JAPAN’S TRADEMARK LAW- A CUT ABOVE THE REST
-Shantanu Jugtawat*

‘Trademarks have significance not only for private consumers but for corporations that sell goods and furnish services as well. Long ago, in an economy of face-to-face trade and of craftsmen and women, merchants considered credibility (or reputation) to be a vital asset. The more credible the merchant was, the more goodwill he or she acquired. At one point, merchants use the word...

Though the United States media have published a number of stories deriding China's intellectual property protection, those articles nearly always neglect to mention that in most instances involving trademarks, the fault lies with the foreign company, not with Chinese enforcement. The reality is that many foreign companies fail to register their trademarks in China and thus have no real right to complain about any "infringement" there. To expect protection, foreign companies...

Costs, Likelihood of Success, and Timing for a Trademark’s International Branding

Bruce Margulies.

I. INTRODUCTION

A benefit of the international treaties and laws regulating trademark registrations is the flexibility they provide. In the same vein, it may be hard for a non expert to determine which of the filing alternatives are best suited for their business objectives in terms of timing, likelihood of obtaining trademark registrations, and cost....

In the past, many brand owners, both small as well as corporate sometimes did not consider much the immense importance of protecting someone's brand overseas. The simple key should be "IP strategy". If a strategic decision has been taken to go and expand the business and open new locations, one of the first things that should be done is to protect your brand. It has happened in the past that brand owners, went overseas, spent money on finding a local distributor, in opening...

Adding on to the number of lawsuits involving search ads, 1-800-Contacts has recently filed a lawsuit in federal court against LensWorld for purchasing search links triggered by the term "1-800-contacts." The company which has since brought up several other similar cases, says it's trying to guard against confusion which might lead consumers into thinking there is an affiliation between 1-800-Contacts and these other companies.

1-800-Contacts, whose headquarters are...

1. Holding

The USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (hereinafter “TTAB” or “Board”) has relaxed its requirements for allowing website pages to be used as trademark specimens.

In In re Valenite, Inc., Serial No. 76482852, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, 2007 TTAB LEXIS 71; 84 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1346, July 31, 2007, the TTAB decided that the specialized nature of applicant’s goods made it infeasible to sell the goods in a traditional...

It's recently been highlighted that people are falsley claiming to be using Monofibre, when they definately are not.

Why do people feel the need to make out that they use Monofibre when they are not?! This just certifies that it is the original and best!

Both consumers and hairdressers and being somewhat mislead into believing they are using and buying Monofibre, when sadly they are not, they are actually using imitations. Some feel the need to go along with this,...

My Product is Better Than Yours…But Can I Say That?

(Friday, March 28, 2008 ) - James Katz

Comparative advertising continues to be one of the most popular forms of promoting consumer products in the marketplace. According to Advertising Standards Canada, this type of advertising consists of comparing the advertiser’s products or services with those of another, with regard to their characteristics, performance, consumer preference or value. If properly...

Indian Trademark Law has been codified in conformity with the International Trademark Law and is about to undergo an amendment to be at par International Trademark Law.
Recently India has signed Madrid Protocol that will allow Foreign Applicants to file an International Application designating India like many countries around the globe e.g
China. Though unlike China and many other countries Multi class filing is allowed in India.

Statue:
The various statues dealing...

As more and more companies are seeking to distinguish their products and services in the marketplace by registering their names, slogans or designs as trade-marks, many companies which do not retain a Canadian lawyer or trade-mark agent often make fundamental mistakes.  Among the most common mistakes are the following.

1.    A Company Name is not a Trade-mark.

A company name is the legal name under which a company carries on business. ...