The town of Paisley, Scotland, home of the Paisley design, is upset by a Japanese firm seeking rights in the name PAISLEY MUSEUM, according to this somewhat confusing article.  Original designs would themselves have entered the public domain name long ago.  The Paisley pattern itself is based on Indian motifs.  A good history on…

Thursday’s Wall St. Journal ran an article (subscription only) on negotiations taking place at the World Trade Organization regarding appellation of origin (or certification marks, as they’re known in the U.S.).  Common certification marks in the U.S. include ROQUEFORT CHEESE (see below) and PARMA HAM (see here for more on info on Parma ham disputes…

Thanks to a Blog Reader at Skadden for forwarding a copy of the GLOBALSANTAFE.COM decision, in which the District Court in Viriginia exercised in rem jursidiction over a domain name, and ordered Verisign, the .com registry operation (located in Virginia) to cancel a domain name, despite a stay issued by a Korean court.

Via UDRPlaw.net, in GlobalSantaFe Corporation v. GlobalSantaFe.com, 2003 US Dist. LEXIS, 01-1541-A (E.D.Va. Feb. 5, 2003), the Court has ordered Verisign to cancel a registration of a domain name under ACPA, in spite of a contradictory order to stay cancellation from a Korean court. 

The Third Circuit has held that the Anti-Cybersquatting Protection Act will not retoractively apply to a domain name registered prior to the Act but will apply if the name is renewed.

The MBC Network has announced that it will roll out a 24 hour news channel targeted at African Americans, named MBC NEWS.  When  I heard the report on the radio, both the anchor and the reporter said “Not to be confused with NBC News.”  Which shows a likelihood of association, not confusion.

On the one hand…