Courts have struggled with where to draw the line between the right to defend a trademark and the right to engage in free speech.
Under South African law as it stood at the time, a company lost its right to the trademark if it languished unused on the books for five years, unless there was a good reason.
It took INPI seven years before they granted IGB the right to trademark the name and that year the G-Gradiente iPhone was launched.
The result is a procedure biased in favour of the trademark holder, which, Mr Froomkin argues, damages the consumer's right to use the Internet for purposes other than capitalism such as free speech, posting pictures of your children, or parody.
In the present case, the claims against Mr. Vaughan are straightforward: trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, Texas unfair competition, including right of publicity, palming off and misappropriation.
Without registration, the trademark owner must first prove to a court that it indeed owns an exclusive right to use a trademark in order to prohibit use of confusingly similar terms by others.
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He's every bit the trusted, reassuring news presenter, right down to his trademark salt-and-pepper beard.
Trademark protection of a fictional character provides the owner with the exclusive right to use the character in connection with goods and services, as well as the right to prevent the unauthorized use of the character in connection with goods and services of infringing third parties.
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His trademark: a shirt that fits a Rolex watch right in the cuff.
Copyright grants extraordinary powers to an owner, including the right to prevent protected works from being sold or even given away, far more protection than trademark law.
Youkilis consulted with former Red Sox and Yankee Johnny Damon before he signed with the team, and was told that he'd be right at home on the Yankees so long as he was willing to shave his trademark goatee, as Damon did with his famed caveman beard.
Lampard hit the post with a trademark long-range drive and Terry fired just wide with a well-struck shot off the outside of his right foot.
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