Category:
Advertising, Communications, Media, PR & Creative Agencies

16/03/16

Highly illogical? Star Trek vs its Trekkies

In December last year, CBS and Paramount filed proceedings against Axanar Productions, a company comprised of Star Trek fans that had managed to crowd fund hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a feature length fanfic* called Axanar. Axanar brought a dismissal motion against the proceedings, claiming that there was not sufficient specificity as to...

15/03/16

When is a colour a shape? Louboutin poses curly questions to the Court of Justice for the EU

There is a new development in the long running litigation concerning Louboutin’s red sole trade mark. Stemming from an infringement matter brought by Louboutin against Van Haren Shoenen, a Dutch shoe retailer who sold heeled shoes with a red sole, Louboutin has now sought a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European...

14/03/16

Kapow! Court gives protection for the batmobile

On 7 March 2016, DC Comics (‘DC’) ended a long term battle with car designer Mark Towle (‘Towle’) in its fight to secure copyright protection of the Batmobile. The fight began in May 2011 when DC filed action against Towle alleging infringements of its trade mark, copyright and unfair competition claims amongst other things arising...

09/03/16

“When my customer smiles at me…I go to Rio”: Ambush Marketing and the Rio Olympics

As Brazil prepares to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janiero, the Brazilian Congress has been busy attempting to protect the valuable intellectual property surrounding the Rio Olympics by enacting specific legislation in an effort to curb ambush marketing attempts, and unlawful associations by brands, which inevitably occurs during large scale...

08/03/16

Trade marks never go out of style: the battle for ‘New York Fashion Week’

There has been an ongoing battle for the rights in the term ‘New York Fashion Week’ between Fashion Week, Inc (‘FWI’), a company that sells tickets to New York Fashion Week events, and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (‘CFDA’)– the industry’s major not for profit trade association with a membership of over 450...