Trademark News
Are trademarks worth anything now?
Why do people buy up trademarks in auction sales? Recently, Mervyn, the popular retail chain was declared bankrupt due to the US financial crisis and some of its assets were put up for auction. In a surprised move, three of the founder’s sons put up a bit to buy back the house mark. The question is now asked is there a value for the mark, if not now, then perhaps later? Besides the main house mark, there was also some other marks on their apparel lines like High Sierra, Hilliard & Hanson and ellemenno. There is a big question as to whether ‘Mervyn’ could be reinstituted or could it garner any value later on. Perhaps these marks can be revived and later put back on the market, since many people are familiar with their qualities and services!
And why not? Indeed, it takes a lot of effort to bring up a brand. It might take years of hard work, and there is no surety that a brand can stick after all the effort. It would be more sensible to revive a trusted brand at a later time, when the economy revives. After all, these brands were not taken away from the market because they were of inferior quality, but more due to an adverse economic climate. Surely we can assume that at some future date, when the economy gets better, when people starts to have confidence and go out to shop, they might go for these revived brands again. Remember, people can’t forget good products, and good brands will capture customers, no matter what! So if there is an opportunity to buy a mark, go for it because it is much, much easier to use an old trademark, rather than to build a new one from scratch. This economic crisis will turn many people a flounder, but it will also bring about new entities. Will you then scout for a bargain? If you have the money, you will be king, provided you have that thing called ‘farsightedness’.
A British Scotch Whisky manufacturer made sweet victory in China by obtaining recognition from the Chinese Trade Marks Office a “well known” trademark for their ‘Chivas’ and ‘Chivas Regal’ brand recently. It means that no other parties can use the mark in China and it seems that China is now seriously putting into place intellectual property protection for foreign companies. Up until now, there have been a lot of IP infringements, especially of foreign enterprise brands by local Chinese companies. It is well known fact that local Chinese entities file registrations first before foreigners can lay claim to their trade names. Brand squatting is a given here.
By being accorded a “well known” status for their brands, foreign companies who are setting up shop in China will be more confident in putting in more investments. It is indeed a major political swift on the part of the Chinese government as this concession will no doubt reflect an acceptance of good principals of global governance. Perhaps China is now signaling that it is ready to play the role of ‘Big Brother’ as it moves towards being the world’s second (or maybe largest) largest economy!
June 16th 2009
Tata taking on a minnow
If you have searched for traveler’s site for India, then you might have come across the site www.oktatabyebye.com or you might even have used it. Aside from the tongue twisting pronunciation, the website name is being claimed by the Indian giant group Tata, and a complaint was even brought up to WIPO for arbitration. Tata wants the domain name to be transferred back to it as it is the legitimate holder of the 'tata' trademark, both in India and internationally. According to Tata group, the website is causing confusion among the public, by giving an impression that Tata is involved in the travel business, and the operator of the travel portal is passing it off as an offshoot of the giant group, and thus profiteering from the goodwill thereof.
It is now established that WIPO has reviewed the case and has ordered the disputed domain (operated by the travel portal) to be transferred to the Tata group. It was a David and Goliath case, and unfortunatly in this case, little David was the looser! Did someone erred? The name does sound difficult to pronounce, but there is no question of it being likened of as something associated with Tata. The word ‘ta ta’ is a Chinese sounding term for ‘bye bye’, and so combining all the bye bye words is more of an innovative use of wordings, and the travel portal should be congratulated for their effort, instead of them being robbed of their prize. Neither is the name casting any aspersion on the Tata group. Then again, www.tatatravel.com (which is unregistered yet) would certainly have given the impression that there is an association with the Tata group. What is your take?
August 28 2009.
Cybersquatting: Oh, it only affects others, not me!
Is cybersquatting going to knock on you? Fat chance you say? Not really. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the situation is getting very dire and it could get worse when new domains are approved by 2010. Statistics shows that there is a whopping 8 % increase in reported cases from 2007 to 2008. Adding to the problem is the present state of economic depression all around the world. With lesser viable businesses to go into, people might just choose cybersquatting to earn a living. And it is not a serious crime yet, sort of a shady activity that is carried out by immoral netizens. You must have heard of the cases of famous personalities and companies being affected by cybersquatting, but you would certainly not think that it will ever come to you. Oh, just don’t be so sure yet, like a disease, it could strike you without you knowing it.
If you are not the famous type and you are operating a not so well known domain, the chances of someone else out there trying to hustle some money from you is quite slim. Still, it would be good to know what to do in case someone decides to prey on you. If you are a victim, you could either sue under the provisions of the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), or go for an international arbitration system called Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) sanctioned by ICANN (Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers) and WIPO. For the ACPA route, you will need to bring a lawsuit against the cybersquatter in a federal court. You will have to plead to the court to force the squatter to transfer the domain with your trademark back to you. The success rate here is about 80 % if you have a strong case. But it will take time and money. Or if you choose the UDRP route, then it is an arbitration procedure, and if your case is strong, then the result could be swift. Then again, the plaintiff could drag on the matter for some time, but at least you don’t need to spend time and money to get back what belongs to you.
However, many people do not even know that they have been cybesquatted and they only found out when someone else tell them. There are many forms of cybersquatting, and some of them happen without causing any commotions at all. For all you know, your neighbor might be operating a web site with an almost similar name to pull in advertising dollars through the search engines. This is made possible due to people miss typing in the wrong domain name. Instead of getting your web site, visitors get to the domains with the incorrect spellings. With plenty of advertisements on them, the visitors just click on the adverts. Your cybersquatter then pockets the click through money, or worse, the visitors are then lead to another phishing site and get robbed of their credit card particulars! And your name gets tarnished instead. This could happen to anyone running a domain and trademark, so be aware of it.
September 08, 2009.
It is now Apple against Woolworths of Australia
It is now official. Apple Inc. is asking the IP Australia (in carge of intellectual properties ) to stop Woolworths the supermarket chain from using their new logo, citing infringement issues. It also believes that Woolworths logo can bring about confusion to the public. But according to Woolworths, their new logo which they change in 2008, does not depict anything close to Apple’s famous logo. It has got more to do with the fresh (thus green in color) food that it is marketing. Well, you be the judge and take a look at the two logos…..
and see whether you can confuse one for the other! October 5, 2009