Blog + News
June 8, 2022 |
Intellectual Property News Roundup – June 8, 2022
Han Santos keeps you up to date on the latest intellectual property news.
Copyright issue with Tinder parent company
A British dating app for Muslims, Muzmatch, may be losing its right to its name after a legal battle with Match Group. Match Group is the developer behind Tinder, OkCupid, Hinge and Match.com.
According to the Match Group, they pioneered the “concept of online dating over 20 years ago.” The UK’s intellectual property and enterprise court ruled that Muzmatch had infringed on the Match Group’s trademark.
Instagram now testing NFTs
Instagram has started to test NFTs. Its initial test has been limited to a select few users, inviting people to share via Feed, Stories, or DM the digital assets they've made or bought.
NFTs stand for non-fungible token, which is a digital token that is considered unique and cannot be replaced with anything else.
Republicans attempt to block Mickey Mouse
Republicans are trying to block Disney from extending its copyright protection of Mickey Mouse. Currently, the mouse has copyright protection through 2024. It has been extended twice since its original expiration date of 1984.
Some conservatives view this as a method to punish Disney for what they determine to be a current progressive agenda.
Adidas in trademark infringement case
A legal battle between American shoe brand Adidas and fashion designer Thom Browne continues to heat up as a New York federal court refuses to toss out a trademark case that Adidas filed last year. Browne has now hit back with his defense.
Browne is currently using a four-stripe pattern that Adidas claims to be infringement upon the trademark Adidas’ three-stripe logo. However, Browne’s lawyers claim there are no instances in which the two logos could be confused, and the two brands operate in different markets.
Browne works in the luxury fashion industry, while Adidas is part of the sportswear market.
Multinational companies lose trillions in IP from hackers
A report from a Boston-based cybersecurity firm unearthed a Chinese hacker campaign to withdraw sensitive data and information involving intellectual property from about 30 multinational companies. These companies are part of the manufacturing, energy, and pharmaceutical sectors.
As a result, the FBI is estimating in a report a loss of between $225 billion and $600 billion to the annual U.S. economy.
INDIVIDUAL ARTICLE DISCLAIMER:
Use of, access to, and information exchanged on this web page or any of the e-mail links contained within it cannot and does not create an attorney-client relationship between Han Santos, PLLC, and the user or browser. Please do not post any personal or confidential information. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Contact us for additional information. One of our lawyers will be happy to discuss the possibility of representation with you. The opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the firm or any individual attorney.