Posts Tagged: "INTA"

Australia’s Tobacco Plain Packaging Act (TPPA) was enacted in 2011 and prohibits all use of trademarks (other than word marks) on tobacco product packaging. The law seemingly created a domino effect around the world, with countries including Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and the UK having enacted similar laws since, and many other countries presently considering various approaches to restricting tobacco and other products, including alcohol, snack foods and soda. Most recently, Canada enacted the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, which places certain restrictions on tobacco products, and is still considering broader plain packaging regulations. Complaints about the law have been pending with the World Trade Organization (WTO) for some time, and, on January 14, the International Trademark Association (INTA) submitted a brief opining in the latest stage of that case.

The WHOIS database provides technical information about the date of creation and expiration of a domain, as well as contact information for the registrant of a website, including name, physical address, email address, and phone numbers. GoDaddy and WHOIS.com appear to have selectively redacted the information only for registrants providing an EU contact address. However, given the difficultly of determining which domain owners are EU citizens, many registrars, such as Tucows, removed data for all domains regardless of where the registrant is located. In light of this WHOIS blackout, the GDPR has effectively made it easier for counterfeiters and infringers to evade detection.

On Thursday, April 24th, I attended a Sports Industry briefing and cocktail reception in honor of World IP day.   The program was sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) and International Trademark Association (INTA). The program featured a panel of policymakers, including US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Vishal Amin, and Congressional Trademark Caucus Co-Chairs, Senator Chris Coons and Senator Chuck Grassley as well as Attorneys who represent the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and IMG College Licensing.

A resounding en garde was declared by California craft beer brand Stone to MillerCoors, the second largest beer company in the United States, over the alleged taking of their brand recognition. On February 12, 2018 Stone Brewing filed a federal complaint alleging trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution, and California unfair competition. The complaint requests preliminary and permanent injunction, declaratory relief, and both actual and treble damages on the basis of willful trademark infringement by MillerCoors… A particularly interesting factor in this case is likelihood of irreparable harm. MillerCoors may find room for defensive maneuvers due to recent shifts in the standard for proving irreparable harm.

Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have provided the opportunity for brands to interact with mass audiences quickly and effectively, but this interaction is a two-way street. Increasingly the public is looking to social media as a vehicle to interact with brands when something goes wrong. Trademark professionals are having to consider not only which social platforms to deploy for their brands, but also work with marketing, communications and customer service teams to manage their brand’s presence online. Thinking of social media as “free” for those actively managing and promoting brands misses both the importance of the platform and the expectations of consumers in an increasingly connected world.

Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, Spain’s Minister of Education, Culture and Sport began by explaining talent must always have a price and that it should be rewarded. Believing the fight against anti-piracy should be communicated through the school curriculum so as to reach children at a young age, Méndez de Vigo, added that infringing creator rights should be explained to students as stealing. “We want to raise an anti-piracy generation,” he explained, adding that neither piracy nor stealing are “acceptable in our legal framework.”

The latest estimate from the International Trademark Association (INTA) notes the global impact of piracy and counterfeiting will hit $4.2 trillion (USD) by 2022… While buying a “knockoff” product may not seem to present harm on the surface, a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warns that purchasing counterfeit or pirated goods present “a significant economic threat that undermines innovation and hampers economic growth.” … Fire, electric shock, injury and, at times, fatalities are just some of the risks in using a counterfeit product. Within the past few years, several highly publicized electrocution deaths have been linked to counterfeit iPhone adapters.

The major premise of plain packaging is that when stripped of producers’ logos, brand images and promotional matter, tobacco products simply aren’t as attractive to consumers. Reduced focus on logos and images also increases the effectiveness of health warnings. Chan points to research from Australia, the first country to fully implement plain packaging, to show that by stripping tobacco products of gratuitous trademarks and other producer advertising elements, there were 100,000 fewer smokers over the first 34 months after implementation in 2012. Not all groups agree, however.

The British legislation, aimed at curbing demand for cigarettes, requires that all cigarettes be sold in uniform packs with all branding, including colors, logos and other trademarks, removed. Companies are only permitted to print the brand’s name, in a uniform font, size, and location, on the pack, alongside health warnings and deterrent images. Tobacco companies have indicated that they will be left with no choice but to challenge the regulations.