Matt Nadeau, the owner of a tiny Vermont brewery being sued by the makers of the Monster energy drink for brewing a beer called "Vermonster," has taken his case to the people. He says that trademark attorneys keep telling him the law is with him, but that he should just give up because it will be too expensive to litigate. "This is just about principle," Nadeau told the AP. "Corporate America can't be allowed to do this, in this day and age. It's just not right." The dispute has arisen because Hansen, the maker of Monster Energy Drink wants to enter the alcoholic beverage market. Source: http://consumerist.com/2009/10/brewer-sued-by-monster-energy-drink-asks-america-for-help.html I have seen so many genuine users of trademark giving up just to avoid litigation.Is Might is right work always?

Most of my clients want to adopt some thing that shows signals to the products or services they are into. Instead of creating a brand for themselves they want to rely on generic term. They should know that it is the same case with every trader. So it is better to adopt a distinctive term than a descriptive or suggestive name. Read HOTELS.COM, HOW GENERIC—TRADEMARK LOST ITS LUGGAGE! http://brandaideblog.com/advertising/hotels-com-how-generic%e2%80%94trademark-lost-its-luggage/

Instead of getting a new international agreement in place which will create too much of confusion, we should try and adopt better enforcement mechanisms through the existing agreements like TRIPs. Part III from Article 41 t0 61 and special requirements related to border measure from Article 51 need to be incorporated in national law of every state to strength IPR Enforcement. More importantly every individual need to be educated to respect Intellectual property rights of others rather than enforcing the same through legal mechanisms. Individuals should feel responsible for creation intellectual property and respect the same. Morality should play important role here; individuals should feel guilty of encouraging counterfeiter and counterfeiter should feel guilty for encroaching the Intellectual property rights. Most of the nations, people are not aware of their intellectual property rights and to the maximum intellectuals creating intellectual property are exploited by the wealthy commu...

World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) on Sunday said it received last year a record number of complaints on cybersquatting - or abusive registration of trademarks on the internet. Cybersquatters register domain names for iconic or brand names such as FIFA or Lego so that internet users who do not have the exact web address of these brands are directed to pages that have nothing to do with the international football federation or the Danish toy company. In 2008, 2 329 cases more were brought to Wipo's arbitration and mediation centre, up 8% from 2007. "Cybersquatting remains a serious issue for trademark holders," said Wipo Deputy Director General Francis Gurry. Over the past decade, 14 000 cases have been brought to Wipo. Source: http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2485954,00.html

China recorded more than 56,000 trademark infringement cases in 2008. It is an increase of 12.6 percent from the last year. One-tenth of the 56,634 cases involved foreign brands, an increase of eight percent from the last year, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce said in a statement released. Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iPQSp-az-VnawvCwy7hUAbBjtRLg

http://ipindia.nic.in/tmr_new/misc_notices/publicnotice_13March2009.pdf Section 45 (1) of Indian Copyright Act mandates requirement of No objection Certificate from Trademark Registry for Registration of Copyright in Artistic works which are capable of being used as a trademark. Only Trademark Registry Mumbai use to issue such certificates. Now it has been decentralized and all Five Branches of the Indian Trademark Registries i.e., Ahmadabad, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

By STEVE SZKOTAK Associated Press Writer February 27, 2009 RICHMOND, Va. - The oval bumper sticker with the letters OBX has become as synonymous with North Carolina 's Outer Banks . The abbreviation also created a successful business for James Douglas , but its proliferation has made it a tough trademark to defend. On Friday, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Bicast Inc. didn't infringe on a trademark when it began selling bumping stickers with the text "OB Xtreme." Douglas came up with the OBX abbreviation in 1994, borrowing the idea from similar shorthands used in Europe. He initially gave the stickers away, but later formed OBX-Stock and affixed the letters to bumper stickers that celebrate the fishing and vacation destination. OBX-Stock had annual revenue in 2004 topping $1 million. The U.S. District Court in Raleigh , N.C., found in June 2006 that OBX was either generic or a descriptive for North Carolina's 200 miles of ...