US Ruling Creates Uncertainty For Famous Foreign Trademarks 20/07/2007 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Steve Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch In a ruling that surprised many trademark experts in the United States, one of the country’s most respected appellate courts recently cut back on the protection given to famous foreign trademarks. If such marks are well known in the US but are not registered or used in the country, they are unprotected by federal law, according to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Rising Friction On Whether To Move To WIPO Talks On Global TK Regime 09/07/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Halfway into a 10-day committee meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), friction was rising between members seeking to prod the slow-moving committee to begin consideration of an international instrument for the protection of traditional knowledge and those who continue to resist the acceleration. Developing countries calling for global […]
TLD Or Not TLD For Cities? Berlin Senate Wants Out 28/06/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch A fight has begun over the virtual existence of Germany’s capital: Does a .berlin address space have a right to exist beside the old standby berlin.de? The outcome of the fight could have a broader effect on the future of city names on the Internet. After a recent […]
Quiet TRIPS Council Meeting Expected; Enforcement Push Continues 01/06/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Next week’s meeting of the World Trade Organization’s intellectual property committee is expected to be “business as usual,” continuing work on difficult topics, including the committee’s role in the enforcement of intellectual property rights. On this, Switzerland has introduced a new document, according to officials. The WTO Council on Trade-Related […]
The WIPO View On Enforcement, Idris And Development Agenda 14/05/2007 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Wolfgang Starein is the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) official with primary responsibility for enforcement of intellectual property rights. In a series of recent interviews with Intellectual Property Watch, Starein talked about WIPO’s enforcement agenda for the coming year, a January 2007 enforcement conference, access to knowledge, WIPO’s relationship to the World Trade Organization (WTO) […]
Industry: Criminal Checks Needed For Tasting, Kiting, Spying 03/05/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch International organisations should step in to prevent the “tasting,” “kiting” and “spying” related to Internet domain names, say representatives from the US telecommunications and trademark industries. These new activities are dramatically altering online commerce and impacting legitimate businesses, and the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), World Intellectual […]
Rights, Content Issues May Complicate Internet Domain Name Expansion 02/04/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch LISBON – The rejection of the .xxx top-level domain by the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) last week in Lisbon was a major highlight of the meeting of the private-sector domain name system technical body, showing its slide into the judgment of […]
Record Global Trademark Filings in 2006; China Tops Designations 15/03/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The year 2006 was “a very good year” for the international trademark system with a record number of filings, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). China and Russia were the favourite countries in terms of where trademarks should apply, while Germany remained the top source country for filers […]
Sharp Increase In Internet Domain Name Disputes Last Year, WIPO Says 13/03/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Stephen Flug for Intellectual Property Watch The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said there was a 25 percent increase in “cybersquatting” complaints – the registering and use of domain names to profit from another party’s trademark – last year compared with the previous year, making this the highest number of cases since 2000. A […]
TRIPS Meeting: Boost To IP Issues As Part Of Resumed Trade Talks, US Submits Enforcement Proposal 14/02/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Members of a 13 February World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting on intellectual property rights, signalled that consultations on IP issues will be stepped up in the coming weeks as part of the overall revival in global trade talks, according to participants. Also at the meeting, the United States presented a […]