Beyoncé sues Texas company over clothing with 'Feyoncé' label; Guardian, 4/5/16

Ciara McCarthy and Agencies, Guardian; Beyoncé sues Texas company over clothing with 'Feyoncé' label:

"Beyoncé is suing a Texas company to stop it from selling clothing and other items bearing the word “Feyoncé”, which she says is too close to her own trademarked name.

In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Beyoncé accused Feyoncé Inc and three individuals, all from San Antonio, of “brazenly” selling infringing “Feyoncé” merchandise on their website.

The site sells shirts, sweatshirts and coffee mugs bearing the word. The singer said the Feyoncé knockoffs confuse consumers and cause her irreparable harm, and that the defendants have ignored her requests to stop. The singer previously threatened legal action against Etsy over a line of coffee mugs also bearing the word “Feyoncé”."

GSK Eases IP Rights For Poorest Countries, Considers Patent Pooling For Cancer; Intellectual Property Watch, 3/31/16

Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch; GSK Eases IP Rights For Poorest Countries, Considers Patent Pooling For Cancer:

"The global medicines manufacturer said it wishes to widen access to its innovative new medicines around the world. The company, which already set tiered pricing, data-sharing, and “innovative partnerships,” said it recognises that improved access “requires a flexible and multi-faceted approach to intellectual property (IP) protection,” according to a press release.

GSK is evolving its graduated approach to filing and enforcing patents so that IP protection reflects a country’s economic maturity, said the release.

“For Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Low Income Countries (LICs), GSK will not file patents for its medicines, so as to give clarity and confidence to generic companies seeking to manufacture and supply generic versions of GSK medicines in those countries.”

“For Lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs) generally, GSK will file for patents but will seek to offer and agree licences to allow supplies of generic versions of its medicines for 10 years.” A small royalty on sales is envisaged for those countries, said the release.

For the rest of the countries, GSK “will continue to seek full patent protection...”"

“Other companies, such as Roche, Novartis, Bayer, Astellas, and BMS, with important oncology drugs should begin to engage on expanding access to their patented medicines, beyond just HIV and HCV drugs,” KEI urged."

Sheila Corrall and Kip Currier win LIBER Innovation Award; 45th Annual Conference of LIBER (Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche – Association of European Research Libraries)

LIBER 2016; Sheila Corrall and Kip Currier win LIBER Innovation Award:

The Program Committee for the 45th Annual Conference of LIBER (Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche – Association of European Research Libraries) has selected a paper by Sheila Corrall and James D. “Kip” Currier for a LIBER Innovation Award. The paper on "Legal, Ethical, and Policy Issues of “Big Data 2.0” Collaborative Ventures and Roles for Information Professionals in Research Libraries" will be presented at the conference in Helsinki, Finland, on June 29-July 1, 2016.

The awards are sponsored by OCLC and awarded to the 3 most innovative and relevant papers submitted to the LIBER Conference. Award recipients receive a grant of 1000 euros towards travel and conference registration. The award ceremony takes place at the conference plenary on July 1.

Conference Theme: Libraries Opening Paths to Knowledge

Speed beats trademarks on social media; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/29/16

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Speed beats trademarks on social media:

"Many companies assume that owning a registered trademark means they have a right to any usernames on social media that may be associated with their trademarks. But in the world of social media, the first person to register an account name often has the upper hand, regardless of trademark ownership.

In fact, many companies don’t own user names associated with their well-recognized brands. For example, the Twitter handle @Chipotle is not owned by the Mexican food franchise but by a food blogger named Chip. Likewise, a programmer owns @Velveeta and an actor uses @Advil.

Unless someone is purposely impersonating a company or selling similar products, companies can do little to stop people who registered a username related to their trademarks. Instead, companies must generate alternate usernames. For instance, Chipotle Mexican Grill’s username is @ChipotleTweets, the Kraft Heinz Co. tweets from @EatLiquidGold and Pfizer uses @AdvilRelief...

While trademarks are a powerful tool to protect intellectual property, they are no substitute for speedy registration on social media. Before unveiling a new name or product, companies should register relevant usernames on social media sites."

Worlds collide in ‘Avengers vs. Justice League’ fan trailer; ComicBookResources.com, 4/1/16

Kevin Melrose, ComicBookResources.com; Worlds collide in ‘Avengers vs. Justice League’ fan trailer:

"Using dialogue from X-Men: Age of Apocalypse and The Flash, and footage from a variety of sources, including Avengers: Age of Ultron and Batman v Superman, Shawn Nider lays out an apocalyptic vision for a showdown between heroes of both companies that plenty of destruction in its wake."

GlaxoSmithKline to 'drop patents in poor countries for better drug access'; BBC News, 3/31/16

BBC News; GlaxoSmithKline to 'drop patents in poor countries for better drug access' :

"Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline has said it wants to make it easier for manufacturers in the world's poorest countries to copy its medicines. The British company said it would not file patents in these countries.

Chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said he wanted to take a "graduated" approach to the company's "intellectual property" based on the wealth of nations around the globe.

Experts have described the plans as "brave and positive".

GSK hopes that by removing any fear of it filing for patent protection in poorer countries it will allow independent companies to make and sell versions of its drugs in those areas, thereby widening the public access to them."

Landmark study on the effects of copyright takedown abuse on online free expression; BoingBoing.net, 3/30/16

Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing.net; Landmark study on the effects of copyright takedown abuse on online free expression:

"Three of America's sharpest copyright scholars have released a landmark study of the impact of copyright takedowns on free expression in America: Notice and Takedown in Everyday Practice, by Jennifer Urban (UC Berkeley), Joe Karaganis (Columbia), and Brianna L. Schofiel (UC Berkeley) uses detailed surveys and interviews and a random sample from over 100,000,000 takedown notices to analyze the proportion of fraudulent, malformed or otherwise incorrect acts of censorship undertaken in copyright's name, using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's takedown procedure.

The DMCA is nearly 20 years old, and even before it was passed into law, virtually everyone who was paying attention said that creating a system that allows anything online to be censored through copyright infringement accusations, without due process or even penalties for getting it wrong, would get us into trouble. Now the evidence is in, and it couldn't be more damning."