By: John Nading, Ashley Joyce, and Devika Persaud In a 7-4 en banc decision last Friday, July 27, the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that language in the Patent Act does not allow the USPTO to recover its attorneys’ fees regardless of which party prevails in a district court litigation. NantKwest, Inc. v. … Continue Reading
By Claire Sng and John Wilks With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) having taken effect across the EU on 25 May 2018, this has meant a big change to the availability of WHOIS data (ie data recording – among other things – the persons who own domain names). See an earlier DLA Piper article … Continue Reading
By: Ann K. Ford and James K.S. Stewart The immense rise in popularity of social networks has led to the proliferation of social media celebrities—individuals who have amassed a great number of “followers” based on their unique ability to artfully curate content designed to create an idyllic impression of everyday life and along the way … Continue Reading
By: James Clark The United Kingdom has announced plans to introduce a new “Data Protection Fee” to replace the current system of registration for data controllers. Draft Regulations[1] were laid before Parliament on 20 February 2018 and the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), the independent supervisory authority set up to promote and oversee compliance with data protection … Continue Reading
By Nick Fitzpatrick, Peter C. White, Prof Dr Stefan Engels, Qiang Li, Giangiacomo Olivi, David R. Pahl, and Jamie Ryder (Repost from DLA Piper Insights re: Global Media Sector Trends 2018 report –March 2018) DLA Piper’s new Global Media Sector Trends 2018 report explores how new commercial opportunities are being created by disruption, specifically in … Continue Reading
By Tamar Duvdevani and Matthew Ganas (with contributions from Michael Varrige) The Copyright Act (the “Act”) permits copyright holders to bring civil infringement actions in federal district courts to enforce the exclusive rights provided under the Act, namely, the rights to reproduce, distribute, display, publicly perform, and create derivatives of an original work of authorship. … Continue Reading
By: Frank Ryan and Matt Ganas (with contribution from Michael Varrige) The California federal district court, in Davis v. Electronic Arts Inc., recently issued the latest in a series of decisions involving athletes’ right of publicity (“ROP”) claims aimed at Electronic Arts’ (“EA”) popular sports videogame franchise. The plaintiffs in Davis are retired NFL players … Continue Reading
By Ryan C. Compton, Ashley H. Joyce, and Naomi E. Abraham (Washington, D.C.) Today’s means of communication is ever more dependent on social media. Whether you’re an individual, a one-woman shop, a fortune-500 company, or even the President of the United States, social media is the fastest and easiest way to be heard. But where … Continue Reading
By: Ruth Hoy and James Tighe On 6 September 2017, the EU Commission published its position paper setting out the main principles that will govern its attitude to Brexit negotiations with the UK on intellectual property (the “Paper”). The Paper sets out 5 General Principles: Principle 1: European IP rights should continue to retain comparable … Continue Reading
By: Karine Disdier-Mikus, Dr. Ulrike Gruebler, and Désirée Fields EU trademark law is currently undergoing the biggest reform in its history. 1 October 2017 marks another important milestone in the implementation of the EU Trademark Reform Package as a further set of very important amendments will come into force. The main areas of change include the … Continue Reading
By: Sangeetha Punniyamoorthy and Thomas Kurys (Toronto) The Supreme Court of Canada recently released a landmark decision in which a broad worldwide injunction was upheld restraining Google from including certain websites in its search results anywhere in the world. Intellectual property rights-holders seeking to enforce intellectual property rights in an online world where infringers are … Continue Reading
By John Nading, David Kramer, James Stewart, and Alberto Zacapa The Supreme Court today struck down the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act as facially invalid under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, affirming the decision of the Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit. This outcome in Matal v. Tam is a victory … Continue Reading
By Melinda Upton and Claire Kermond (Sydney) In the retail and fashion industries, names and marks are a key element of the marketing strategies and longevity of brands. Using generic marks or names can land retailers and fashion designers in trouble when it comes to successfully trademarking and protecting their brand.… Continue Reading
DLA Piper is pleased to announce the launch of Prize Promotions Around the World, an updated version of our previous prize promotions handbook. Prize Promotions Around the World is an online tool designed to assist our clients across the globe with the management of the early development stages of a prize promotion (such as a sweepstake … Continue Reading
By Rohan Singh, Jessica Noakesmith and Brett Shandler Universal Music Australia Pty Limited v TPG Internet Pty Ltd [2017] FCA 435 (28 April 2017) (Universal Music) Last week in the Federal Court of Australia, over thirty internet service providers (ISPs) including TPG, Optus and Telstra were ordered to block access to the torrenting website KickassTorrents … Continue Reading
By Rohan Singh (Special Counsel) & Jessica Noakesmith (Graduate) A recent report based on customs’ seizures by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that fake information and communications technology (ICT) goods accounted for 6.5% of the overall ICT trade, well up on the 2.5% of overall traded goods found to be fake … Continue Reading
By Tamar Duvdevani On March 22, 2017, in a 6-2 decision authored by Justice Thomas, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the designs on Varsity Brands’ cheerleading uniforms are eligible for copyright protection. The crux of this decision relates to the fact that the United States Copyright Act treats the copyrightability of “useful articles” … Continue Reading
By: Carissa Bouwer The internet has made it easy for consumers to share their opinions and experiences regarding products and businesses. While easy access to reviews can help consumers make informed purchasing decisions, the anonymity of the internet can be difficult for businesses that believe they have received unfair reviews. In recent years, some businesses have … Continue Reading
By Désirée Fields (London) and Ulrike Grübler (Hamburg) Although some time has passed since the UK’s vote to leave the EU, the full implications of Brexit for trademarks and designs remain unclear. Statements made by EU and UK officials have not changed that position, nor did Theresa May’s Brexit speech in January 2017 provide any indication … Continue Reading
By: Scott Thiel, Carolyn Bigg, Paula Cao This post first appeared as a Cybersecurity Law Alert on dlapiper.com. Developments this month continue to signpost a more challenging compliance environment ahead for non-Chinese technology companies and those operating online in China.… Continue Reading
By: Nicolette Kost De Sevres Blockchain is on the verge of revolutionizing how we interact in the digital world. It has far reaching applications from the Financial industry to many other sectors of the economy. The question is what is Blockchain, what are the underlying concepts, what is the current state of technological implementation and … Continue Reading
By: Ming Lok Lam* and Susheela Rivers* (Hong Kong) In Hong Kong, reports have shown that the retail market is beginning to revive in the second half of 2016. This is unsurprising given the undeniable fact that Hong Kong is unique in real estate given that space is scarce and demand rarely decreases.… Continue Reading
By James Clark (Leeds) Most of us are familiar with the many ways in which customer activity can be tracked in the online space. Customer accounts, cookies, web beacons and tracking pixels are familiar tools in the e-commerce arsenal, and all come with familiar challenges from a privacy and data protection perspective. Increasingly, retailers are … Continue Reading
By: Désirée Fields (London, UK) and Melissa Brown (Birmingham, UK) In a decision of significant impact on brand owners, the European Union General Court (EUGC), has held that acquired distinctiveness for European Union trade marks (EUTMs) must be proven throughout all EU Member States rather than in relation to a substantial part or the majority … Continue Reading
