The UK Intellectual Property Office has published its IP Crime and Enforcement report for 2016-2017 (the Report). The Report explains the current challenges and threats posed by intellectual property crime, with input from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). According to the Report, 15% of all internet users aged…
Eminem, the American award-winning rapper, songwriter and producer, has been the latest artist to have copyright in his music infringed. The Judgment from a May 2017 trial in a copyright lawsuit in the High Court of New Zealand was published today and it is a victory for the rapper. The track at the centre of…
Disney is well known for taking its intellectual property rights seriously and defending their brand by suing anyone that dares to step on their toes. Most cases go unheard of as Disney has the money and resources to stop infringers in their tracks and very rarely can anyone ever stand up to the entertainment and…
Outside of Australia, a lot of people would associate the name ‘ugg’ with the UGG footwear brand known for producing, amongst other products, sheepskin boots (UGG). UGG is a division of American company Deckers Outdoor Corporation (Deckers). In Australia, however, the word ‘ugg’ has been used as a generic term for sheepskin boots for years….
Albert Namatjira, the Australian aboriginal artist who died in 1959, made headlines this week after it was announced that the copyright in his artwork has finally been returned to his family. Namatjira was known for the geography he depicted in his paintings, including the mountains and valleys of the Australian outback, as well as the…
The infamous ‘Blurred Lines’ verdict which ultimately decided that musicians Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke were guilty of copying Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit, ‘Got to give it up’ has reared its head again, this time in the Court of Appeal. Our original report of the case can be read here. At the time, the case…
ResearchGate is a social networking site based in Berlin. It allows academics to share published papers, presentations and book chapters with millions of its members. The firm was founded in 2008 and it has received more than $87 million from Science Funders and investors, including Bill Gates. It claims to have more than 13 million…
Supermarket chain Morrisons is in court this week faced with a lawsuit brought by thousands of current and former employees over a data breach which occurred in 2014. The personal details and payroll data of almost 100,000 employees were posted online after they were stolen by a fellow employee – an auditor at Morrisons’ Bradford…
According to World IP Review, Levi Strauss (Levi’s) is taking Connecticut clothing retailer Vineyard Vines to court in the US for trade mark infringement relating to red tabs attached to the back pockets of jeans, despite those tabs having Vineyard Vines’ logo on. Proceedings were reportedly issued last week in the Northern District of California….
Last year we reported on This is Spinal Tap co-creator Harry Shearer’s claim against Vivendi in respect of merchandising income apportioned to the four creators up until 2006. That story can be found here. Shearer alleged that Vivendi carried out fraudulent practices to conceal and re-apportion revenue generated by the hit mockumentary, and issued a…
