Out-law.com: “Lego Fails In Brick Trademark Bid“:
Lego has failed in its bid to register the shape of its play bricks as trade marks. A European court said that the brick shape was functional and that it had to be that shape to operate as it did, so could not be registered as a trade mark.
Trademark Blog Lego archive.
Harry Potter Lexicon Case Appealed
The Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society will represent the defendant in the appeal of the Harry Potter Lexicon case, discussing whether defendant’s ‘Lexicon’ of the Harry Potter books constitute fair use.
Argentine Search Engines Told To Block Famous Names
Out-law.com: Argentine Search Engines Told To Block Famous Names:
Search engines in Argentina have been banned from linking to stories naming up to 100 famous people including football legend Diego Maradona in a move critics have said is tantamount to censorship.
Google and Yahoo! have filtered search results relating to the names on their Argentine sites but not their international ones, the companies told internet filtering campaigning organisation the OpenNet Initiative (ONI).
Rights Owner of Elvis ‘Idol’ Scuttles Plan to Go Private
WSJ: Rights Owner of Elvis, ‘Idol’ Scuttles Plan to Go Private:
CKX Inc., which licenses the rights to images of Elvis Presley and other celebrities, said that a $1.33 billion plan to go private has fallen through because of “extraordinary” economic conditions.
. . .
In an interview last year, Mr. Sillerman said he wanted to take CKX private because certain celebrities were uncomfortable about disclosing personal financial details, which would be required if they entered a broad agreement with a public company. These people, whom Mr. Sillerman declined to name, would be more comfortable dealing with a closely held company, he said.
Inside Counsel Article on Tiffany/eBay (quoting me)
Schwimmer Inside Counsel Article
Hey, Our Lawsuit Against Disney Was Mentioned In The Times Today

We’re representing THOIP, owner of the Hargreaves’ MR MEN LITTLE MISS family of characters, in a lawsuit alleging that Disney infringed THOIP’s trademarks. The Times mentioned our suit in passing today while reporting on a different suit in which Disney is accused of infringement.
COOLEST. COUNTRY. EVER.
God Bless Our Country.
Domain Tasting Down 84%?
The Intellectual Property Constituency of ICANN sent around an email this morning suggesing that at first glance, the registry monthly reports for July, the first month in which ICANN instituted a .20 fee on all domain name registrations in order to cut down on the practice of ‘domain tasting’ (the registration of domain names for 5 days without a fee), there has been an 84% decrease in domain names deleted after the 5 day grace period.
Naming This Post “Same Great Taste” Would Have Been Inappropriate
Last year, small children ingested beads of toy named AQUA DOTS, which contained a substance similar to GHB, colloquially known as the date rape drug. The manufacturer has now re-branded AQUA DOTS as PIXOS.
Apparent No Illegibility Defense In The UK
Out-law.com: “Defence of poor quality trademark reproduction rejected by Court of Appeal“:
A man has tried to overturn a conviction by claiming that he could not have infringed a trade mark because his copy of it was so poor. Gary Boulter has been refused permission to appeal his conviction of criminal trade mark infringement.