ICANN has redelegated the .la domain (country code for Laos).  This reportedly will allow for open marketing to names such as ilove.la, shoes.la, escortservice.la and the like.

TILLAMOOK COUNTRY SMOKERS moves for a declaration that it is not infringing the trademark TILLAMOOK, owned by its Tillamook County, Oregon neighbor, TILLAMOOK COUNTY CREAMERY.  Complaint via AmLaw here.  Previous readers of the Blog get the Apples of Oregon reference.

I think this is the most coolest thing UK IP Judge Hugh Laddie has ever done but I await word from my UK colleagues if Sir Hugh has ever topped this. 

A vendor sold scarves wtih the Arsenal football club name and indicia.  The issue turns on whether use of a team name in such way is trademark…

Here’s a guy who is attempting to use trademark law to build up some sort of snakehead fish monopoly.  Let’s be clear – I can sell t-shirts with pictures of snakehead fish,  and I can fairly describe those t-shirts as snakehead fish t-shirts, even if you have a federal trademark registration for SNAKEHEAD for

Incidental to an unrelated search, I came across this page entitled “Trademark Wars on the Web,” last updated December 1996.  I wrote two of the demand letters referred to (the links to them no longer work, alas), so it really brought back memories. 

The European Court of Justice ruled last week that cigarettes cannot be marketed with the terms MILD or LIGHT.  Japan Tobacco’s MILD SEVEN brand has a problem.  The ECJ decision seems to say “You can always pick another trademark.”

For those of you scoring at home, the Czech Budvar had a split decision in Hungary – it can use BUDWEISER but not BUD.

ICANN President Stuart Lynn’s interesting replies to comments on his proposal for new GTLDs.