Tag Archives: intellectual property

Wed 18th March 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Can Hollywood Stop Popcorn Time ? - Andy Greenberg did a story on Wired that was a great read for those interested in the intellectual property battles around the Internet when it comes to piracy and how each side plays the game. The article centers around Popcorn Time and Greenberg interviewed one of the programmers under an alias. The programmer discussed how they are looking to go p2p so that no matter how many domains are suspended it won’t matter. These guys so far are not making any money they seem to be doing it for the admiration ... read more ...
Mon 16th March 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Telegraph.co.uk – "Cyber - Telegraph.co.uk is out with an article that there has been an over 300% increase in the number of TM disputes. The article equates the increase in disputes with the introduction of the new gtlds. From the article: The release of hundreds of new web address endings over the last eight months has contributed to a 313pc increase in the number of “cyber-squatting” disputes, it has emerged. The internet industry regulator ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is currently ... read more ...
Wed 11th March 2015
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Hollywood seeking a assistance of Domain Registrars in a conflict opposite piracy - Jeremy Malcom and Maira Sutton wrote an article on the Electronic Frontier Foundation website that deals with Hollywood trying to influence domain registrars. The article is well written and gives a peek into the behind the scenes battles taking place on the IP front. Domain registrars actually became what was called a “New Issue Focus” by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). It looks like industry groups would like the registrars to be on their side in the fight against piracy. From ... read more ...
Sat 28th February 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
The MPAA Would Like to Help ICANN set process in targeting Pirate Domains - In an article on Torrent Freak it seems that the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) is in bed with ICANN and is trying to use that relationship to shape certain policies. These policies center on the handling of domain names used by sites that infringe intellectual property. From the article: The MPAA is one of the ICANN partners shaping future policy for the domain name system. With Hollywood being the driving force behind the group the MPAA is particularly interested in making it harder ... read more ...
Sun 22nd February 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Media Company Awarded $7million in Online Piracy Case - Torrent Freak reported that the largest media company in the Philippines was awarded $7million in damages and that several domains were forfeited in the process. From the article: In its ongoing crusade against sites said to infringe its copyrights, TV outfit ABS-CBN has just netted a couple of big wins. A pair of cases filed in a Florida district court have gone in the TV company’s favor resulting in damages awards of $7m and the forfeiture of several domains. During 2014, ABS-CBN, the largest ... read more ...
Thu 19th February 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Under Armour Looking to Kick A Little Ass - The Baltimore Sun’s Lorraine Mirabella published an article on local athletic apparel maker Under Armour. It seems that Under Armour has not taken kindly to a company started in 2013 called Ass Armor. The company also apparently did a play on the Under Armour tagline “Protect This House” with one of their own “Protect Your Assets”. From the article: Snowboarder Casey Scherr started a company called Ass Armor in 2013 to sell shock-absorbing athletic shorts designed to protect the tailbone. ... read more ...
Thu 12th February 2015
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Philly Bike Share Program Picks A Name Already Trademarked - In my local news it seems that the city of Philadelphia may be infringing on a trademark. The city is rolling out a bike share program and named it Indego, the only problem is a company in Cleveland has that name trademarked. A representative from the Cleveland company said they will look into whethere or not they want to block the name. Kathleen Conlon, a spokeswoman for Independence Blue Cross said she felt comfortable there would be no one confused by the Indego name. From Philly.com: The catchy ... read more ...
Wed 11th February 2015
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Major League Baseball in Trademark Battle over a minute W - Not sure what is going on over at the corporate offices of Major League Baseball, The Washington Post published an article on the trademark battle between Wallet Hub and MLB related to marks owned by both the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs. You might ask where is there a W in Chicago or Cubs ? After a victory the Cubs raise a flag with the letter W on it at Wrigley Field. The logo seems generic enough. The letter W written in white, block type inside of a bright green box. It stands for WalletHub, ... read more ...
Mon 9th February 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Popular Torrent Site Kickass Torrents has the Somalian Web Address Seized. - Kickass Torrents is a very popular torrent website, the traffic probably totals in the seven figures daily, but according to Torrent Freak they just had their domain seized. They were using the Somalian extension of .So and resided at Kickass.so. ***Update*** 10:22 It looks like they have brought the site back up on the old Kickass.to. From the article: With millions of unique visitors per day KickassTorrents (KAT) is one the most used torrent sites on the Internet. The site’s popularity has made ... read more ...
Sat 7th February 2015
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Google vs a Mississippi A.G. Could Set A Precedent for a State's Right to Regulate Online Content - Matt Schruers wrote an article yesterday on an upcoming legal battle that could set a precedent for content censorship. This is Google going up against the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi. Schruers makes the point that this is like SOPA at the state level. From the article: Far from Washington or any other place associated with Internet policy-making, a federal district court in Jackson, Mississippi is considering a case that could dramatically alter the regulation of Internet speech. ... read more ...
Thu 29th January 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Want Your Baby To Have A Unique Name ? Do we have an additional $31,000 fibbing around to compensate for it ? - Huffington Post did a story on Erfolgwelle a firm that focuses on giving your baby a unique name. They do all this for $31,000. The article lays out the process and who they bring to the table as far as their staff. From the article: Erfolgswelle is firm devoted entirely to generating unique baby names. With 14 naming experts, four historians, and 12 translators on hand — not to mention two trademark attorneys to ensure names don’t conflict with companies and products — the staff at Erfolgswelle ... read more ...
Wed 21st January 2015
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Trademark Holders Make Cybersquatting Profitable By Failing To Act: BentleyMotorCars.com 9 Years Old - We have mentioned before that when it comes to the levels of  cybersquatting trademark holders have to share the blame by creating the ecosystem for high profits for those registering bang on trademark infringing domains and allowing them to be very profitabily parked for many year before taking action Today we see another one such case. Bentley Motors Limited just won a UDRP on BentleyMotorCars.com which is they way they are frequently described.  A Google search for the term returns a ton of ... read more ...
Sun 18th January 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
EZTV packs adult the Virtual Bags and Moves to .Ch from .IT - Just like The Pirate Bay has done several time, EZTV has had to pick up and move, leaving EZTV.it and moving to EZTV.ch. BetaNews wrote: EZTV made a quick comeback, but problems have continued for the service, as Italian authorities closed in on its .IT domain. This has forced the organization to pack up shop and make a move to a new country where things will, hopefully, be calmer. The old site, EZTV.it, has fled to Switzerland, where it now resides under EZTV.ch. According to TorrentFreak, “Over ... read more ...
Sat 17th January 2015
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Republican Net Neutrality Bills Would Strip FCC Of Its Power to Regulate The Net - Gizmodo published a piece on Republican legislation that could neuter the Federal Communications Commission, and leave consumers with no one watching their back vs the interests of telecom companies. President Obama recommended a plan that would reclassify internet providers under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, giving the government agency more authority to quash telecom giants’ plans to create “internet fast lanes.” This would seem to go around that and take away the power the FCC ... read more ...
Sun 21st December 2014
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Goliath vs Goliath as Google Takes On Hollywood in Piracy Wars - More and more tidbits continue to come out of the Sony leak, The Verge reported on a meeting between Sony, Google and Homeland Security. The Verge a week later ran a story about Google being incensed over Hollywood’s anti-piracy measures. Google was especially concerned with “Project Goliath” The project’s goal was to find a way to block pirate sites from appearing online. From the article: After hacked documents revealed that Sony and other media companies were attempting to pass harsh ... read more ...
Thu 18th December 2014
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Flipboard Wins TM Dispute Leading to Flowboard Changing Their Name - Simon Sage reported for iMore that Flowboard an app that allows you to create presentations lost a trademark dispute with Flipboard. The company has decided to change their name and rebrand to FlowVella. FlowVella CEO, Brent Brookler told Geek Wire the changed had already been in the works, the company will keep the same F in their logo. From the article: Flowboard’s slick app for creating presentations will be known as FlowVella from here on out. The change comes at the heels of a trademark court ... read more ...
Wed 3rd December 2014
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Australia Denies Apple’s Bid To Trademark “App Store” In Australia - Jenni Ryall reported for Mashable that Australia has said no go to Apple trademarking the term “App Store” in Australia. This latest ruling was an appeal of their 2013 trademark attempt. The judge did not see app store as distinguishing itself to be Apple centric. From the story: Apple can not exclusively use the term “app store” in Australia after a ruling in the Federal Court on Wednesday. Apple was appealing a 2013 decision by the Australian Registrar of Trade Marks, that rejected an ... read more ...
Sun 16th November 2014
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Tech Companies Want Senate To End NSA Collection Programs Before Republicans Take Control - Tech companies coming together to get the Senate to act to eliminate the NSA’s bulk data collection programs. Companies like Google and Microsoft etc… are worried about losing business around the world as foreign governments might fear that the U.S. government can gain easy access to the data of their citizens. With the change of power in the Senate there is a fear among tech leaders that this must be done now or it will not get done over the next Senate term. Of course Google just may feel like ... read more ...
Sun 9th November 2014
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Court Orders Google To Help Marvel Discover Source of Leak - We continue to see courts getting involved in telling registrars and search engines what they must do to comply with a growing number of complaints that arise with issues of copyright infringement. A couple days ago we wrote about a German court telling Key-Systems that they and all registrars can be held liable for the infringement violations of their customers. Gizmodo reported that a U.S. judge has ordered Google to turn over all information they have with regards to a leaked trailer for the new ... read more ...
Fri 7th November 2014
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German Court Says Domain Registrar Can Be Held Liable For a Infringement of their Customers - Court rules registrars are responsible for fighting piracy In a case that involved the music of Robin Thicke and his album Blurred Lines, a German court has ruled that a domain registrar can be held liable when it comes to copyright infringement. The domain registrar in this case is Key-Systems who appealed the initial ruling and lost their appeal at The Higher Regional Court of Saarbrücken. Torrent Freak wrote: In a case brought by Universal Music over the album Blurred Lines, a Court of Appeal ... read more ...
Sat 13th September 2014
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
18 Year Old MySchool.com Hit With UDRP For The Second Time in 4 Years - The domain name MySchool.com looks to be getting hit with a UDRP for a second time in four years. Back in 2010 Joseph L. Carpenter brought a UDRP against Andy Booth and his Foresight.com. At that time Carpenter alleged the following: The Complainant alleges that he has used MYSCHOOL® as a trademark and brand name in connection with online information and advertisements in the field of education since at least December of 2008. He operates his website in connection with the domain name myschool411.com. ... read more ...
Fri 22nd August 2014
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Google Gains Victory in German Publisher Dispute - Back in June, Jeff Jarvis wrote on Buzz Machine about German publishers banding together to go after Google for linking to their content. As Jarvis pointed out Google News does not show ads so the desire to get 11 % of something, would be 11% of nothing. From the article: German publishers are not just fighting Google. They are fighting the link and thus the essence of the internet. Half the major publishers in Germany have started a process of arbitration — which, no doubt, will lead to suits ... read more ...
Mon 4th August 2014
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IronDome.com is out to prevent Patent Disputes - To say that the term Iron Dome is in the news everyday would be an understatement, more like in the news every hour. Iron Dome of course is the the Israeli built defense system that knocks out incoming missiles out of they sky before they hit their target. As a domain name, IronDome.com was registered back in 2004 by McLeod Capital Corp. of Calgary,  Canada. The defense system was launched by Israel in 2011. After being a register.com placeholder for years, on Feb 2, 2011 the name was parked as ... read more ...
Sat 2nd August 2014
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Victoria’s Secret Loses Trademark Battle for Pink in a U.K. - The Pink brand of Victoria’s Secret is everywhere in the U.S., the local mall I go to has a Victoria’s Secret and even when traffic was down and stores closing up, the Victoria’s Secret store was always packed. During the 2008 financial crisis the gourmet popcorn store closed, the bookstore closed but there was a brisk business for underwear. The Pink brand was launched in 2004 and has been a big driver of sales for the company. The brand has been credited with bringing a younger consumer to ... read more ...
Tue 29th July 2014
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Spain Passes The “Google” Tax – How it will work no one is unequivocally sure - Spain Passes The Google Tax Spain passed a law that will give Spanish newspaper publishers the right to get paid from any site that links to them with what they deem a ” meaningful ” description of the content. It is important to note that this law does not apply to all publishers in Spain, only daily newspapers. From QZ.com On July 22 Spain passed a law (link in Spanish) called the canon AEDE, after the acronym for Spain’s daily newspapers’ association. The law has been dubbed the tasa ... read more ...