Ben Farrow is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. On September 22, 2011, the European Court of Justice handed down a judgement on a series of trade mark related questions spurred by the long running dispute between international flower delivery network Interflora and English retailer Marks and Spencer. The case stemmed from a […]
Brent Randall is a JD candidate at the University of Ottawa. DC Comics, owner of the Batman character, filed a lawsuit on May 6, 2011, alleging infringement of its copyright and trade-mark rights over the Batmobile. The suit, filed in California, alleges that the named defendant, Mark Towle, is selling imitation Batmobile vehicles as well […]
Leslie Chong is a J.D. candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Starbucks has recently proposed a newly revamped logo to represent their company – a seemingly simple change that has prompted much furor among their loyal customers and business commentators alike. This coming March, the company’s logo will cease to include the words “Starbucks Coffee” […]
Ivy Tsui is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Granting trade-marks to outré elements such as sound, smell, shape, taste, and texture has long been considered unconventional. However, as Professor David Vaver has foreseen, today’s “unconventional” trade-marks may become the “conventional” trade-marks of tomorrow.[1] In recent years, the practice of trade-marking sounds has […]
Vincent Doré is a JD/MBA candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and Schulich School of Business. In a recent trademark dilution case, Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote an eloquent opinion that clearly and explicitly delineates where ordinary use ends and dilution begins. The question in this recent Ninth Circuit case (Visa Int’l Serv. […]
Michael John Long is an LLM Candidate advancing to the PhD at Osgoode Hall Law School Lord Justice Jacob, sitting for the England and Wales Court of Appeal, recently stated in his ruling that he was obligated to award L’Oreal (the cosmetics giant behind ‘Because You’re Worth It!’) victory in the high profile trademark infringement […]
George Nathanael is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. On April 1st the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided in favour of eBay (for the most part) in their case against Tiffany and Company. The case revolved around the advertisements that eBay had placed for Tiffany jewellery being sold on […]
Alexander Gloor is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Fashion powerhouse Louis Vuitton has sued car maker Hyundai for trademark infringement stemming from a Super Bowl advertisement. Before reading on, try and spot the alleged infringement. If you paid attention, you may have noticed the design on the basketball, appearing for all of […]
Virgil Cojocaru is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Groovle.com allows a user to adopt one of their custom interfaces or create a ‘website’ with a unique background. This result is then pasted on the Google search screen. Groovle really operates on top of the Google search engine. When one enters a keyword, […]
Stuart Freen is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Vancouver-based yoga sportswear company Lululemon introduced a new line of national-flag themed clothing late last month, just in time for the 2010 Olympics. The new line of sweatshirts, tuques, and t-shirts features the colours of Canada, the United States, Germany and Sweden and is cheekily […]