‘Genericide,’ is one phenomenon of trademark law that lay clients always seem to be aware of – that they could, in theory, lose their trademark if it becomes the generic term for that product (which I suppose is a secret fantasy of many clients).
ASPIRIN, CELLOPHANE and ESCALATOR are famous examples of a brand losing
I was watching CNN and what I thought was a commercial for Fahrenheit 9/11 when suddenly I see Mayor Koch calling Michael Moore a liar. It was a commercial for Fahrenhype 9/11! Made me look!
By the way, if you type ‘Fahrenhype 9/11’ into Google, Google asks whether you meant ‘Fahrenheit 9/11.’
Clearly the name
Cert petition filed by various movie studios and record labels in Grokster, via Scotus Blog. Background here.
Ellesse has sued Sean “P Diddy” Combs for trademark infringement in connection with his use of a tennis ball logo on his SEAN JOHN line of clothing.
The Trademark Office has relaxed its regulations regarding pixel count in drawings submitted.
Here is a demand letter via The Smoking Gun written by Mary-Kate Olsen’s representatives to the distributor of a Save Mary-Kate T-Shirt, alleging trademark, publicity and privacy right infringement.
A bill ‘imposing penalties on the creators of spyware,’ The Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act (SPY ACT) was approved by the Acronym Committee and passed by the full House, 399-1.
The Senate is simultaneousy considering the Software Principles Yielding Better Levels of Consumer Knoweldge (SPY BLOCK) Act.
Via BBC.
Chanel sells sexy fashion and perfume. Sexy Chanel, now renamed Sexy Chanelle, sells, uh, escort services in Toronto. Oddly, she charges $4000 for 12 hours but $10,000 for 24 hours. In any event, Chanel has sued her over her use of the domain name SEXYCHANEL.COM. Part of the problem is the perfume bottle on
I’ve known Warwick Rothnie since before he took silk and became a barrister in Australia. He now has an Australian IP blog named IPWar’s.
The Unknown Tech Lawyer has also started an IP blog.
Counterfeiting in Ireland.
Counterfeiting in Russia.
Counterfeiting in Southern California.
Counterfeiting in Mexico.
Counterfeiting in India.