UDRPlaw.net, a terrific resource for all things UDRP, has published its list of  “the more interesting, controversial and relevant domain name decisions of the past year.”  Keep your eye on the last case on the list involving BARCELONA.COM, now on appeal.  As the case stands now, the owner of a Spanish national trademark has standing under ACPA, which is not the case under any other provision of the Lanham Act.  I probably should include the appeal on my list of trends to watch in 2003.

This article reports that Verisign, registry operator of .com, is returning to the NETWORK SOLUTIONS brand for its registrar unit.  If so, it’s UK operations will have to do without the domain name NETSOL.CO.UK, which, as reported here, was dropped and registered by someone named NameGrab.  As to the reputation of the VERISIGN and NSI brands, Icann.blog made the comment I kept to myself.

More on the sex.com litigation via Law.com.  The Ninth Circuit has punted the case to the California Supreme Court.  At issue is registrant’s abilities to obtain compensation in part from NSI, due to its allegedly negligent handling of his domain name which was the subject of a fraudulent transfer.  The fraudfeasor has no visible assets so NSI is the likeliest source of recovery. 

Do a Google News of Peter Pan Copyright and you will coverage like this of the lawsuit filed by owner of the Peter Pan copyright.  Peter Pan appeared in a series of works in the UK in 1904.  Determining when and if characters fall into the public domain can be complex (see this excellent resource for international copyright sources).

A famous UK solicitor sent me this link to Section 301 of the UKCopyright Designs and Patent Act of 1988 which appears to grant ETERNAL royalties to the Hospital for Sick Children (the author of Peter Pan assigned his rights to the Hospital in 1929).  It’s not a copyright extension, just eternal royalties for usages of the work.  The solicitor explained to me that when the provision came up for discussion, no member of Parliament was prepared to stand up and say “no, I vote against giving money to the Hospital for Sick Children.”

I hear that Disney is considering buying the Hospital for Sick Children and using it as a holding company for its IP rights.  Just kidding.

Here is a DMCA demand letter from attorneys for Dow sent to the Yes Men, originators of a Dow parody site.  For those of you wishing to use the letter as boilerplate, the second sentence contains a typo and “Dear Verio” is probably not standard business salutation.

More information on the Dow dispute is here and here.

More links to other people’s demand letters here and here. 

Thanks to How Appealing for the link to this NY Times article on the effect of the expiration of European music copyrights as great recordings from the 50’s go into the public domain under a 50 year term for copyright.  In theory, it would be legal to place a European public domain recording on a European website. 

Two years ago today I began a project for Amazon.com and that was the first billed minute of my own practice after I left the mother firm.  A couple of days later Fred at Richemont sent over an assignment.  Jane at Bird and Bird was another early supporter.

Today Schwimmerlegal has over 2000 lawyers and annual billings of over US$1.4 billion.  It is the sole tenant in the 80 story office tower looming over Bayberry Drive in Mt. Pleasant, NY.  And we still provide the best value in copyright, trademark and domain name law.

I would like to thank Nathan the IT department, Anna the everything else department, and my virtual firm of Nadia and Aaron.  Blog thanks to Ernie and Bret.  And a special thank you, I love you, etc. to Melinda.

OK, the third year begins, line forms to the right.

 

I’m not going to write “Top 10 IP Law Predictions for 2003” because I could be wrong (and Google would cache how wrong I was).  Better: “Top 10 IP Law Trends to Look for in 2003.”  Problem:  I can’t think of 10.

1.  The Eldred decision will come down eventually.  If I were smart enough to know how the Supreme Court would decide, I’d be working at Goldstein Howe.  But either way, the decision will force us to confront the copyright term issue. If the Sonny Bono Act is upheld (ok, I predict it will be), then there will be added vigor to movements like Creative Commons and perhaps we will see a drive to amend the Copyright Act.  And copyright owners will explore how trademark will protect in the absence of copyright.

2.  The Victor’s Little Secret case will be decided and the old jazz standard “What Is This Thing Called Dilution?” will have some new words to go with its ambiguous melody.  At issue: whether the plaintiff has to prove actual damage from dilution as opposed to likelihood of damage. 

3.  Madrid Protocol – Good thing for US trademark owners, as one application will suffice to cover trademark applications in numerous countries.  We are likely to see implemnation this year (Don’t worry – I’ll keep you informed).  Bad thing for non-US trademark lawyers as they won’t get paid to file non-US applications by US companies.  Bad thing for US trademark owners as they won’t get paid to file US trademark applications by non-US applications.

4.  Digitization of the Trademark Procedures: My international trademark metasearch couldn’t exist four years ago.  I couldn’t have handled the number of applications I did this year without electronic online filing.  The real cost of portfolio management (should) come down every year as digit-pushing replaces paper pushing.

5.  Erosion of Western Brand Power – First, there is a something of an anti-brand intellectual current, as exemplified by Rev. Billy’s Church of Stop-Shopping and Naomi Klein’s No Logo book.  Then there is the fact that we are in a consumer-spending downturn when people are a little less likely to pay for a name.  Finally, there is the mainfestiation of anti-Western sentiment as local brand loyalty – case in point MECCA COLA.

I expect to finsih my trends to watch list by mid-December.  Stay tuned.