Heart Attack Grill claims another patron, while trade mark dispute continues
We previously posted about a patron of Heart Attack Grill (‘HAG’) suffering a heart attack, and about HAG’s read more…
Way more than an everyday interest in IP
http://ipwhiteboard.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Trademarks.jpg
We previously posted about a patron of Heart Attack Grill (‘HAG’) suffering a heart attack, and about HAG’s read more…
It seems that originality continues to be an issue for boy bands. “Well-known” UK teen heartthrobs One Direction may have taken a step in the wrong direction as media reports emerged concerning the filing of a lawsuit in the Californian US District Court alleging trade mark infringement and seeking an injunction preventing them from using that name. The suit was filed by none other than One Direction, a US group with th read more…
In the decision handed down on 4 April 2012 in ACCC v Google Inc [2012] FCAFC 49, the Full Federal Court of Australia (Keane CJ, Jacobson and Lander JJ) unanimously upheld the ACCC’s appeal against Google for misleading and deceptive conduct concerning the search engine’s manner of online advertising. The Full Court found that Google itself (as well as the relevant advertiser) had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct. read more…
In a timely warning for IP lawyers to think beyond IP laws, the Full Federal Court has just confirmed that it doesn’t take much for a trade mark licence to also be a regulated “franchise agreement”. All you need is quality control, business plan/sales requirements, financial oversight and the potential to impose further policies and procedures.
He is “the greatest basketball player of all time”, according to the NBA. Forbes ranks “His Airness” as the 20th most powerful celebrity in the world. He earns around $55 million a year through endorsements and is worth $1 billion in sales to Nike. A basketball star and businessman, Michael Jordan has also dabbled in acting and professional baseball … and he has a shoe named after him.
Needless to say the “Jordan” brand is worth big bucks.
Fashion is, at its core, derivative. When it comes to intellectual property law, ‘derivative’ can sometimes be problematic. When a rich cultural history in the sense of tribal names, words and artistic designs is added to the mix, the results can be downright devastating, particularly where it involves the use of these cultural signs for commercial gain. Last Tuesday, the Navajo Nation filed a complaint against Urban Outfitters in relation to its use of the word ‘Navajo’ on some of its products.
Background
You would be forgiven for having missed this news given everything else that was happening in Canberra this week, but the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Bill 2011 was passed by the Senate on 27 February 2012. The Bill will now go before the House of Representatives in the autumn sitting and is expected to come into force later this year.
The Bill targets five key areas: