June 22, 2009
In a ruling regarding Opposition to IL 172331, the arbitrator of Intellectual Property, Noach Shalev Shmulovich has ruled that “Sabon Shel Safta” – literally Granny Soap is acceptable for trademark registration despite opposition from Safta Gemila, Medicinal Soap LTD.
Safta Gamila - medicinal soap from Pekiin
The ruling considers that the generic term granny is not descriptive but is merely a hint at traditional, home-made rather than industrial.
Fair enough, and the ruling jumps through the usual hoops regarding phonetic and visual similarity, generic descriptiveness and dilution. Nevertheless, I find the ruling has basic inconsistencies with other recent Israel trademark rulings by Assistant Commissioner Shmulovich who claims that Safta Jemila, Medicinal Soap LTD. is not a well known mark, but went on to rule that even if it were, since the word safta or grandma is generic and merely hints at properties of the soap, the mark would still be allowable.
This is totally opposite to the ruling re Virgin Candles, hinting at fabrication from olive oil (for sacramental purposes – shabbat and Chanucka candles)
where term virgin is often used in conjunction with olive oil as indicative of purity.
That mark was disallowed following opposition from Virgin Enterprises, but Richard Branson doesn’t make candles and didn’t have a registration in the class.
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IPO, Israel, Israel IP, Israel Patent Office Rulings, Israel Trademark, trademarks | 
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Posted by Dr Michael Factor
June 22, 2009
Katy Perry, the American pop singer whose real name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson is attempting to block an Australian fashion designer from trade-marking her clothing range with the brand name Katie Perry.
The designer, who started her high-end Katie Perry lounge wear label two years ago, apparently filed a trademark application in September 2008 and recently opened her first outlet in Sydney. She has, however received a cease-and-desist order from representatives of the EMI-signed artist, who are attempting to prevent the “similar name” being used in connection with the clothing label.
The problem is that the Australian businesswoman was named Katie Jane Perry as a baby, although is also known as Katie Howell.
The American pop singer, Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, (called Katy Perry – although not her name) has become a mainstream star in Australia, with hits including “I Kissed A Girl” and “Hot N Cold”. She is booked to tour Australia this August, beginning Aug. 12 in Brisbane.
This is reminiscent of The White Knight explanation about the song named “A-sitting On a Gate” that is called “Ways and Means”, having the song’s name that is “The Aged Aged Man” but which is called Haddocks’ Eyes.
There are a fair number of similar cases that have gone to court in various jurisdictions. Lego tried to stop a Ms Lego from opening up an art gallery in Denmark. Yoko Ono tried to stop a flower child named Lennon from singing country and Western under that name. generally, something being one’s birth name is a good excuse.
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Posted by Dr Michael Factor
June 22, 2009
Capitol Records sued Jammie Thomas-Rasset for illegally downloading 24 songs from the file sharing program Kazaa. A federal court jury has found her guilty and liable for $1.92 million in damages, or $80,000 per song. since under the Copyright Act she could have been forced to pay up to $150,000 per song, despite being bankrupted, Ms. Thomas-Rasset could consider herself lucky. The Recording Industry Association of America’s has either sued or threatened to sue more than 30,000 others that have been caught downloading music or file sharing. The other alleged criminals chose to settle out of court, with the downloaders forking out average settlements of $3,500. This is the second trial for Thomas-Rasset. In September 2008 the first trial was declared a mistrial when it was determined that the judge had misdirected the jury. In that ruling, Thomas-Rasset was ordered by pay only $222,000 – still more than $6,000 per song. the French Premier tried to legislate a three strikes and you are banned from using the Internet Law, but was over-ruled by the courts. Apparently French style basic human rights now include liberty, equality, freedom and Internet access. We wonder if there will be a US Pirate’s Party? Since a second rate actor became president and a body builder governor of a State, it is not impossible. I consider this ruling a little disproportionate to damage done, but I suppose that is the point of punitive damages.
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Posted by Dr Michael Factor
