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Website or blog owners, if you allow third parties to post content on your site, check out this short video that could save you lots of $$$.
How to Designate a DMCA Agent
24 Tuesday Jan 2012
Stories from the Week that Was – 1/15/12-1/21/12
23 Monday Jan 2012
Stories from the Week that Was – 1/15/12-1/21/12
The internet stood up and crushed SOPA/PIPA this week (at least temporarily). It was a pretty amazing day as Wikipedia went dark and citizens across the land let their voices be heard. It’s not over yet and there’s news that a new bill, ACTA, is even worse than SOPA. Stay tuned.
Anonymous Attacks Justice Dept as FBI Shuts Down File-Sharing Site
Super Bowl XLVI Gets a Social Media Command Center
The Week That Killed SOPA: A Timeline
“I personally think intellectual property is an oxymoron. Physical objects have a completely different natural economy than intellectual goods. It’s a tricky thing to try to own something that remains in your possession even after you give it to many others.” – John Perry Barlow
Stories from the Week that Was – 1/8/12-1/14/12
22 Sunday Jan 2012
Stories from the Week that Was – 1/8/12-1/14/12
More SOPA this week. It’s all coming to a head next week with a big internet protest planned. Stay tuned.
Homeland Security monitors journalists
3 More Reasons SOPA Ought to Scare You
Who Is Flying Unmanned Aircraft in the U.S.?
Why bankruptcy isn’t a brand killer
Full Text of 2012 Indiana State of the Judiciary Address
White House Speaks Out Against SOPA/PIPA, Sort Of…
“The intellectual property situation is bad and getting worse. To be a programmer, it requires that you understand as much law as you do technology.” – Eric Allman
Stories from the Week that Was – 1/1/12-1/7/12
08 Sunday Jan 2012
Stories from the Week that Was – 1/1/12-1/7/12
SOPA is THE issue in IP for early 2012. There is plenty of opposition to the bill from all sides but I’m left with so little confidence in Congress doing the right thing that I can’t forecast an optimistic outcome. I’m tempted to mail a copy of William Patry’s new book “How to Fix Copyright” to all of my congressmen. I’m about halfway through and it carries a vital message that hopefully gets to our elected officials before SOPA is passed and does permanent damage to the Internet.
Why Everyone Should Be Against SOPA
Why The Movie Industry Can’t Innovate and the Result is SOPA
National Defense Authorization Act Outrage Continues To Grow Online
Careful, That’s Not a Louis Vuitton
2011: The Year Intellectual Property Trumped Civil Liberties
Homeland Security monitors journalists
Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Norwood Promotional Products v. KustomKoozies (DECISION)
06 Friday Jan 2012
Posted in Indiana, Litigation, Southern District of Indiana, Trademark
Over two years later, the Kustom Koozies case is over.
Norwood Promotional Products is a large Indianapolis-based promotional products company which sells imprinted “insulated containers for beverage cans” under the KOOZIE® trademark. KustomKoozies, LLC (“Kustom”) is an internet retailer that sold insulated beverage can and bottle holders with customizable promotional imprinting, directly to end-customers in quantities as small as a dozen. On May 15, 2007, the USPTO issued a trademark registration to Norwood for the mark “KOOZIE®” (see abstract below). On May 6, 2008, Norwood sent a letter to Kustom indicating that it had come to Norwood’s attention that Kustom was in violation of the licensing agreement the parties had previously discussed because Kustom failed to set out KOOZIE in all capital letters and set forth the appropriate subscript following the term. In response to the May 6, 2008, letter, defendant Robert Liddle reviewed the agreement and Kustom’s website pages, making changes that he believed cured any noncompliance issues, but he did not succeed in making all necessary changes. Norwood sued for breach of contract and trademark infringement.
After the lawsuit was filed, Kustom did not attempt to make any changes to its website in order to avoid the trademark infringement claim, but it did attempt to terminate the licensing agreement with Norwood. However, the attempt to terminate was unsuccessful. The Court found as a matter of law that the settlement and license agreements were valid contracts between the parties and that Kustom breached those contracts by purchasing, owning, registering or operating internet domain names that contained the term “koozie,” and by using the term “koozie” or “KOOZIE” to describe and sell products on those internet sites. The Court also found that the mere use of the claimed mark after the failed attempt to terminate the license agreement did not constitute trademark infringement and grant summary judgment to Kustom.
Practical Lesson: Think twice before you commence litigation. It can be timely (almost 2 1/2 years here) and expensive. However, trademark owners have a legal obligation to police and enforce their trademark rights, often putting owners between a rock (losing their trademark) and a hard place (expensive litigation).
No: 1:09-cv-1378-JMS-WGH (December 21, 2011)
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana
Before: Magnus-Stinson
Indiana Intellectual Property Blog 