A good press agent helps Kate Spade get the word out.  This is the second profile in two weeks the NY Times has run on Barbara Kolsun, general counsel of Kate Spade, and former head of the International Anticouterfeiting Coalition.  Interesting comment is her assertion that recently there were 900 auction sites selling fake Kate…

Bad week for Marvel Comics.  First, in the Second Circuit, Captain America creator Joseph Simon had his suit reinstated against Marvel, regarding the grant of the rights to Captain America.  This decision involves questions of equitable estoppel and termination of grants under the 1909 Copyright Act.  Next, Stan Lee sued Marvel, asking for a share…

Soemone searched for BEN AFLAC, annoying duck, Darevdevil star, and husband of J.Lo, owner of the Glow by J.Lo brand, and trademark suit defendant.

Since we upgraded the international trademark metasearch in the end of September, 2200 searches have been run.  Since we rolled out the improved domain dossier yesterday, 260 searches were run.

The new and improved DOMAIN DOSSIER (permalink on the left side of the
Trademark Blog home page) is four domain name tools in one.

First, enter a string and it provides a Whois for all five major TLDs (comnetorgbizinfo).

Second, it provides a link to an active website for that name, if one exists.

Thirdly…

I was introduced by a colleague to a company named Genuone, which specializes in brand protection technology.  They ran a demo for me of something I hadn’t seen before. Their software uses spidering technology to go out and look for websites which misuse brands.  This could be a powerful way for companies to really get a good “onlne brand picture.”  Their various tools can look …

Check out VERTU, a subsidiary of NOKIA, selling a $21,000 phone.  I agree with Wired’s assessment, that this is an attempt at the first luxury brand in telecommunications.  We will see more luxury versions of electronic items which are accessories – PDAs and to a lesser extent, laptops.  I don’t think we will…

Via law.com, trademark counsel for the Global Top 50 companies.  Baker & Botts in front with 7.  Fish and Richardson and Fulbright tied for second at 5.  I represent 1.  At my present rate of client acquisition, I hope to lead the list in 2005.