Intellectual Property Law

Friday fidgetings

By Johanna Gibson, David Pearce, Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Simon.

Voting has so far been somewhat spasmodic on the Afro-IP poll regarding the vulnerability of FIFA's portfolio of registered South African trade marks for "SOUTH AFRICA 2010" and "WORLD CUP 2010". You've still got three weeks to go, but why leave it late? So far, most voters take the view that these marks could be cancelled for lack of distinctive character.

The latest issue of Sweet & Maxwell's European Commercial Cases -- published six times a year -- carries two IP cases in full. First there is J.Choo (Jersey) Ltd v Towerstone Ltd, a 16 January 2008 decision of Mr Justice Floyd on infringement of Community registered and unregistered rights in handbags in which the judge affirmed that there was no defence of innocent infringement but refused to give injunctive relief when the infringing defendant gave a pepetual undertaking not to infringe again. The second is a Cour de Cassation decision from France regarding the right of photographers to put their photos taken at fashion shows online, without the permission of the owners of the fashion designs, for the sake of promulgating 'immediate information' (for the record, there no such right).

The IPKat's friend Jason McGinty is evidently a keen mouse-watcher. He has drawn the Kat's attention to this link to a feature in the Los Angeles Times on Mickey Mouse and the beneficial effect for Disney of them having prudently restyled the rodent at regular intervals since he was launched (left) into an unsuspecting world in Steamboat Willie. For when the copyright in early mouseworks expires, children will take some persuading that this anorexic little fellow is an acceptable substitute for the cool image (right) into which he has evolved for the 21st century.

Full post as published by IPKat on August 29, 2008 (boomark / email).