Join the Azrights newsletter to get business and IP insights

Trade mark Dilution in Europe

January 22, 2009

The Intel Case

The European Court of Justice’s landmark ruling in Intel Corp v CPM (UK) Ltd on the 27 November may alter the landscape of European trademarks. This case clarified the European position on trade mark...

Continue Reading...
The Increasing Bite of IP in China

January 22, 2009

China is often cited as a high risk country for organisations to effectively enforce their intellectual property rights. There are however, a growing number of success stories where brand owners have successfully enforced their...

Continue Reading...
Domain Name Seizure Decision Overturned in Kentucky

The Kentucky Court of Appeals has overturned the Domain Name Seizure Order which I discussed in my previous post. To recap, last year a court in Kentucky had seized 114 domain names from several online gambling sites.  The lower court...

Continue Reading...
FSA Requirement for the Compulsory Recording of Phone Calls

January 26, 2009

To deter and detect market abuse, the Financial Services Authority (“FSA”) in its new rules – the Conduct of Business Sourcebook (Recording of Telephone Conversations and Electronic Communications)...

Continue Reading...
Press And Media Calling fellow IP lawyers – Meeting 11th February 6:30pm

January 26, 2009

I initially wrote on Jeremy Phillip’s IPKat blog here about wanting to organize a group meeting of sole practitioner IP law firms.  The idea was to discuss ways in which we might combine forces to...

Continue Reading...
Verizon Wireless wins $33 million in a Cybersquatting Dispute

January 27, 2009

Verizon has been awarded a record amount in a law suit against a tech company and domain registrar, OnlineNIC, which had registered over 660 domain names that used Verizon’s trademarks.

The case was brought under the...

Continue Reading...
Should Google Be Prevented From Profiting From Cybersquatting?

February 1, 2009

As a result of a recent decision against Google in the USA, a new weapon should be considered by trademark owners like Microsoft in the battle against cybersquatters.  If misspellings or other versions of trademarks are...

Continue Reading...
What’s Your Online Reputation?

When gossip website TMZ leaked audio of Christian Bale’s tirade against the Director of Photography on the new Terminator Film, the story quickly spread throughout the Internet.

There were countless blog postings, lengthy threads...

Continue Reading...
ISP liability and the Digital Britain Report

February 7, 2009

Traditionally, ISPs have had limited liability under the laws of England and Wales. The are not liable for defamatory comments or IP infringements including illegal downloading unless they are given notice that one of their users...

Continue Reading...
What Not To Do If Your Trade Mark Is Becoming Generic

February 11, 2009

IP lawyers always become excited when they find an example of a trade mark in danger of becoming generic.  The case in point is the trade mark for NETBOOK, pointed out in this blog post.  NETBOOK was registered as...

Continue Reading...
Engaging a Web Designer – One Contract You Should Read

February 12, 2009

It is amazing how naïve otherwise sensible business people can be when it comes to commissioning a designer to develop a website for them.  Whether it is a lack of knowledge or simple forgetfulness many businesses...

Continue Reading...
The End of Lawyers? The Legal Hybrid is Already Here

February 17, 2009

Reading Richard Susskind’s book the End of Lawyers I identify myself as already being the sort of lawyer Susskind suggests will become increasingly multi-disciplinary in order to succeed.

Susskind describes us as...

Continue Reading...