... MEANWHILE IN THE US

Google wins cache victory

MediaPost reports that Google has won an American copyright infringement case. Author and lawyer Blake A. Field argued that Google’s cached page function (by which it makes copies of websites so that users can access the copies if the original website goes down) was infringing. However, District Judge Robert C. Jones found that Google’s activities constituted fair use.

There has been speculation about whether this bodes well for Google in its attempts to scan books and make them searchable via its service. The IPKat isn’t convinced though. The GooglePrint service would compete with conventional published editions whereas the cached page service comes into its own when the original website isn’t working.

More on Google’s caching service here.

Drawing bugs VW

Autoblog reports that Volkswagen has sent a cease and desist letter to American artist Don Stewart. The letter concerns a pen and ink drawing of a VW Beetle with fantasy decoration. VW claim that the sale of copies of the drawing infringes its trade dress and seeks to

"capitalize on and profit from the goodwill and reputation of VWoA by misappropriating VWoA's registered trademarks and trade dress in its products."

Stewart’s drawing

The IPKat can’t understand this. First of all, the picture appears to be an affectionate tribute and not really worth making a fuss about. Secondly, it’s rather hard to succeed on a US misappropriation claim.