Jordan v. Qiaodan: Trademark Battles in China
Earlier this year, Michael Jordan announced the filing of a lawsuit in a Chinese court against Qiaodan Sports Company Ltd., alleging that the company has been using his name and jersey number (23) in China without permission. “Qiaodan” is a Chinese pronunciation of “Jordan,” and along with the Chinese company’s use of the “Qiaodan” mark, […]
Google’s New Wave of Advertisements is Ringing in the Ear
From keyword advertising to Gmail advertising, Google consistently finds innovative ways to allow marketing to wade into an Internet user’s personal space. Such practices by Google have become the norm and have been very profitable for the Silicon Valley starlet. However, just as society starts to become keenly aware of Google’s Internet advertising tactics, the […]
Keep Your Eye On Your Trademarks: Lessons From The Automotive Industry
The prudent business owner or corporate officer keeps a finger on the pulse of their enterprise, carefully watching marketing trends, sales figures, profits, losses, and productivity levels. So often overlooked however, is a business’s intellectual properties, especially trademarks. These properties are easily taken for granted, or their importance is underestimated. Be aware of what you […]
Wild, Wild Web!
The Internet has created a marketplace never contemplated by our forefathers. Legitimate, well-respected retailers and con-artists alike have found the Internet to be a veritable field day for commerce. Protected music is traded amongst millions of audiophiles with a sense of absolute entitlement. Counterfeit products are offered for sale under the guise of legitimate trademarks. […]
How to Destroy a Trademark Without Even Trying!
Did you know that when the owner of a trademark fails to exercise sufficient quality control over a licensee’s use of the trademark, the trademark can be rendered unprotectable? While facts vary from case to case, when naked licensing is found, the trademark owner can be found to have lost its ability to enforce a […]
Pro Se Trademark Applications
A new Stanford University Law School study confirms that those who seek an attorney’s help in registering a trademark are more likely to obtain a registration than those who go it alone. After compiling 25 years’ worth of trademark application/registration data from the United States Patent & Trademark Office, Stanford confirmed that 60% of applicants […]
Trademark and Domain Name Co-Dependence
Trademark registration is critical in protecting your domain name. Trademarks are words, phrases, or graphics that serve as “source identifiers” for specific goods or services. More commonly, trademarks are “brand names” or logos identifying a brand. Domain names are internet website addresses. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, (ICANN), the entity responsible for […]
