California AG goes all-out to fight “revenge porn”
Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2010. (credit: Steve Rhodes via Flickr) California is taking new steps to fight against the involuntary posting of nude images online, a practice sometimes known as...
View ArticleGawker Rats Out Adversary's Attempt to Find Whistleblower In Its Ranks
Suing Gawker after being labeled "the web's worst journalist," Chuck Johnson allegedly attempted to pay for internal documents that reveal how the site circumvents defamation laws.read more
View ArticleMobile Marking – Trademarks for your App Icon
It seems that everywhere you look, there truly is an “app for that.” New mobile apps are developed daily, ranging from games to highly specialized scientific apps. But, apps are not limited to tech...
View ArticleImportant Circuit Court Ruling Limits Scope of VPPA Liability
The Eleventh Circuit issued a notable ruling this week limiting a mobile app’s liability under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), 18 U.S.C. § 2710, a law enacted in 1988 to preserve “consumer”...
View ArticleNow Available: The October Issue of Our Socially Aware Newsletter
The latest issue of our Socially Aware newsletter is now available here. In this issue of Socially Aware, our Burton Award-winning guide to the law and business of social media, we highlight five key...
View ArticleMusician will.i.am. denied trademark registration for the term “I Am”
Recently, musician and entrepreneur William Adams, a/k/a will.i.am, who was a member of the musical group Black Eye Peas, was denied a trademark registration for the term “I AM”.[1] I.am.symbolic, LLC,...
View ArticleUK refuses Assange safe passage to hospital
(credit: Surian Soosay) The UK government on Wednesday denied WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange safe passage from Ecuador's embassy in London to a nearby hospital to diagnose shoulder pain. The...
View ArticleAmazon reaches deal with deaf rights group to caption all video
(credit: Daniel Oines) A deaf rights group that sued Netflix to compel it to caption all its video programming has reached a similar deal with Amazon over its streaming video. Unlike the Netflix...
View ArticleApple loses jury trial in Madison, WISC to WARF
Forbes, and others, have discussed Apple's patent loss to WARF.A U.S. federal jury [in Madison, WISC; docket 14-62, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (Madison)] has ruled that...
View ArticleSeven Principles to Follow When Contemplating Comparative Advertising in...
My latest column for Slaw‘s series of intellectual property columns, on the laws governing comparative advertising in Canada, was published today. The column can be found here.
View ArticleNo Easy Answers in Social Media Law
Math Castle by Gabriel Molina from Flickr (Creative Commons License) Earlier this week I did an interview for Casual Fridays with Tyler Anderson about social media law. I had a great time talking about...
View ArticleOnline US fantasy sports wagering is booming, but it’s at a crossroads
The major topic that stood out at the gambling industry's biggest trade show—the G2E Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas over two weeks ago—was the future of online fantasy sports wagering. That booming...
View ArticleBio Organic (-)
Der Begriff „BIO organic“ ist für die Waren der Klasse 3 und 5 unmittelbar beschreibend und deshalb jedenfalls bei einer banalen grafischen Ausgestaltung nicht eintragungsfähig. Sachverhalt Die...
View ArticleResearch Shows How NSA Exploits Flaws to Decrypt Huge Amounts of...
According to an award-winning paper presented at a security conference earlier this week by a group of prominent cryptographers, the NSA has likely used its access to vast computing power as well as...
View ArticleStates Beginning to Treat Online Data as Protected Under the Fourth Amendment
Chalk up another victory for online privacy rights. Last week, California became the latest state to pass a law requiring law enforcement to obtain warrants for online data such as email, text...
View ArticleWikiLeaks and the Implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership
You have probably heard about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) in the news lately, but the TPP has been in the works for the last five years. The TPP would create a trade-agreement between 12...
View ArticleUniversal Sued Over Tom Cruise Film By Family of Slain DEA Informant
The lawsuit says the studio made a $350,000 deal with the wrong family members.read more
View ArticleNonprofit groups say Sprint will unfairly throttle data after WiMAX shutdown
It's a bit too late to get WiMAX now. (credit: Yusuke Kawasaki) On Wednesday, Mobile Citizen and Mobile Beacon, companies that supply schools, libraries, and nonprofits with mobile broadband service,...
View ArticleLife Tech v. Promega: Inducing with Yourself
In Life Technologies Corp. v. Promega Corp., the Supreme Court has asked for the views of the Solicitor General — greatly raising the likelihood that the high court will take the case. The kicker will...
View ArticleEPO AC says no to Battistelli & yes to the rule of law
The Administrative Council of the European Patent Office (EPO) has rejected the proposal from the President, Benoit Battistelli, (reported here) which would have seen them bypass the Enlarged Board and...
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