Mattel finally learns how to “chill”

Friday, 30 October, 2009 07:22 Written by jfischer1975 0 Comments

One of the chores inherent in the practice of law is that one has to read a lot of really REALLY dry court opinions. It’s always nice when you find judges out there who recognize this, and make some effort to keep it interesting. One of my favorites from law school has always been Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., 296 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2002). Well, this week saw an interesting footnote added to that opinion.

The Back Story

Most will probably remember that there was an annoying pop song, which was recorded back in the 90′s, called “Barbie Girl.” The group Aqua‘s single claim to fame was a huge success, despite being about as appealing to listen to as nails on a chalkboard — don’t let the number of stars assigned to this YouTube clip fool you.

SNCF vs. Danish Food Stall Lady

Wednesday, 28 October, 2009 10:44 Written by philipzies 2 Comments

by Philip Zies

Our latest IP Bully Award nomination comes from across the pond.

SNCF, the French train company that runs the famous train line known as the Orient-Express, forced a Danish woman who sold spicy food from a stall at music festivals under the trademark ORIENTEXPRESSEN to change the name of her business. The Danish Supreme Court affirmed the lower tribunal’s decision that the “catering services” offered from the food stall were too similar in kind to the “hotel services” offered by the train company. She sure got railroaded. (source)

If you have any IP Bully Award nominations for us to review, you can write them in the comments to this or any other post. Alternatively, you can email us at tacticalip@gmail.com.

Classic Rewind: Air-O-Matic’s claim of trademark infringement doesn’t pass the smell test

Sunday, 25 October, 2009 00:00 Written by jfischer1975 1 Comment

This story was originally posted back in February of 2009 on The Legal Satyricon.

by Jason Fischer

picture-2 iPhone application developer, InfoMedia, Inc., filed a complaint last week, seeking a declaratory judgment from a U.S. District Court in Colorado. The pleading seeks to end a dispute that has been bubbling up between InfoMedia and one of its competitors, Air-O-Matic (AOM). What are these two companies fighting over? Dominance in the cutthroat realm of iPhone flatulence apps. (source)

Late in 2008, Apple decided to relax its draconian content censorship rules which govern the kinds of applications that could be offered for sale in its iPhone application store, allowing novelty applications that simulate farting noises. The app store quickly filled up with new entries into this niche market. Currently, a search for the term "fart" in the app store yields nearly 150 results, including such classics as "iToot", "Fart Box", and "Fart Piano" – to name a few.

DMCA Takedown Notices Must Consider Fair Use

Friday, 23 October, 2009 15:19 Written by Mark Malek 1 Comment

by Mark Malek

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law by President Clinton in 1998 and is an implementation of two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties. To make it much simpler than it really is, the DMCA is directed to provide protection to copyright owners that find their copyrighted materials improperly posted on the Internet. Again, that is a big oversimplification of the provisions of the DMCA, but it is enough of a background for this story. The full text of the DMCA can be found here.

On its face, the statute provides an important enforcement mechanism for copyright owners who can’t necessarily afford to hire a legal team. As it works now, copyright protection is created without any real effort on the part of the author, and as a result, it is incredibly easy for someone to have enforceable copyrights. With the current state of technology, it is becoming equally easy to infringe on them, so lawmakers wanted to make them just as easy to enforce. However, as with nearly every other well-intentioned legislative initiative, the DMCA’s power to do good has been twisted by the hands of the wicked into a weapon for evil.

Update on “IP Bully of the Month” Award Nominee

Friday, 23 October, 2009 15:10 Written by philipzies 2 Comments

by Philip Zies

Last week, TacticalIP.com nominated Hansen Beverage Co., the maker of "Monster" energy drinks, for the "IP Bully of the Month" award for demanding that Vermont beer maker Rock Art Brewery, brewer of "Vermonster" beer, rename its fermented non-energy beverage. Well, as it turns out, maybe Hansen isn’t such a bully after all. It seems that Hansen CEO, Rodney Stacks, and Rock Art founder, Matt Nadeu, were able to work out their differences by talking to each other directly. Rock Art has agreed to avoid adding high energy drinks to its line and Hansen has agreed to back down on its renaming demands (source). Nice compromise, boys!

Archive for October, 2009

Mattel finally learns how to “chill”

The Back Story

SNCF vs. Danish Food Stall Lady

Classic Rewind: Air-O-Matic’s claim of trademark infringement doesn’t pass the smell test

DMCA Takedown Notices Must Consider Fair Use

Update on “IP Bully of the Month” Award Nominee

Subscribe

Categories

Archives

Tags

Pages

Login