An amazing blow-by-blow log of a software company going after an infringer (via Slashdot).
A couple of my initial reactions to this story:
1. This is why IP lawyers need to be forensic scientists;
2. This is why IP lawyers go after ‘middlemen’ such as ISPs;
3. This is why anonymity on the ‘selling’ side
2004
Reading Other People's Mail: MPAA v. LokiTorrent
A demand letter sent by an unidentified law firm representing the MPAA to LokiTorrent, a site allegedly facilitating unauthorized distribution of digitized movies using BitTorrent, a PTP protocol. Via Slashdot.
Test For A Little Tenderness
Here’s the thing to remember that gets forgotten. One of the functions of trademarks and appellations of origin is to act as shorthand. As Judge Posner might put it, consumers save time and money searching products by choosing a brand, as opposed to doing exhaustive analysis of propsective purchases.
One such shorthand is BLACK ANGUS. …
More People Find This Post On Puffery Informative
NY Times article on puffery and truthfulness in advertising claims.
New Trademark Fees
Effective January 31, 2005, trademark fees will change as follows:
Initial Applications:
- (1) $325 per international class if using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS)
(2) $375 per international class if submitting paper
Amendments or Responses to Office Actions:
- (1) $325 per additional international class when the fee is paid as part of a TEAS
…
Trademark Blog's Red Carpet Moment.
The Trademark Blog has been awarded the ‘Best Practice-Specific Legal Blog’ title by Dennis Kennedy of DennisKennedy.com. OK, I know Dennis, but still, there are a lot of good legal blogs listed and discussed here.
If You Saw The Lemony Snicket Movie . . .
. . . and you are a trademark lawyer that can’t leave work at the office, then you laughed at the Realtor gag and wondered if the NAR would write a nasty letter to the film’s producers because it used REALTOR as a generic term.
Then I got home and saw the “Hello, Trademark Infringement?”…
Popular Google Search Terms For 2004
Heartless TTAB Decision
A TTAB decision holding that the consumer placing a heart on a plush toy does not constittue trademark use, via TTABLOG.
The Beer Of Kings
A Reuters article regarding a World Trade Organization report on EEC treatment of appellations of origin (like FLORIDA ORANGES or IDAHO POTATOS but not, apparently BUDEJOVICKE BEER).