Celebrating 20 Years of IP Excellence

The featured image shows the five rings of olympics. The post is about the rules regarding use of the word 'Rio 2016 ' in social websites , issued by the Olympics Committee. To know more, please click here.

RIO 2016 and Trademarks

  The Rio Olympics, 2016 are in full swing and this news might serve as a warning to large number of brands throughout the globe. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) have warned both the athletes and the businesses who are not official sponsors of the Olympics, against using the Olympic trademarks in their marketing campaigns or on any other kind of forums, particularly social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. This might be understood…

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Latest updates in Copyright case decisions

Jury clears Led Zeppelin’s "Stairway to Heaven" from copyright infringement claim A lawsuit alleging copyright infringement was brought against Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin group  by Michael Skidmore. He alleged that there were similarities between the opening chords for 1971 song Stairway To Heaven  and a composition called Taurus  which was released four years earlier by a band called Spirit. The US District Judge Gary Klausner had ruled in April that “Stairway to Heaven” bore “substantial” similarities with…

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Sipping on IP – Conversation on Intellectual Property

  Well I am guessing the title of this post may have piqued your interest. ‘Sipping on IP’ is an initiative taken by BananaIP, where everyone gathers over coffee and lets ideas, discussions and conversations about intellectual property brew. There are no ground rules and the conversation can be about varied topics from more current pressing issues to any IP related concept. It is a great way to connect, take a break and learn from your peers. Let’s see what we sipped…

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The featured image shows the like button used by facebook. This post is about two recent trademark judgments passed by the courts of china. To read more click here.

China Court Likes Facebook and Dislikes Apple.

You win some, you lose some!! China passed two judgments last week, with respect to trademark involving two of the most famous brands- “iPhone” and “Facebook”. The judgments are very surprising because as we all know that Facebook though blocked in China, was allowed the trademark protection. However, iPhone despite being popular and sold in China lost the trademark battle. The iPhone imbroglio: Xintong Tiandi, a Chinese manufacturer of luxury leather goods has been selling handbags, mobile phone…

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Net Neutrality wins: How TRAI empowered the consumers

  In a major win to net neutrality advocates the telecom watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) barred telecom service providers from charging differential rates for data services, which put an end to the robust Free Basics service marketing launched by Facebook and Airtel Zero platform by Airtel in its present form. TRAI, sensing the need of the hour based on the huge cry for net neutrality by its activists and Facebook’s robust marketing of its ambitious project Free Basics,…

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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…

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

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…

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

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…

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Intellepedia - IP News Updates

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

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…

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Social Media and IP : Part VII – Trade Mark Cases

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.…

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