trade marks

Naming Your Race Horse – Like registering a trade mark? Well, not quite

Naming Your Race Horse – Like registering a trade mark? Well, not quite

26 November 2013
By Natalie Hickey
The annual Spring Racing Carnival and running of the Melbourne Cup, can often lead to more than a sore head and fistfuls of losing betting slips. Inspired by the (admittedly rare) example of a $4000 horse winning a Group 1 race, you too might have recently acquired a small stake in a new race horse. Now, it is time to give your foal a name. For the trade mark enthusiasts amongst us, navigating the Registrar of Racehorses ‘Horse Naming Policy’ might remind us of the rigors of the Trade Marks Office. The process is quite similar, but there are differences too.
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Trade marks wars: Louboutin’s red soled stilettos are back in the spotlight

Trade marks wars: Louboutin’s red soled stilettos are back in the spotlight

25 October 2013
By Jessica Bounds
The trade mark wars for Louboutin continue, this time in an intriguing dispute in Belgium concerning the use of the iconic shoes on a poster for political advertising. Here’s what happened…. Recently in Belgium’s Antwerp Court, Louboutin claimed that the Vlaams Belang party infringed its registered trade mark for the colour red (Pantone 18-0663TP) applied to the sole of shoes (Benelux Trade Mark No. 0874489) by producing a political advertisement condemning Islam, which showed a woman lifting up a black dress whilst wearing Louboutin’s red soled stilettos. Words were etched along her bare legs which marked potential skirt lengths, ranging from “Sharia compatible” at the ankle to “stoning” high up on the thigh. To view the advertisement, click here. The woman featured in Valaams Belang’s advertisement was Anke Van Dermeersch, a former Miss Belgium and now senator of Vlaams Belang, who turned up to the Antwerp Court hearing wearing Louboutin’s iconic red soled stilettos.
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Sexy but too similar? App developers “Bang-ed” up over trade mark dispute

Sexy but too similar? App developers “Bang-ed” up over trade mark dispute

20 August 2013
By Katie Dillon
What happens when you take three College aged guys, a few hours of spare time, Red Bull, vodka, and a smartphone? Why, a new “casual sex matchmaking app” called “Bang With Friends”! Unfortunately for our anonymous trio (yes, despite the “honesty” of the app they refuse to reveal their identities) the hangover may last a while. In late July 2013, Zynga, makers of apps like “Words With Friends” and the owners of the registered trade mark “WITH FRIENDS”, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court claiming “Bang With Friends” are “free riding on recognized and valuable intellectual property rights”.
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Pharrell Williams sues will.i.am over trade mark dispute –“I am” intrigued!

Pharrell Williams sues will.i.am over trade mark dispute –“I am” intrigued!

15 July 2013
By Daniella Phair
In late June, will.i.am (or more accurately, his lawyer…we assume he’s too busy hanging out with someone cool), sent Pharrell a cease and desist notice, demanding that he stop using the name “I Am Other” because it is too “confusingly similar” to will.i.am’s “will.i.am” and “I Am” registered trade marks. “I Am Other” is Pharrell’s new “creativity website” and YouTube channel which aims to encourage its users to “be other” (whatever that means) and to “celebrate the people who push society forward”.
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