Meanwhile, over in FRAND-Land, it can be reported that over 30 good souls have signed up for the IP Finance seminar on 22 November, “Facts and figures on FRAND licensing for standards-essential IP”, at which Keith Mallinson will be seeking to persuade non-believers that the desirable effects of FRAND licences are real and measurable. This seminar is kindly hosted by Olswang LLP in its London office. Click here for details.
I spy, with my little eye. Those readers who may have been following the career path of Anna Chapman will probably have noticed the latest twists in the plot. According to The Telegraph, the beaming brunette -- having exploited one area of intellectual property (confidentiality, since she is allegedly a Russian spy) -- has now moved on to copyright, via an accusation of plagiarism. The lovely lady has been advised "to stick to modelling" in future. Thanks, Lee Curtis, for being quicker to spot this than the Kat was in posting it ...
This Kat is still puzzled that the Apple of everyone's desire has decided to sue a small German cafe, Apfelkind, for infringing its trade mark. According to the Daily Mail, someone on the planet thinks there's a likelihood of confusion -- and someone who is not even on this planet thought it worth taking legal action. The IPKat's noble friends at MarkenBlog are conducting a poll and it appears that -- even notwithstanding the fact we laugh at our German cousins for thinking things are confusingly similar whereas we Brits don't -- over 91% of respondents are confident that there is, indeed, no likelihood of confusion.
Interesting. Apple has also gone after An Apple A Day, a bistro in Luxembourg. Is this a sign that Apple is expanding into the restaurant business?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/219425/apple-threatens-tiny-luxembourg-bistro-appleaday
I wonder where the world would be today had Apple Records sued the hell out of these upstarts from Cupertino back in 1976...
ReplyDeleteThe DPMA database lists about 274 entries containing the word "apple" in the English spelling... That should keep their lawyers busy. ;-)
One is shocked, shocked that anyone in this day and age would pay attention to Ms. Chapman's not altogether unpleasant appearance. However, we surely can all agree that she should be judged strictly according to her abilities.
ReplyDeleteBut, that said, her adventure into alleged plagiarism may give new insight into the meaning of the "fair" aspect of fair dealing.
Hans Sachs
If Anna Chapman is actually a brunette, shouldn't we include "passing off" in the list of her exploits against intellectual property?
ReplyDelete