website – IP Law Watch

Urgent Action Required of Australian Businesses to Protect Their Brands Online

Oct 09 2022

From 24 March 2022, Australian businesses have been able to register “.au” URLs (a Uniform Resource Locator or URL is the “address” to a website), rather than the traditional “.com.au”, “.net.au” or “.org.au” URLs.

The Australian .au Domain Administration (auDA) gave registrants (registrants are the “owners” of URLs) of “.com.au”, “.net.au” and “.org.au” URLs until 20 September 2022 to register the equivalent “.au” URL. That is, the registrant of www.australiandomain.com.au had priority over registering the www.australiandomain.au URL. From 3 October 2022, however, third parties have been free to register .au URLs, regardless of whether they own the corresponding “.com.au” etc domain name.

Brexit and .EU Domain Names – A warning for UK registrants

Nov 08 2020

Despite the UK having officially left the European Union on 31 January 2020, the Brexit transition period has been in place maintaining the status quo until 31 December 2020. However, with the end of transition period just around the corner, there are a number of important factors for businesses to be considering including the potential impact on .EU domain names.

Importantly, from 1 January 2021, UK Registrants will no longer be eligible to hold a .EU domain name. Each of the following would be classed as UK Registrants:

UK undertakings or organisations established in the UK but not otherwise in the EU;
UK citizens who are not resident of an EU member state; and
UK residents who are not EU citizens.

Addressing Possible Limits of COPPA Safe Harbors

May 21 2020

On May 18, 2020, FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra issued a statement regarding concerns of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Safe Harbor programs. Sparked by the ouster of the mobile gaming player, Miniclip S.A., from the Children’s Advertising Review Unit’s (CARU) Safe Harbor program, the FTC announced action against Miniclip to order the cessation of its alleged misrepresentations regarding Miniclip’s participation in the self-regulatory program. A proposed settlement Consent Order was agreed and will published in the Federal Register for public comment shortly.

No Time Like the Right Time* – To update your DMCA safe harbor copyright agent registration

Dec 05 2019

All companies that conduct business online should take note of a potential upcoming renewal deadline for the “safe harbor” from copyright infringement liability. Online service providers seeking safe harbor under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)[1] must designate a copyright agent with the U.S. Copyright Office and renew that designation at least once every three years. Failure to do so will negate the online service provider’s ability to claim the safe harbor from copyright infringement liability under § 512(c). Many companies renewed their designations between December 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017 using the Copyright Office’s new electronic filing system. For those that did, the three-year renewal deadline may be approaching.

Webpage specimens not automatically use in commerce

Apr 12 2019

On April 10, 2019, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion, at the request of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), regarding submissions of webpages as specimens of use. In re Siny Corp is an important reminder to applicants and practitioners to carefully consider whether webpage specimens to be submitted to the USPTO actually comprise the offering of goods and/or services at the point of sale, or whether they are mere advertising.

Use of another company (business name) in Internet advertising – ruling of the Court of Appeal in Bialystok (Poland)

Feb 04 2017

In a ruling on 3 February 2017, the Court of Appeal in Białystok (Poland) considered an appeal by a defendant in a case concerning the right to combat unfair competition (case file I ACa 740/16). The dispute arose over the use by the defendant of the business name of the plaintiff when marketing services on the Internet.

The plaintiff’s business is debt recovery. Its activities involve acquiring debts from third parties or acting on behalf of creditors. The plaintiff became aware that the effectiveness of its activities was declining and believed the cause of this lay in the unlawful, in its opinion, activities of the defendant. The defendant conducts business involving consultancy services for debtors of banks and other institutions.

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