Legal Information : IP in the News

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20-Feb-2009
APPLE vs. THE BIG APPLE
In 2007, New York City applied for trademark protection with the United States Patent and Trademark office for a logo that consists of an apple with a stem and leaf. In 2008, Apple, Inc. filed an opposition to that application claiming that there wo...
 
30-Jan-2009
WHO STOLE MY BUDŽ?
WHO STOLE MY BUDŽ? Anheuser-Busch recently filed a domain name dispute against Pen Media LLC claiming that Pen Media's registration of the domain names BudRacing.com and BudweiserRacing.com infringes on Anheuser-Busch's BUD and BUDWEISER tradema...
 
02-Jan-2009
WILL THE REAL JACKASS PLEASE STAND UP?
Viacom, the parent company of MTV, has filed a domain name dispute petition with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in an attempt to obtain the rights to www.jackass.com. Right now, MTV owns the domain name www.jackassworld.com, whi...
 
12-Dec-2008
TYLER PERRY RULED ORIGINAL BY THE COURT
Tyler Perry was recently engaged in a copyright infringement lawsuit in Texas with a woman who claims that he stole material from her play for his 2005 movie "Diary of a Mad Black Woman". Donna West, the Plaintiff, asked the court to award her f...
 
26-Sep-2008
THE DOLL FIGHT: BARBIE VS. BRATZ
After a long court battle, Mattel, the maker of Barbie, was awarded a $100 million verdict against MGA, the maker of Bratz dolls. Mattel sued MGA claiming copyright infringement and breach of contract. The copyright infringement allegedly occurred ...
 
29-Aug-2008
JAMAICA TAKES ACTION TO SQUASH CYBERSQUATTERS
The Jamaica Intellectual Property Office has stated that it will block internet domain name registrations containing the names of its Olympic winners. The JIPO organization will block all sales from any .com domain that is not owned by the Jamaican ...
 
22-Aug-2008
SMALL COMPANIES MAKE BIG PROFITS THROUGH LICENSING
The T-shirt maker, C-Life Group Ltd. figured out a way to increase their profits from $10 million a year to an expected $100 million a year. Their secret? Licensing famous characters such as Spider-Man, Betty Boop and G.I. Joe and putting them on i...
 
31-Jul-2008
WHAT IS COPYRIGHTABLE?
The United States Copyright Act provides copyright protection for "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium expression, now or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced or otherwise communicated, either directly o...
 
03-Jul-2008
META TAG TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
The Eleventh Circuit Court recently ruled that using another's trademark in meta tags on a website could cause a likelihood of confusing thus constituting trademark infringement despite not displaying the trademark directly on the site. The Defend...
 
27-Jun-2008
APPLE TRADEMARKS THE IPOD SHAPE
In January, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a trademark to Apple for the three dimensional shape of the iPod mp3 player. This allows Apple to not only protect the iPod name but also its shape. While this nontraditional trade...
 
02-May-2008
DID VICTORIA'S SECRET STEAL THEIR SECRET?
A woman named Katerina Plew has filed a lawsuit against the mega retailer Victoria's Secret claiming that the retail chain stole her idea for a bra that hides the bra straps. Ms. Plew created the bra in 1999 and received a patent for the design in 2...
 
18-Apr-2008
CYBERSQATTERS AND CYBERSQUABBLES
Federal trademark owners have rights to the domain name of their federally registered trademark. Cybersquatting is the art of buying a domain name of a trademarked product or service and then selling that domain name for a profit to the trademark ow...
 
27-Mar-2008
MICROSOFT BUYS LICENSE FROM ADOBE FOR MOBILE PHONES
Microsoft has recently purchased a license from Adobe for software used for viewing online videos and other files on cell phones. All cell phone makers who use the Windows Mobile software will now be provided with the Adobe Flash Lite and Reader pro...
 
28-Feb-2008
ITALY REJOICES IN THEIR CHEESY VICTORY
A European Court recently ruled that PARMESAN is the proper and legal brand name of ONLY the tasty, crumbly cheese that is made near the Italian city of Parma. The Court ruled that Germany could not create imitation cheese and call it PARMESAN becau...
 
25-Jul-2005
EBAY SHINES IN COURT OVER TIFFANY & CO.
EBay who was sued by Tiffany & Co. for trademark infringement came out on top in the court battle. Tiffany claims that eBay is and should be held responsible for trademark infringement by sellers selling counterfeit Tiffany goods. The court ruled t...