On October 1, 2011, businesses and creative industries won a major intellectual property battle. In an effort to impose international regulations on trademark and copyright infringements and prevent intellectual property theft, the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea entered into the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
Blog Posts - Trademarks
Chinese Intellectual Property Reform; Perhaps Coming to a Theater Near You.
Timothy Geitner, Treasury Secretary of the United States, joined the cry for China to increase protection of IP rights, stating that China has allowed “systemic stealing of intellectual property ”. These comments could signal a focused attack, from new branches of government, on China’s intellectual property policy. The lack of protection enforcement is an ever growing complaint, made more worrisome by the United States’ trade deficit and looming financial worries.
Trademark Owners Target Clicks, Not Sales, In a New Wave of Keyword Advertising Suits
In the recent case of InternetShopInc.com v. Six C Consulting, Inc., a Georgia district court surprisingly granted an injunction for keyword advertising despite the fact that the plaintiff did not produce any evidence of lost sales to their competitor. In this case, the plaintiff owns the mark “Dura Pro,” which sells golf mats.
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Protecting Your Brand – Why Sarah and Bristol Palin Can Trademark Their Names
Sarah Palin is now more than a former mayor or vice presidential candidate. She has now become an icon with her reality television show and book deals. As a result of her mother’s success, Bristol Palin has also built a brand as a spokeswoman for abstinence and as a competitor on “Dancing with the Stars.” Thus, in order to protect their brands, Sarah and Bristol Palin have filed applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office
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Microsoft Disputes Apple’s “APP STORE” Trademark: Says it is too “Generic”
Apple, Inc. filed an application to register the trademark, “APP STORE”, on July 17, 2008, three months before had Google released the Android. The term is currently used to refer to stores for apps that can be downloaded for Apple products, such as the iPhone, iPad, iPod, and the Mac computer. By January 5, 2010, Apple had finished the trademark examination process, and the mark continued to publication in the U.S.
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Nintendo and Donkey Kong Think “That’s Hot” – Wait, That’s Paris Hilton’s Catchphrase
Something is about to go down! The Princess needs to be saved from Bowser? Oh, it’s not just on; “It’s On Like Donkey Kong.” Nintendo is about to “party it up big time” . . . at least they hope. Nintendo has filed a request to trademark the popular phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kong” with the U.S.
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There are some things that money can’t buy. . . for everything else there’s counterfeit goods?!
One Gucci handbag. . . $3500. One pair of Gucci shoes. . . $425. The amount of money by credit card companies will have to spend on legal fees. . . priceless. In a recent decision by the Southern District of New York, two credit card processors and a bank were held liable for processing orders for counterfeit Gucci merchandise.
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Facebook's Trademark Infringement Saga Continues: Lamebook v. Facebook and Vice Versa
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There’s No Longer “An App for That”… Unless You’re Apple
Last week, Apple was granted a trademark for its well-recognized catchphrase “there’s an app for that.” Apple originally filed for the trademark in December 2009 after using the phrase in various advertising campaigns and commercials starting in January 2009 to emphasize the large volume of software applications it offers for its products.
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Does Gap’s Response to the Power of Social Networks Mean a Forfeiture of Any Trademark Rights to their Temporary New Logo?
Last week, Gap replaced their iconic ‘blue box’ logo with a new trademark. The response from consumers was less than kind. 
One user wrote on Gap’s facebook page, “This is the worst idea Gap has ever had. I will be sad to see this change take place.
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