A US Court has ordered Twitter to produce electronic records of three Twitter account holders to the United States Government as part of the criminal investigation into WikiLeaks, Jullian Assange and Bradley Manning. The case raises interesting questions as to how far the First Amendment (freedom of speech) and Fourth Amendment (privacy) rights extend in the world of social media. read more »
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The Naked Cowboy is back at it again, robustly defending his exclusive right to play the guitar in public wearing only a white cowboy hat, white cowboy boots and ..... white briefs. Two years ago, the Naked Cowboy sued Mars in relation to a cartoon advertisement that had featured some of New York's famous icons dressed as M&Ms, including a King Kong M&M climbing the Empire State Building and, of course, a Blue M&M dressed exactly like the Naked Cowboy. This time, the Naked Cowboy, aka Robert Burck, has taken aim at the Naked Cowgirl, aka Sandra Brodsky. Ms Brodsky, a self-described “career-stripper-comedian”, plays her guitar in exactly the same costume as the Naked Cowboy - hat, boots and briefs - albeit with added brazier. Whilst the legal issues in this matter are relatively straightforward and common to us here at IP Whiteboard (a claim for trade mark infringement; a response claiming invalidation due to a descriptive mark and non-use), what is interesting is how a relatively obscure busker has been able to popularise his brand through rigorous protection of his IP rights. read more »
Move over kryptonite, the “Man of Steel” has a new weakness, and it’s covered in garlic sauce! On the back of his highly successful YouTube parody, creator Theodore Saidden has sought to register the “Superwog” logo as a trade mark to protect the IP in his new T-shirt range. DC Comics, the owners of the registered “Superman” trade mark, is not impressed, and have lodged a notice of opposition. So the question is, to what extent are satirical marks, whose success as a parody are largely dependent on their similarity to a well-known mark, themselves registrable as a trade mark in Australia? read more »