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“Shoe-in” for Converse? Iconic Sneaker Company puts Foot Down and Sues for Trademark Infringement

“Shoe-in” for Converse? Iconic Sneaker Company puts Foot Down and Sues for Trademark Infringement

Converse, a subsidiary of Nike[1], has recently filed 22 separate lawsuits against 31 retailers and shoe designers, claiming trademark infringement for the design of their classic “Converse All Stars” shoes. Defendants include giant retailers Kmart and Wal-Mart and designers such as Sketchers, Fila and H&M.

EU Moving Toward New Trade-Mark Regime

EU Moving Toward New Trade-Mark Regime

The European Commission has proposed amendments to the Community Trade Mark (CTM) Regulation and Trade Marks Directive. The primary function is to harmonize EU member trade-mark laws. This bureaucratic hygiene aim – which resulted in a mixture of trade-mark rights expansion and contraction – stands in contrast to the current, controversial and (in my opinion) […]

2012 IP Year in Review: Hollywood Couldn't Make an Action Movie this Good

2012 IP Year in Review: Hollywood Couldn't Make an Action Movie this Good

Giuseppina D’Agostino is the Founder and Director of IP Osgoode, the Founder and Director of the IP Intensive Program, and an Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. 2012 was an action-packed year in the world of intellectual property law. There were flurries of reports, decisions, and new legislation that confronted many core principles of […]

Artwork to Ashes, Brands to Dust: Australia's Tobacco Plain Packaging Act Held Constitutionally Valid

Artwork to Ashes, Brands to Dust: Australia's Tobacco Plain Packaging Act Held Constitutionally Valid

Put this in your pipe and smoke it: The High Court of Australia recently ruled that the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act withstands constitutional scrutiny, in JT International SA v Commonwealth of Australia. Retailers and smokers will thus soon find themselves scrutinizing things as well, in order to distinguish between identical cigarette packages stripped of all branding and trade-marks.

Bushels of Legal Issues for Apple: An Update on How the Tech Giant is Fairing in IP Law Around the World

Bushels of Legal Issues for Apple: An Update on How the Tech Giant is Fairing in IP Law Around the World

Lately, it seems as if every IP law and tech blog one reads has something new to report on one of the countless lawsuits Apple is engaged in around the world. This week was no exception – the biggest splash that Apple made in the news circuit this time around was that Apple had come […]

Third time a charm? The Innovative Design Protection Act in the face of The Knockoff Economy.

Third time a charm? The Innovative Design Protection Act in the face of The Knockoff Economy.

On Friday November 1, 2012, the American University, Washington College of Law Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) hosted the Inaugural Peter Jaszi Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property, featuring Christopher Sprigman, Professor at the University of Virginia Law School and co-author of the book The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation.

Clash of the Tartans...

Clash of the Tartans...

In Abraham Moon & Sons Ltd v. Thornber and others, the Patents County Court (“PCC”) in London held that a firm called “Art of the Loom” and its partners (“defendants”) had infringed Abraham Moon’s (“claimant”) copyright in “Skye Sage”. This decision is noteworthy because it serves as an example of how copyright law relates to the […]