Archives: Trademark and Copyright

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Who owns your IP?

By James Stewart on Posted in Trademark and Copyright
By: Victoria Lee This post originally appeared on DLA Piper Accelerate, DLA Piper’s dedicated online resource for entrepreneurs.  When a company’s intellectual property is core to its business, investors and prospective acquirers want to know that the company owns all the rights to that intellectual property. In most cases, owning intellectual property is preferable to … Continue Reading

DLA Piper names Thomas Zutic chair of Trademark, Copyright & Media practice in Washington, DC

By Eunice R. Chung on Posted in DLA Piper, Trademark and Copyright, USA
We are pleased to announce that Thomas Zutic has been named chair of our Trademark, Copyright & Media practice in Washington, DC.  Congratulations, Tom! Please see DLA Piper’s press release below: Zutic’s intellectual property practice encompasses trademark counseling, with an emphasis on the selection, adoption and use of trademarks, domestic and international trademark prosecution, and … Continue Reading

SCOTUS INVITES SOLICITOR GENERAL’S POSITION ON COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION PRE-SUIT REQUIREMENT

By DLA Piper on Posted in Trademark and Copyright
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

ATHLETES’ RIGHT OF PUBLICITY CLAIMS DIRECTED TO SPORTS VIDEO GAMES NOT PREEMPTED BY COPYRIGHT ACT

By DLA Piper on Posted in Copyright, Trademark and Copyright
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

INSTA-WORTHY OR INSTA-INFRINGEMENT

By DLA Piper on Posted in Social Media, Trademark and Copyright
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

THE EU COMMISSION SETS OUT ITS POSITION ON BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS OVER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

By DLA Piper on Posted in Europe, International, Trademark and Copyright, UK
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

EU TRADEMARK REFORMS: FURTHER CHANGES APPLYING FROM 1 OCTOBER 2017

By DLA Piper on Posted in Europe, International, Trademark and Copyright
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

U.S. Supreme Court Rules Trademark Act Disparagement Clause is Unconstitutional

By DLA Piper on Posted in Legislation, Media, Music, Trademark and Copyright, TTAB, USA
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

IF YOU CAN’T BEAT THEM, BLOCK THEM. SECTION 115A STRIKES AGAINST PIRACY WEBSITES, THIS TIME FOR THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

By DLA Piper on Posted in Australia, Privacy, Trademark and Copyright
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

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH COPYRIGHT OWNER IN STAR ATHLETICA CASE

By DLA Piper on Posted in Copyright, Fashion, Trademark and Copyright
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

UPCOMING CHANGES IN REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS TO BENEFIT FROM DMCA SAFE HARBOR: CONSIDER THESE KEY STEPS

By DLA Piper on Posted in DMCA, Trademark and Copyright
By: Jeffrey D. Aronson, Jim Halpert, Victoria Lee, Mark C. Lehberg, Eduardo J. Blanco If you maintain a website or service where you make content available to others, you probably have (and should have) an agent registered with the US Copyright Office to receive notices alleging copyright infringement.  Last week, the Copyright Office adopted a … Continue Reading

NO THANKSGIVING TURKEY FOR CAMPARI

By DLA Piper on Posted in International, Trademark and Copyright
By: Melinda Upton, Rohan Singh, and Anjali Narendra It is common practice for businesses to engage in trade mark licence agreements as a means to facilitate building brand awareness. However, the High Court of Australia’s refusal to grant special leave to appeal the Full Court of the Federal Court’s decision in Lodestar Anstalt v Campari America … Continue Reading

RUBIK’S CUBE: ECJ DENIES PROTECTION FOR 3D TRADEMARK OF FAMOUS PUZZLE

By DLA Piper on Posted in International, Trademark and Copyright
By: Dr. Ulrike Grübler (Hamburg, Germany) The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has denied trademark protection for an existing EU registration of the famous puzzle known as Rubik’s Cube. Following a decision issued by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on 10 November 2016, the judges annulled prior decisions of EUIPO and the General Court that … Continue Reading

THE LAW IN BLACK AND WHITE – IN THE UK THE DISTRIBUTION AND SALE OF “GREY” GOODS CAN BE A CRIMINAL OFFENCE

By DLA Piper on Posted in Fashion, International, Trademark and Copyright
By: Richard Taylor and Alasdair Muller (United Kingdom) The English Court of Appeal has confirmed that, in the UK, the sale or distribution of trade mark goods outside an authority granted by the trade mark holder can constitute a criminal offence (R v C and others, applying Trade Marks Act 1994 (the “Act”) s92(1)*).  Possession with … Continue Reading

CHANGES ON THE ANALYSIS AND RECOGNITION OF SO-CALLED “HIGHLY RENOWNED” TRADEMARKS IN BRAZIL BY THE INPI || ALTERAÇÕES COM RELAÇÃO À ANÁLISE E RECONHECIMENTO DAS MARCAS DE ALTO RENOME NO BRASIL PELO INPI

By DLA Piper on Posted in International, Trademark and Copyright
By: Paula Mena Barreto, Diego Mattos Osegueda, and Manoela Quintas Esteves On October 18th, the National Industrial Property Institute (INPI) published Resolution INPI/PR 172/2016, to improve the analysis and recognition of so-called “highly renowned” trademarks in Brazil. The alterations brought by the new resolution were formulated based on the suggestions of associations involved in the industrial property … Continue Reading

WHEN IT COMES TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, MILLINERS SHOULD TAKE OFF THEIR FASCINATORS AND PUT ON THEIR THINKING CAPS!

By DLA Piper on Posted in Australia, Fashion, International, Trademark and Copyright
By Josephine Gardiner (Sydney) Australia’s best-known horse racing event, the Melbourne Cup is on today. The race is known to stop the nation… but that’s not all they’re stopping for! Floral frocks, feathers and fascinators – the event is a real life fashion show with its own catwalk known as ‘Fashions on the Field’. The … Continue Reading

A NEW PROVISION FOR TRADEMARK PARODY: IS IT A JOKE?

By DLA Piper on Posted in Fashion, Trademark and Copyright
By Sara Balice and Elena Varese (Milan) A number of fashion players base their business on the very thin line running between tribute and misappropriation.  In this context, it is difficult to understand how quotations of well-known fashion trademarks made with humorous intent should be treated, especially as European Union legislation has not provided any … Continue Reading

ANN FORD AUTHORS CHAPTER ON INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARKS IN NEWLY PUBLISHED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY HANDBOOK

By DLA Piper on Posted in DLA Piper, IP Roundup, Miscellaneous, Trademark and Copyright
The American Bar Association has published The Intellectual Property Handbook: A Practical Guide for Franchise, Business, and IP Counsel (Second Edition) which provides an overview of intellectual property (IP) law and practices around the world.  Ann Ford, a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of DLA Piper and chair of DLA Piper LLP (US)’s U.S. … Continue Reading
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