The monthly Technology and Media Bulletin from Withy King aims to bring to your attention the key issues happening in the technology and media world, and includes the latest news and cases in the areas of:
Brands cannot prevent honest comparative advertising: The European Court of Justice has ruled this month that the mobile telephone company Hutchison 3G is entitled to use the bubble motifs trade-marked by its rival O2 in its advertisements comparing the two companies' prices if there is no risk of the public being confused into thinking that the advertisment is from O2 itself.
The court held that violation would only occur if the use was:
- in the course of trade;
- without the trade mark owner's consent;
- in relation to the same kinds of goods or services as that for which the trade mark is registered; and
- confusing to consumers as to the origin of the goods or services.
Since the fourth condition was not met, O2 could not oppose the use of the bubbles or its name provided the comparative advertising directive's conditions of honest and objective use are met.
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Google faces legal action by top brands: Big brand companies including Arcadia Group (which owns Topshop and Dorothy Perkins), Lastminute.com, Saga and the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) have met to discuss legal action over Google's trade mark policy which they believe may infringe their trademarks. The policy now permits anyone to bid on protected trademarks via pay-per-click ad slots. Although bad news for the big brands, it may allow smaller competitors to compete more easily.
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eBay fined for sale of counterfeit goods: French courts have ruled that eBay was responsible for the sale of fake bags, lipsticks and designer clothes. eBay has to pay the fashion house LVMH (owner of such brands as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior) damages of €38.6 million in damages.
Whilst eBay is appealing the ruling, stating that LVMH’s case is an attempt to restrict e-commerce, the French Court’s judgment was given on the basis that eBay was negligent in permitting sales of counterfeit goods. The judgment calls into question eBay’s business model as it faces similar claims worldwide.
Information technology & e-commerce
ICANN approves biggest expansion yet in top level domain names: ICANN, the governing body of the Internet, recently approved a massive expansion in top level domain names (TLD’s). ICANN will not register or create the TLDs, but will allow interested parties to select the TLD’s themselves. TLD’s are the endings on domains that we are all used to seeing such as .com, .name, .biz etc. Brand owners should be aware of the change as it may lead to an increase in cybersquatting.
11 year-old sued over Narnia domain name: An 11 year-old boy from Edinburgh has been threatened with legal action by the estate of C.S. Lewis over a birthday present from his parents. The narnia.mobi domain name was purchased in 2006, so that the boy, a fan of the
Chronicles of Narnia books by author CS Lewis, could receive emails at that address directly to his mobile phone.
The C.S. Lewis estate, which purportedly failed to take advantage of a sunrise period in which to buy the domain name, are claiming that the domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith for a commercial gain.
Virgin Media and BPI educate customers about illegal downloads: Virgin Media and the BPI (the British record industry's trade association) have announced an education campaign to help Virgin Media's broadband customers to download music legally. Letters have been sent to Virgin Media customers whom the BPI suspect may have used their accounts to download music illegally.
The BPI wants all UK ISP’s to sign up to its policy where customers get warned twice and are then disconnected. So far only Virgin Media has signed up and some of its customers are not taking to it too kindly.
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Data protection & communications
High Court dismisses privacy claim over police photographs: The High Court has dismissed an application for judicial review by an individual whose photograph had been taken by the police who suspected that the individual may be involved in unlawful activity.
The court held that the mere taking of photographs did not interfere with a person's right of privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights and that the individual could have little expectation of privacy while attending the annual general meeting of a public company as a media coordinator of a high-profile national pressure group. This decision is the first of its kind concerning the taking of photographs in public by the state, rather than members of the media take photographs of celebrities.
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