A quick note to mark the passing of 2011 and the start of 2012. Thank you all for reading and commenting here (and on Twitter) on the stories that have been reported on these pages. I’m looking forward to posting much more in 2012. There has been plenty to contemplate in the last 12 months [...]
Posts Tagged ‘UK’
Happy New Year!
December 31st, 2011 
Gareth Dickson 
Posted in copyright, data protection, North America, patents, privacy, social media, trademarks, UK and Europe, vront 
Tags: Authors Guild, Book Settlement, copyright, Google, Internet, second circuit, UK, US, YouTube 
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New Microsoft ad strategy more aggressive than Google’s?
August 5th, 2011 Gareth Dickson Microsoft has recently tested a new system of advertising whereby ads are not placed on top of the organic search results, nor to the side, nor on a colored background, but actually within the list of organic results. Is this a smart move? Will Microsoft find itself on the end of a (meritorious) lawsuit for [...]
Posted in North America, social media, trademarks, UK and Europe, vront Tags: AdSense, AdWords, ECJ, Europe, Google, Internet, trade marks, trademarks, UK, unfair business practices 1 Comment »DON’T READ THIS HEADLINE WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST: NLA v. Meltwater & PRCA: Part I
May 1st, 2011 Gareth Dickson Simply opening a webpage on a computer can infringe copyright, according to The Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd & Ors v. Meltwater Holding BV & Ors [2010] EWHC 3099 (Ch). If followed, Proudman J’s ruling could have a radical impact on free social media services, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as free monitoring services [...]
Facebook unfriends David Cameron
November 9th, 2010 Gareth Dickson Amid plenty of fanfare, UK Prime Minister David Cameron recently announced plans to develop part of East London as a global IP hub that will compete with Silicon Valley. With the existing tech park dubbed “Silicon Roundabout” the plans are certainly ambitious, and David Cameron looked to two (US) tech giants to give credibility to [...]
Posted in social media, trademarks, UK and Europe Tags: Facebook, Google, Internet, UK No Comments »Ministry of Sound, BT and the obligation to preserve electronic documents
November 4th, 2010 Gareth Dickson Most readers of this blog will be aware that the recent 4Chan / Anonymous attacks against various websites associated with the enforcement of copyrights have been followed by ISPs claiming, in some cases hypocritically, that the current process for investigating intellectual property infringement claims does not adequately protect their customers. By way of recap, the [...]
Posted in copyright, data protection, privacy, social media, UK and Europe Tags: copyright, data protection, Internet, UK No Comments »Google abandons AdWords Keyword “Suggestion” Tool
July 27th, 2010 Gareth Dickson Google has put an end to its controversial Keyword “Suggestion” Tool after the CJEU ruled that it might not benefit from the exemptions from liability found in the E-Commerce Directive. It also appears to have modified its remaining services to protect the “LOUIS VUITTON” trademark, but continues to allow advertisers to sully other luxury brands [...]
Posted in copyright, social media, trademarks, UK and Europe Tags: AdWords, DMCA, ECJ, Europe, Google, Internet, Louis Vuitton, LVMH, software, trade marks, trademarks, UK, US 1 Comment »Google says sorry after being a little bit evil
May 15th, 2010 Gareth Dickson By the end of April, it was begining to look like Google was turning a corner on what had started out as a potentially difficult year. In Europe, Google was in a high-profile dispute with LVMH, the owner of famous brands such as Moët, Hennessy, Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Christian Dior. If the result went the [...]
Posted in data protection, North America, privacy, UK and Europe Tags: AdWords, ECJ, Google, Louis Vuitton, LVMH, New York, second circuit, UK 1 Comment »Trade Marks Act Clarification Issued by High Court
February 20th, 2010 Gareth Dickson This was (almost) the title of the first article I ever had published externally, back in March 2007 when I had been in the IP Litigation department of my firm for about 8 months. I’m pleased to say my own style has developed since those early days, but when you’re starting out it’s worth bearing [...]
Posted in trademarks, UK and Europe Tags: acquiescence, Publications, similarity, trade marks, trademarks, UK, World Trademark Review No Comments »