Yearly Archive for: ‘2013’
Pinterest pins down Pintrips
On 4 October 2013, social media pinboard site Pinterest filed an action in the United States District Court against Pintrips, “a personal travel planning dashboard”, for trade mark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition and trade mark dilution. This apparently followed months of polite requests from Pinterest to Pintrips to stop this alleged “illegal conduct”. Not all these causes …
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‘Mickey Mouse’ horror film escapes trade mark litigation
Film buffs, roll up! Despite the fact that it probably isn’t showing at your local MegaPlex, Randy Moore’s latest indie horror film ‘Escape from Tomorrow’ has garnered a considerable amount of media attention. Shot on Disney soil without permission, it features iconic (and copyrighted) Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck doing things like attempting to crush a child, …
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Nestlé wins latest battle with Cadbury over the colour purple in the UK
On 4 October 2013, the Court of Appeal of England & Wales upheld an appeal brought by Nestlé in relation to Cadbury’s application to register the colour purple as a trade mark in respect of the packaging of chocolate. Whilst Cadbury’s application was for a specific shade of the colour purple (namely, Cadbury’s famous Pantone 2685C), the Court of Appeal …
Read MoreOAIC releases privacy ‘better practice guide’ for mobile app developers
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has been busy of late. As well as releasing the second stage of its Draft Australian Privacy Principles Guidelines for consultation in late September, it recently sent an open letter to Facebook, which we posted about here. However, it’s not very often that we see regulators encouraging the use of graphics, colour and …
Read MoreAustralian Privacy Commissioner weighs in on proposed changes to Facebook terms
Previously, we posted about Facebook’s changes to its Data Use Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRR), as a result of a $20 million class action settlement. Recently, Timothy Pilgrim, the Australian Privacy Commissioner has submitted an open letter to Facebook on behalf of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). This letter can be found online here. …
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Why all the secrecy? Tom Waterhouse defamation settlement reignites court access debate
Imagine you are an “A” type lawyer keen to know what’s going on. Yes, that’s most of us at IP Whiteboard. It means we were frustrated some time ago when told by the NSW District Court that pleadings in the Tom Waterhouse v Fairfax Media defamation case were unavailable for review. Our previous post here explains the policy rationale. Our curiosity …
Read MoreThe times they are a changin’? Innovation patents system review
The Options Paper of the Australian Government’s Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP), issued in August 2013, sets out various reform options for innovation patents, including their complete abolition. Final submissions on ACIP’s review of innovation patents, initiated in 2011, can be submitted to mail.acip@ipaustralia.gov.au by 4 October 2013. Innovation patents & ACIP’s review Innovation patents were established in 2001 …
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Life on the Social Media Front Line: The legal and ethical challenges facing Online Community Managers
Visualise this scenario. First, you are a lawyer (okay, I know this is tough for some). Secondly, social media is a burgeoning legal area where you need to know more. Thirdly, and bravely (given you are risk averse, somewhat conservative and nervous about causing offence), you have signed up to a range of social media platforms. This is Phase 1. …
Read MoreSpot The Difference: Ministry of Sound sues Spotify for copyright infringement
To those who have ever created an awesome Ministry-esque playlist on Spotify – you may have just got them into trouble. In September this year, Ministry of Sound, famous for their dance music compilations (think “Addicted to Bass”, “Sessions”, “Chillout Sessions” and the now-ironically named “On the Download”), have sued Spotify for copyright infringement in the UK High Court. Spotify …
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