Turns out the internet isn’t all about porn. Just kidding, it mostly is. But underneath the debate sparked by the .XXX domain question at last week’s international website regulatory conference are a series of fundamental issues about internet freedom of expression, the process for determining what new URLs will be on offer, the tension between […]
The Japanese restaurant ‘Fuku’ (pronounced foo-koo), which recently opened a new West Palm Beach location, ran into a snag while attempting to register their trademark. The Florida Department of State Divisions of Corporations rejected the application on the basis of subsection 2(a) of the Lanham Act, which states that a mark that “consists of, compromises […]
At the heart of the Rosetta Stone v Google lawsuit is whether the sale of trademarks as search keywords for sponsored links makes Google liable for trademark infringement. Recently, the United States Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit in Rosetta Stone Ltd v Google, Inc reversed a significant portion of a Virginia district court decision […]
Representatives of the defunct rock band, The Velvet Underground, have brought an action against the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. concerning rights over the world’s most iconic banana image a full 45 years after it was first released.
Courtney Doagoo is a doctoral student at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. On November 22, 2011, the European Community Court of Justice rejected an Appeal made by LG Electronics for the trade mark registration of the word sign DIRECT DRIVE for Class 7 and 11 wares (namely electric washing machines for household purposes, […]
Kalen Lumsden is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. In response to the creation of a new, adult entertainment-centric domain - .XXX - many universities and trademark holders are buying up potentially pornographic versions of their web properties before they fall into irresponsible or malicious hands.
Ben Farrow is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. On September 22, 2011, the European Court of Justice handed down a judgement on a series of trade mark related questions spurred by the long running dispute between international flower delivery network Interflora and English retailer Marks and Spencer. The case stemmed from a […]
Courtney Doagoo is a doctoral student at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. On September 20, 2011, the General Court of the European Union released its decision to refuse the registration of a Community trademark for the for the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) coat of arms, upholding the previous ruling by […]
Satomi Aki is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Ever since Madonna launched her clothing line, Material Girl, in August 2010, it has been plagued by a trademark infringement suit. Two weeks after the line went on sale exclusively at Macy’s Department Stores in the United States, LA Triumph Inc filed a lawsuit […]
Satomi Aki is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. On August 10, 2011, the US District Court denied Christian Louboutin S.A.’s motion for an preliminary injunction against Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) to stop marketing the shoes that allegedly infringe Louboutin’s trademarked red lacquered heel pending the outcome of the trademark infringement lawsuit that […]