Guccio Gucci founded the Italian fashion and leather goods label Gucci in Florence in 1921. Since then, it has become a very fashionable and profitable brand throughout the world. The brand holds many registrations for the trademark GUCCI throughout the world. It was not pleased to find out that someone had registered multiple domain names that […]
Category: Trademarks
Trademark bullying watch! My first post on trademark bullying discussed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) interest in eliciting suggestions to address these problematic litigation tactics. Legit claims are one thing; trademark bullying ties up the courts, costs people money that would be better spent on innovation, and takes up unnecessary time litigating. My […]
On October 24, 1999, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). The UDRP incorporated by contract into registration agreements for .com, .org, .net and some other domain names. The focus was on regulating bad faith cybersquatting on trademarks. Clause 4 of the UDRP discusses the Mandatory […]
If you have an idea (a great idea) to create a website that allows visitors to watch and share YouTube videos together with their friends, you should consult an attorney to figure out how to embark on the venture without stepping on anyone’s toes. The last thing you want to worry about in a start-up […]
Is Facebook being a trademark bully, or is it really just trying to protect its intellectual property? In March 2010, Facebook sent small scale parody website Lamebook (some of the stuff on there is really funny) a cease and desist letter. Facebook had a problem with Lamebook’s name, mark, and look and feel of its […]
Earlier this week, I talked about trademark bullies, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) concern that the practice of bullying is getting out of hand. Would you file the following lawsuit into the category of bullying? The Los Angeles Dodgers is giving Brooklyn Burger a hard time about its use of the classic […]
No one likes a bully, and that includes “trademark bullies.” One definition of “bullying” is, to treat in an overbearing or intimidating manner (synonym = intimidate). So how exactly does one intimidate others with trademarks? Through aggressive litigation tactics by those with power against those with limited resources. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) […]
I hope that you have not yet grown completely tired of hearing “There’s an App for That” during breaks of your favorite television shows, because in all likelihood, you are going to continue to hear it in Apple advertisements. And don’t think that you are clever by copying the slogan for use in selling your […]
Solid blue background with thin all caps white block letters that spell the word “GAP”. That’s the logo that has been associated with the American clothing and accessories retailer for as long as I can remember. But earlier this month, the company decided that it was time for a change of branding. A new logo […]
Last week, we looked at a case where Google was found guilty of defaming a person based on Google’s search engine’s suggested results when the person was typing his name in the search box. In a similar case, a woman named Beverly Stayart sued Yahoo! after she put her name into Yahoo!’s search engine and […]
The University of South Carolina and University of Southern California have had their fair share of battles this year. Both schools have mostly defeated the competition, each with only one loss thus far this season. The two schools have also had to deal with NCAA scrutiny. Southern California has a 2-year bowl ban, 4 years’ […]
While many are talking and writing about AOL Inc.’s purchase of TechCrunch for a reported $40 million dollars, another tech story was published today, which displays another young tech company’s growth in a short amount of time. MySpace, a service that once rivaled Facebook in capturing the attention of young people (it was not always […]