Way more than an everyday interest in IP
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A Parisian court has fined eBay €1.7m after users of its French web site continued to buy and sell Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (“LVMH”) perfumes in breach of a 2008 injunction. The injunction was granted after the luxury goods conglomerate, which includes brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, successfully sued eBay for €40m in June 2008 for selling fake goods using the company’s brand.
Back in July and September, we blogged on the controversy surrounding the practice of paying internet search engines for keywords to boost one company’s profile over another. A new instalment has since arisen in what will inev read more…
It is rare for a parent company to oppose the trade mark of one of its subsidiaries. Yet, as recently reported in The Age, (6/11/09, “Branson and Virgin Blue battle over name”) this appears to be the case in a trade mark opposition brought by Virgin Enterprises against an application lodged by Virgin Blue. At stake is whether Virgin Blue has the rights to use the “V Australia” trade mark and brand, the name of Virgin Enterprises’ trans-Pacific airline, on a wide variety of goods.
IP Australia has announced a second round public consultation on IP rights reforms. The closing date for submissions is 12 February 2010.
The Federal Court recently confirmed, in Apotex v Les Laboratoires Servier (No 2), that a patentee’s conduct is a crucial element considered by the Court in relation to the exercise of judicial discretion to amend a patent. In particular, a patentee applying for an amendment must make a full and frank disclosure of all the reasons for seeking the amendment. The amendment must be sought in good faith and without delay. read more…
Back in July, Georgia Douglas blogged on the UK trade mark dispute between the US global flower delivery company, Interflora Inc, and British retail icon Marks & Spencer. The dispute stemmed from M&S purchasing the Google AdWord “Interflora”, as well as numerous misspellings of that name, for its M&S Flowers Online service.
Background
When one thinks about ISP liability, the focus is usually on copyright law and the extent of safe harbours provided under the relevant copyright regime, but the US$32 million damages verdict in the Louis Vuitton v Akanoc case shows that, at least in the United States, trade mark law is becoming increasingly important as well.
On 11 November 2008, the USPTO granted trade mark protection (registration no. 3531683) to Alyssa LaRoche for her Second Life avatar, Aimee Eber. The trade mark was granted for use in ‘[c]omputer programming services, namely, content creation for virtual worlds and three dimensional platforms’.