On June 18, 2014, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a petition to cancel six trademarks owned by the Washington Redskins football team. InAmanda Blackhorse, et al. v. Pro-Football, Inc., the TTAB, by a 2-1 vote, held cancellation of the trademarks was warranted “because they were disparaging to Native Americans at the respective times they were registered.” See opinion here ...
Consistent with President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, EPA today published two sets of proposed rules, which it refers to as “carbon pollution standards,” relating to greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric generating units - for existing stationary sources (79 Fed. Reg. 3480) and for modified and reconstructed sources (79 Fed. Reg. 34980). The publication of these proposals starts the clock running on comments, which are due on or before October 16, 2014 ...
There was an interesting article in a publication called TBO (Trademarks and Brands Online) entitled Fluid Trademarks: Keeping Them Watertight. As the title suggests, it deals with fluid trade marks. But what exactly are they? ‘Fluid trade marks’ isn’t some obscure way of describing trade marks that are used for beverages. The term rather refers to trade marks that vary in use. The article says that ‘fluid trademarks are those presented in an unconventional way.. ...
The relationship between parody and IP rights comes up quite often. Just recently the Advocate General of Europe’s highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), handed down his opinion in the case of Deckmyn, a case which involves the allegedly parodic use by a Belgian political party of a comic in which there is copyright ...
The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe became a member of ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization) with effect from 19 May 2014, with the Harare Protocol entering into force on 19 August 2014. This brings the number of ARIPO Member States to 19 and the number of states party to the Harare Protocol to 18 ...
Many South African businesses are finding it necessary to become acquainted with Chinese trade mark law and practice. One reason for this is that China is a market that many SA companies want to access. This requires them to make sure that they can use their trade marks in China without infringing the rights of other companies. In other words, they need to do trade mark searching ...
Copyright protects a wide range of works. The first of the categories listed in the South African Copyright Act (“the Act”) is ‘literary works’. It is an unhelpful monitor, because literary merit does not come into it at all – the definition in the Act in fact uses the phrase ‘irrespective of literary quality’. The Act goes on to make it clear that works such as reports, tables and compilations are categorised under the term ‘literary works’ ...
Many entities choose to incorporate in Delaware as a result of the abundance of case law on corporate matters and the willingness and ability of the Delaware legislature to adapt to changing times. The ATPdecision is a recent example of the Delaware courts and legislature in considering corporate governance changes in response to stockholder litigation.ATP DecisionIn ATP Tour, Inc. v. Deutscher Tennis Bund, No. 534, 2013 (Del ...
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that competitors may bring private suits alleging unfair competition under the Lanham Act based on misleading and deceptive food and beverage labels that are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), overruling a Ninth Circuit decision ...
After 115 years under the old regime, the new Water Sustainability Act received Royal Assent on Friday May 20, 2014: an historic occasion to celebrate? Not quite yet, perhaps. The fact is the vast majority of the new statute will not have the force of law until authorized by the Lieutenant Governor in Council at an unspecified future date (section 219). With new water regulations not expected until the spring of 2015, it seems that the new Act will not be binding until that time ...
Shepherd and Wedderburn is particularly pleased to welcome the introduction to the Scottish Parliament of a Bill that will allow businesses and individuals to create effective contracts and finalise agreements and other documents more speedily, having played a central role in its conception, and its content ...
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, commonly referred to as CERCLA or Superfund, does not contain any provision for a private cause of action for personal injury or property damage relating to the release of hazardous substances ...
This Need to Know Express is part of a series of newsletters which each answers one or several questions in a practical and concrete way. These bulletins have been or will be published over the next few weeks. In addition, a consolidated version of all the Need to Know Express newsletters published on this topic will be available upon request. These various newsletters, as well as others published on the subject of governance, are or will be available on our website (Lavery ...
On 29 May 2014, INTELEKTIV 2014, an international conference on intellectual property was held in Zagreb. The event gathered leading intellectual property experts from Croatia and Europe to discuss their challenges in dealing with the protection of IP rights in business. Public officers, customs officers, state attorneys and SEE enforcement protection officers assembled to create an open platform for open dialogue ...
As a firm with deep roots in Western Canada we can assist you in navigating the laws and regulations to establish, acquire or invest in a business operating in the region. Western Canada is among the most robust economic areas of the country with extensive resource activity in energy, mining and forestry. This guide has been prepared by Lawson Lundell as a concise resource outlining certain key relevant laws and regulations that companies should consider when doing business in Canada ...
Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”), a prominent proxy adviser, has issued a report urging Target Corporation’s shareholders to oust seven of the company’s directors for “failure to provide sufficient risk oversight” on cybersecurity. The ISS report is the latest blow to the beleaguered company, which was the victim of a data breach that resulted in the compromise of 40 million credit and debit card numbers ...
As noted in our alert dated May 12, 2014, the National Association of Manufacturers, et al. requested on May 5, 2014 an emergency stay of the conflict minerals rule (the “Rule”) or at a minimum, a delay of the June 2, 2014 filing deadline for Form SD. On May 14, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the “Court of Appeals”) denied the request to stay the Rule or the filing deadline ...
There was a fascinating article on the late Wally Olins (brand guru and co-founder of the firm Wolff Olins) in The Economist recently. The piece brings home just how much Olins’s thinking has shaped trade mark law and practice over recent years. Here are just a few examples: ‘G.K. Chesterton got it half right: when people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing. They believe in brands ...
On May 7, the Fourth Circuit held that the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivative Traders, 131 S. Ct. 2296 (2011), did not apply in the context of a criminal prosecution for a violation of Rule 10b-5. See Prousalis v. Moore, No. 13-6814, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 8584 (May 7, 2014) ...
Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”), it is unlawful for companies to bribe or make corrupt payments to officials of foreign governments or of any “instrumentality” thereof. However, what entities are included as instrumentalities of a foreign government is not defined in the FCPA and there has been intense disagreement over the breadth of the term ...
LabMD, Inc. renewed its argument that the FTC lacks authority to regulate the data security practices of HIPAA covered entities by appealing the dismissal of its case for lack of jurisdiction (see our coverage here) to the Eleventh Circuit. LabMD also filed an emergency motion seeking expedited briefing and requesting an order enjoining the administrative proceedings until the appellate court rules on the merits of its argument ...
On 24 March 2014, the Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) issued its long-awaited decision in The Competition Commission and South African Breweries and Others. The original complaint against South African Breweries (“SAB”) and its Appointed Distributors” (“ADs") was lodged with the Competition Commission (the “Commission”) nearly ten years ago, referred to the Tribunal nearly seven years ago, and has been the subject of various interlocutory disputes ever since ...
