Like = freedom of Speech

“Liking” something on Facebook is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, reviving a closely watched case over the extent to which the Constitution shields what we do online

What Happens In Social Media Stays In Social Media

Nevada has joined the club of states that bar employers from requiring or requesting that current or prospective employees provide access to their personal social media accounts.  Twelve other states (Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and, most recently, New Jersey) have placed similar restrictions on employers.  Comparable legislation is pending in at least 35 other states.  Importantly, Nevada’s A.B. 181 does not affect an employer’s right to comply with “any rule of a self-regulatory organization.”  Securities firms affected by rules promulgated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have sought exemptions from social media laws to ensure that they can comply with FINRA’S rules, which may affect social media accounts.  The Nevada law takes effect on October 1, 2013. 

3D mark as a Trade Mark?

TM: You can register a '3D mark' as trade mark, e.g. Coke's 500ml bottle. However, you must be able to demonstrate that its destintive character departed significantly from the norms and customs of the sector. A distinctive character is imperative.For more information contact Gerrie van Gaalen

High Court rules Marks & Spencer's use of advertising keywords infringed Interflora's trade marks

The High Court has applied the ECJ's ruling on various questions it referred in proceedings brought by Interflora against Marks & Spencer (M&S) in relation to M&S's use of the word INTERFLORA as an advertising keyword leading Google internet search engine users to advertisements for M&S flower delivery services. The ECJ said that "double-identity" infringement would only be made out if there is an adverse effect on one of the functions of the trade mark. Arnold J found that M&S had infringed the trade mark under Article 5(1)(a) of the Trade Marks Directive (89/104/EEC, now replaced by consolidated Directive 2008/95/EC) and Article 9(1)(a) of the Community Trade Mark (CTM) Regulation (40/94/EEC, now replaced by 207/2009/EC) because a significant proportion of consumers who searched for "interflora", and then clicked on M&S's advertisements displayed in response to those searches, were wrongly led to believe that M&S's flower delivery service was part of the Interflora network, so that the mark's origin function was adversely affected. The judgment includes a detailed analysis of ECJ case law and establishes a number of interesting points, including clarifying the meaning of the "investment function" of a trade mark, substantial interference with which the ECJ found could constitute infringement of the mark. The decision that M&S had infringed Article 5(1)(a) and Article 9(1)(a) will be welcomed by Interflora. However, it is not clear to what extent other trade mark owners will be able to draw comfort from the decision, since it turned on its facts, in particular the fact that the Interflora network included numerous and diverse separate undertakings. (Interflora Inc and another v Marks and Spencer plc and another [2013] EWHC 1291 (Ch), 21 May 2013.)

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IP Symbols - shortcut

IP: Symbol short cuts for IP
Alt + 0153..... ™... trademark symbol
Alt + 0169.... ©.... copyright symbol
Alt + 0174..... ®....registered ­ trademark symbol
If you want to know the meaning of each of the above symbols and when to use them, then call Gerrie

Internet Browsing: copyright infringement or not with reference to caching

what do you think - should the mere viewing of copyright material on the internet amount to copyright infringement, taking into consideration the caching function on your browser?