The Cutting Edge of IP

ICANN Approves New gTLDs, Kicks Off Global Money-Grab

J. Michael Hurst — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:00:00 -0400

Today in Singapore, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted to allow registrations of brand-specific generic top level domains, or gTLDs as they’re known. No more will internet addresses be limited to the familiar “.com” and “.net” suffixes.

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There's An App For That - But Only From Apple...?

J. Michael Hurst — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:00:00 -0400

I guess we should have seen this coming – or not. As reported by CNN on Tuesday, Apple has obtained a federal trademark registration for its slogan, THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT. Well, ok…CNN got it wrong; the PTO has only just accepted Apple’s Statement of Use, which means that a registration is imminent, but we’ll let CNN slide on this one.

Tags: Intellectual Property

Update: Social Network Privacy Settings Still Mean Nothing in New York

J. Michael Hurst — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:00:00 -0400

This post is an update to our August 27th post where we reported that a District Court in California held that privacy settings on Facebook and MySpace do actually matter.

Interbrand's Top 100 Global Brands for 2010 Released

J. Michael Hurst — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 12:00:00 -0400

Interbrand has just released its annual listing of the Top 100 Global Brands.

Bad Brand Decision from Audi "Rears" Its Ugly Head?

J. Michael Hurst — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:00:00 -0400

Another day, another case of a company not bothering to see how its new trademark translates into the native languages of its intended consumers.

Court Rules on Social Media Sites' Privacy Settings

J. Michael Hurst — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:00:00 -0400

On May 26^th, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that, under the Stored Communications Act of 1986, postings to a user’s Facebook “wall” (and, similarly, to the “comments” page on MySpace – although nobody actually uses MySpace anymore) are considered private so long as the user has his privacy settings set such that only “friends” can see his wall postings.

Supreme Court's Ruling in American Needle Creates Uncertainty Over Future of NFL Licensing

J. Michael Hurst — Sun, 23 May 2010 12:00:00 -0400

In a landmark decision, released (coincidentally?) on the first day of the International Trademark Association’s Annual Meeting, the U.S. Supreme Court held, in American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League, that the NFL’s licensing activities are covered by Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act which prohibits “every contract, combination in the form of a trust or otherwise, or, conspiracy, in restraint of trade.” As a result, the NFL will now be required to demonstrate, on remand, that such activities comport with the so-called “Rule of Reason.”

Facebook: Now Presenting, "Brand Destruction!"

J. Michael Hurst — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:00:00 -0400

Since we created an Evolving Media & Technology Team here at KMK, I have been telling brand owners to proactively manage their presence on Facebook by creating an official, corporate, Facebook page and strategically selecting the fan pages and copycat pages to shut down. After yet another “update” to its site late last week, Facebook has now made this kind of brand management exponentially more difficult for trademark owners.

Time to Update Your Facebook Settings... Again

J. Michael Hurst — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:00:00 -0400

I’ll give Facebook credit for one thing — they keep making you come back to their site, if for no other reason than to perform a little “preventative maintenance” on your profile from time to time.

Yesterday, Facebook took the first step toward their goal of Facebook-ing the entire planet by announcing that its familiar “like” button will start showing up all over the internet on non-Facebook sites. I guess because it’s so much fun to tell people that you “like” their Facebook status, Facebook now wants you to have that opportunity wherever you’re surfing online.

Tags: Privacy, Social Media

Brand Dilution At Its Finest: BMW's New "M" Bicycle

J. Michael Hurst — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0400

Today, BMW announced that, beginning in June, customers can order its new “M” bicycle. The bike, which you can see courtesy of Autoblog, is nice enough on the eyes. But one wonders whether BMW has finally gone too far, indiscriminately slapping its “M” brand on something that is less than true to the “M” heritage.