With womens’ sporting events becoming increasingly popular with tv and live action crowds, brands searching for new sports sponsorship opportunities are turning to womens’ sports.
Squire Patton Boggs’ Sports Shorts blog considered the advantages of such deals for brands in a recent post, which also looks at some high value sponsorships in the area.
The EU Consumer Rights Directive (the Directive) came into force in 2011 and was implemented in the UK by the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellations and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Its aim is to protect consumers when shopping ‘away from business premises’, and is often most applicable when shopping online. It sets out minimum information requirements that traders must adhere to, such as identifying the trader and the total price of the goods or services (including taxes and additional charges), and providing access to an online dispute resolution (ODR) platform. All information must be presented in a ‘clear and comprehensible’ manner for consumers. The full list of information requirements can be found at Article 6 of the Directive.
In order to assess compliance with the Directive, the European Commission, with the help of the Consumer Protection Cooperation network across Europe (CPC), annually instructs consumer protection authorities in different countries to undertake an EU wide screening (which they call a ‘sweep’) of online traders’ websites. The latest sweep assessed traders offering a variety of goods, services and digital content, including clothing, computer software and entertainment tickets, whilst previous sweeps have reviewed sites providing services and price comparison tools in the travel sector. The CPC then analyses the different information requirements to establish where ‘irregularities’ of non-compliance exist, and presents a report showing compliance across the EU. Continue Reading
A showdown is underway between the New York Attorney General’s Office and the companies that own and operate the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and issue the stablecoin tether. In short, after months of investigation, the AG’s office has filed a lawsuit under New York’s Martin Act (the NY laws regulating securities and commodities fraud) against the Bitfinex and Tether companies alleging that they may have defrauded Bitfinex customers and tether owners. At the commencement of the lawsuit on April 24, 2019, the AG’s office obtained a court order compelling the Bitfinex and Tether companies to produce documents and information necessary for the AG’s Martin Act investigation and prohibiting the companies from continuing to engage in certain transactions with each other. The companies have responded, disputing the AG’s allegations and asking the court to vacate the order. At a hearing on May 6, 2019, New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen upheld the order compelling Bitfinex and the Tether companies to produce certain documents and information as well as the injunction. But Justice Cohen expressed concern about the injunction’s breadth and clarity, and he gave the parties a week to negotiate a new injunctionThis dispute has crucial implications for both the regulation and market perception of cryptocurrency, so the industry will watch it closely. Continue Reading
On April 22, 2019, the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) published a notice in the Federal Register regarding the existing options available for Patent Owners to amend their patents during or after an America Invents Act (“AIA”) challenge proceeding. This notice did not amend or alter existing USPTO practices, but instead summarized and clarified three existing options available for Patent Owners to amend patents challenged under the AIA. The notice is a reminder that, while the obvious amendment option for a patent under an AIA challenge is a motion to amend (“MTA”), reissue and reexamination proceedings initiated by a Patent Owner are important alternatives and may provide an added benefit, in that the patent challenger has limited or no involvement in such proceedings. Continue Reading
Recent cases of trademark theft involving Chinese employees of US companies and China’s ever rampant phenomenon of trademark squatting have emerged as very critical areas of dispute between China and several Western countries. On April 23, 2019, two new sets of regulations were adopted by China’s State Council addressing these concerns. Both introduce more effective legal tools to protect foreign IP assets in China. One set enables the Chinese trademark office to do more preventive clean-up work of fraudulent trademark applications, while extending the liabilities of squatters and their filing agents. The other set provides for a more severe punishment of the infringers while lightening the right holder’s burden of proof, thus making it easier to bring cases of trade secret violation to justice. Continue Reading
The theme for this year is “Reach for Gold: IP and Sports.” Accordingly, the Global Intellectual Property & Technology Blog would like to acknowledge the contributions of all innovators and creators involved in sports, as well as the commitment of the professionals who help secure and enforce their intellectual property and resolve intellectual property issues. Continue Reading
Advertising agencies aren’t often employed to create interesting concepts for job adverts and it is easy to forget that, just like any other advertisement, job ads must abide by the rules of the CAP Code (the Code). In fact, there is a whole section of the Code dedicated to marketing communications for employment, business opportunities and homeworking schemes as well as online advice on recruitment and business opportunity advertising.
The ASA has recently published some updated guidance on getting job advertisements right. We have summarised the key takeaways and how to avoid the potential pitfalls below. Continue Reading
Seeking an interim injunction to protect against copyright infringement can often run into difficulties, as demonstrated by the recent judgment in Happy Camper Productions Ltd v British Broadcasting Corporation [2019] EWHC 558 (Ch).
The dispute centred on the script for an episode of ‘Pitching in’, a comedy-drama programme by the BBC about a widower in a Welsh caravan camp (the Episode). The Claimant sought an interim injunction to prevent the BBC from broadcasting the Episode, claiming copyright infringement in a script, written by one of its directors, which was also a comedy about life and death in a Welsh caravan site (the Script).
Another of the Claimant’s directors had, some years previously, met a BBC producer, and said they shared the Script with her. The Claimant argued that the Defendant then copied the idea and features of the expression of that idea in the Script by producing the Episode. Continue Reading
A pro bono case in the Ninth Circuit just made it harder for plaintiffs to prove copyright infringement is willful. Continue Reading
The America Invents Act’s creation of patent challenge proceedings to be conducted by the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) provided a powerful tool for challenging patent validity outside of costly litigation proceedings. But recent events are changing the strategic advantage that such proceedings may hold for patent challengers.
