCOURT.COM and DELHILOWERCOURT.COM, via Kamudi Online via NameProtect.
What do trademark lawyers charge? There isn’t a lot of hard data but I have anecdotal evidence as to what constitutes “market,” at least in my part of the world. Therefore my jaw dropped when I took over two clients recently and saw their old bills. One NYC trademark boutique (not on anybody’s short list) was charging
Fashion fights SARS in Hong Kong, via Drudge Report (don’t know where Drudge got it). This article reports that (unauthorized) designer masks in HK is a booming business.
Habeas sells an anti-spam solution consisting of a copyrighted and trademarked Haiku. The Haiku must be appended to an email in order to pass through a Habeas spam filter. Thus mis-use of the Haiku, Habeas argues, is copyright and trademark infringement. Habeas has now announced the first batch of copyright and trademark suits against spammers
Strange article via NameProtect regarding a German lawyer hassling Linus Torvalds, owner of the LINUX trademark, in Germany. Misinformation, possible due to bad translation: while German trademark law does contain a 5 year user requirement, a German registration does not expire after 5 years as the article implies (German trademarks have 10 year terms, same
SPEJBL and HURVINEK are famous marionettes in Prague. This article from Prague Post Online reports that a dispute regarding the ownership of their names has now been resolved in favor of the creator’s estate. More on SPEJBL here and here. Puppetry links here.
A little bit of a puff piece via the Sydney Morning Herald but still a clever demonstration as to how color can designate origin and function as a trademark. Eco-Bananas has been granted a trademark in Australia for its red tips made of wax placed on the end of its bananas. The article indicates that there are
We previously reported that the NFL sued former Oakland Raider John Vella who had named his chain of sporting good stores RAIDERS LOCKER ROOM. Yahoo now reports that the case has been settled and the stores will be re-named JOHN VELLA’S LOCKER ROOM. Playboy v. Welles, the relevant caselaw on one’s ability to trade on