Happy 4th of July to everyone!
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Happy 4th of July!
Wednesday, July 4th, 2007Technorati
Sunday, November 5th, 2006Registrar Refuses to Transfer Domain Name
Sunday, September 3rd, 2006Despite an order from a French court, the Australian registrar of the domain name has refused transfer of the domain on the basis that it is not governed by French law and in particular because of the unusual circumstances under which the judgment was obtained.
The Leading Hotels of the World Ltd and Online Travel Group have been involved in ongoing disputes since 1997.
The Leading Hotels of the World Ltd registered the domain lhw.com in 1996 and created a website using this name, which it still does today. One year later, Online Travel Group, a South African company, registered the available domain leading-hotels.com and the following year registered leadinghotels.com which was also available.
Nearly five years later, LHW decided to claim trademark infringement and instituted proceedings against Online Travel Group before the World Intellectual Property Organization. WIPO rejected LHW’s claim and ruled in favour of OTG, stating the company was not operating in bad faith and that use of the domain name leadinghotels.com by Online Travel Group had always been bona fide and used legitimately in connection with the company’s online hotel reservation services. See the decision here.
UK Supermarket Seeks Registration of “Chav”
Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006ASDA has applied to register the slang word “chav” as a trademark for its confectionery.
The word appears on the supermarket chain’s Whatever sweets with other popular expressions such as “mint”, “minger” and “bothered”.
Whatevers, an update of traditional Love Hearts which featured tender messages, are now nicknamed “Chav Hearts”.
Asda said: “With slogans from characters in shows such as Little Britain and the Catherine Tate Show providing us with more and more contemporary slang, our Whatever sweets have become very popular with kids and grown-ups alike.
“We thought we needed to give them some respect and have decided to trademark them.”
Those who object to the registration have three months to get in touch with the Trademark Registry.
Related link:
» Define: “Chav“
Pride Goes Corporate :: Update
Monday, July 31st, 2006By way of update of this post, here is another article about Pride as a trademark/service mark.
FDA Approves Single-dose “Cocktail” for HIV Treatment
Thursday, July 13th, 2006Yesterday, the FDA a new combination drug for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. The new drug is called ATRIPLA and is a combination of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s SUSTIVA (efavirenz) and Gilead Science’s VIREAD (tenofovir) and EMTRIVA (emtricitabine). Currently, VIREAD (tenofovir) and EMTRIVA (emtricitabine) are available in a single pill as TRUVADA.
The pill will be just as expensive as Truvada and Sustiva when purchased separately: The wholesale price will be $1,150 for a 30-day supply. Switching to the combo pill would require insured patients to make just one, rather than two, co-payments, saving some money.
However, it is hoped that being able to take three treatments in one will markedly improve patient compliance with their treatment regimens.
No Special gTLD for Porn
Thursday, May 18th, 2006ICANN has decided that it will not authorize the use of the gTLD .xxx for adult websites.
ICANN’s Board voted 9 to 5 against the proposed agreement. Though the press release points to policy concerns, would clearly identifying adult websites (by using .xxx) be in the public interest?
No Special gTLD for Porn
Thursday, May 18th, 2006ICANN has decided that it will not authorize the use of the gTLD .xxx for adult websites.
ICANN’s Board voted 9 to 5 against the proposed agreement. Though the press release points to policy concerns, would clearly identifying adult websites (by using .xxx) be in the public interest?
Galileo Allowed To Take Off
Thursday, May 18th, 2006The Luxembourg Court of First Instance has concluded that the European Commission may continue to call its satellite navigation project Galileo. What’s the issue, you might be wondering.
Well, Galileo International Technology (an online airline reservation company) sued to enjoin use of the name for the space project or, alternatively, that the court order the European Commission to pay damages or compensation (I assume a sort-of compulsory license). The court did neither.
The court concluded that there was no risk of confusion — at all. In denying GIT’s claims, the court noted, “in choosing the Galileo name to designate their brands, products and services, the plaintiff could not ignore that they were inspired by the first name of the famous Italian mathematician, physician and astronomer, one of the largest personalities in European scientific culture,” and that the plaintiff(s) “exposed themselves to the risk” of a trademark dispute.”
[source]
Swiss Bourse Accused of Misappropriation
Tuesday, March 7th, 2006A British technology company is accusing Swiss stock exchange SWX of acting in bad faith in a case that could lead to a claim for millions of pounds against the bourse, according to legal documents.
SWX Swiss Exchange is accused by Oxford Virtual Markets (OVM) of misappropriating the trademark to its electronic trading platform, VIRTEX, according to the documents.
The Swiss bourse uses the name virt-x for its own exchange, where some of Switzerland’s biggest companies are traded. Before adopting this name, SWX had met OMV to talk about a joint venture, the British company alleges.
Discussions between OVM and SWX, which was represented by senior executives including then Chief Executive Antoinette Hunziker-Ebneter and Chief Operating Officer Juerg Spillmann, began in 1998 and ended in April 1999, according to the documents.
According to people familiar with the matter, it was agreed then that the trademark VIRTEX and related technology was owned by OVM and its wholly owned subsidiary, Advanced Transaction Systems (ATS).
SWX, though, did not form a joint venture with OVM but began to use a trademark that OVM claims is similar enough to its own to cause confusion, according to the legal documents.
OVM is now accusing the Swiss exchange of breach of contract and bad faith for registering the trademark as virt-x in the knowledge that it was owned by the British firm.
In Europe there are few precedents of stock exchanges being taken to court, lawyers said.