Foreign entities looking to register Australian domain names need to be aware that the eligibility requirements have changed and the threshold is now much higher. If a foreign entity is relying on a registered Australia trademark to meet the Australia presence requirement, they must ensure that their domain is an exact match to that trademark. On 12 April 2021, a new set of rules relating to the licensing of the .au country code Top Level…

The U.S. Supreme Court released its eagerly anticipated decision in Facebook Inc. v. Duguid yesterday, narrowly construing the definition of an automatic telephone dialing system, or autodialer, under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and resolving the uncertainty that had led to a long-standing split in the circuit courts. Autodialer Definition and Interpretations A circuit split regarding how broadly to define the types of automated technology regulated under the TCPA led to this case. Under the TCPA,…

Authors’ rights According to the Copyright Law, authors of audiovisual works have various rights, including: producing fixations or reproductions of the work; making the work available to the public (eg, by publishing it on an on-demand video service); broadcasting the work on TV or the radio; and communicating the work to the public.…

The title is the first thing the reader sees or hears …—and getting it right is the single most important … decision you’ll make. The title forms the basis of the reader’s judgment ….” Tucker Max For those of you who may read my past ILN posts, you will not be surprised that I subscribe to the Tucker Max approach:  Make the title attention-grabbing, memorable and searchable, informative, easy and not embarrassing to…

The United States received two major copyright updates in the middle of the pandemic.  Copyright owners should breathe a sigh of relief.  On December 27, 2020, as part of the major COVID-19 Relief bill, the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (the “CASE Act”) and the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act of 2020 (the PLSA”) were signed into law. The Problem: Streaming is the thing—whether with music, television, movies, audiobooks, or videogames.  Like with…

Since 1 March 2021, the Pharmaceutical Register of the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) is available on the official website of the Eurasian Patent Office. The Register contains information on Eurasian patents protecting active substances of drugs. The EAPO specifically indicates that the Pharmaceutical Register shall relate to the patents protecting pharmacologically active products (chemical compounds, including those described by the same structural formula, biotechnological products, compositions, combinations), production methods and medicinal use of the products.…

Suppose that you want to register a trademark that identifies a source of goods or services for your business.  What if you file a federal trademark application and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refuses registration of the trademark based on a likelihood of confusion with another trademark registration?  Can you cancel the cited trademark registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because of non-use in commerce?  The answer is “YES!” if the trademark…