23 November

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Social Media and IP (Part XI): Best Practices for Businesses

Social Media is an integral element of every business today, and no business can afford to ignore its relevance. From employee policies to business development, social media has a role to play in several business related activities. It is therefore important for companies to devise and follow legally acceptable standards and guidelines for handling business activities on social media. This note outlines some best practices from the Intellectual Property, privacy and publicity perspectives. Devise and Implement a Social Media Policy In this age of social media, every company must have a social media policy. A policy that outlines what role social media is...

20 November

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Social Media and IP (Part X): Trade Secret Cases

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Social Media Law

Christou v. Beatport Christou owned night clubs, and Bradley was his employee. Bradley's primary role was to find good DJs and organize events at Christou's night clubs. By virtue of his role, Bradley had access to the MySpace account of Christou's night club group. While working with Christou, Bradley founded Beatport and later left his job. Subsequently, Bradley started a competing night club after a few days. Aggrieved by his actions, Christou sued for trade secret misappropriation among other grounds. After analyzing the facts, the Colarodo Court held that the friends list on MySpace is like a database of business contacts and...

19 November

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Social Media and Intellectual Property (Part IX): Select Publicity Rights Cases

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Social Media Law

This post provides short briefs of two publicity rights cases, which provide insights about publicity rights on social media. A previous post on the subject covered a couple of other cases. Ranveer Singh and Slippers Just before the movie Kill Dil, a Bollywood film starring Ranveer Singh, Govinda and others was released, a company by the name 'Yo Custom Freak' uploaded a Facebook image of slippers. The phrase 'Kill Dil' was written on the slippers and Ranveer Singh's photograph was part of the image. The company claims to produce customized apparels, jewelry, accessories, etc., and this was one of its customized products. On...

18 November

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Social Media and IP (Part VIII): Select Patent Cases

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Social Media Law

Yahoo V. Facebook In 2012, Yahoo sued Facebook claiming infringement of ten of its patents relating to methods and systems of advertising on Social Media. The suit was filed after Facebook announced its plans to go for IPO. Yahoo did the same thing to Google and acquired substantial amount of shares in the bargain. In response, Facebook countersued Yahoo for infringement of its patents. The suit was settled within four months of its initial filing, in July, 2012. As a part of the settlement agreement, the parties agreed to cross license each other's patents. They also agreed to work in a much...

17 November

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Social Media, IP and Business- A Presentation by Dr. Kalyan Kankanala

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Social Media Law

This presentation was delivered by Dr. Kalyan Kankanala as a part of a seminar on intellectual property, social media and business. The seminar was attended by IP professionals as well as corporates. The presentation entitled ‘Social Media IP and Business’ covered the following topics. Various types of IP on Social Media- Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, Publicity Rights. Intellectual property violation on Social Media- Direct Contact, Take Down, instances Infringement. Let’s Go Crazy lawsuit Examples of patents with respect to Social Media With the help of cases, examples and multi-media Dr. Kalyan’s presentation gives insights into various facets of Intellectual Property, and its significance with...

17 November

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Social Media and IP (Part VII): Trade Mark Cases

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Social Media Law

PINTEREST, v. PINTRIPS Pinterest, a social media platform, which allows users to upload content and share it through what it calls as 'pins,' filed a suit against Pintrips, a company that allows users to compare travel plans and flight prices. In its suit, Pinterest claimed that it owns trade mark rights with respect to the mark, PIN, and that its use by Pintrips amounts to trade mark infringement and dilution. The case was filed in 2013 in a California Court. After analyzing the facts, the Court held that Pintrips was not liable for infringement of any rights Pinterest may have in the...

16 November

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Social Media and Intellectual Property (Part VI): Select Copyright Cases

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Social Media Law

This post briefs three copyright cases that provide insights into copyright issues with respect to content posted on Social Media platforms. Scrabble v. Scrabulous In 2008, two Indians Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, launched a Facebook App called 'Scrabulous.' It was a word game similar to Scrabble. Initially Mattel, and later Hasbrow, right holders of the Scrabble game sued the Agarwalla brothers for both copyright and trade mark infringement at the Delhi High Court. After reviewing the facts, the Delhi High Court held that there can be no copyright in the word game Scrabble, and that Agarwalla brothers are not liable for copyright infringement....

15 November

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Social Media and Intellectual Property (IP): Part V – Publicity Rights and Celebrity Rights

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Social Media Law

Social Media can make or break a personality. Most public figures from film stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Will Smith, Aishwarya Rai, etc., to political leaders like Narendra Modi, Barack Obama, etc., are very active on Social Media. While on one hand, Social Media enables celebrities gain popularity, on the other hand, a celebrity's activities on Social Media platforms makes it possible for extensive misuse and abuse of a celebrity's persona. Over the years, several instances of passing off, false endorsement, misappropriation and publicity rights violations on Social Media have been reported. Publicity Rights in India Unlike states like California in USA, India...

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