Nike Sues Designers Kool Kiy & Omi for Trademark Infringement
Hi everyone, I came across an article outlining Nike’s recent trademark infringement lawsuit against two prominent designers. Nike alleges that the designers have been promoting, copying, and selling Nike’s designs, specifically the Air Jordan 1 and Dunk, as their own. According to the lawsuit, Nike notified the designers of the alleged infringement in August 2021 […]
Copyright Protection for Users of Text-to-Image AI Art Generator Models
For our term project, Wing Yiu, Han, and I wanted to explore the issue of copyright protection as regards AI artists who use text-to-image AI art generator models to create their artworks. Feel free to read our paper as attached below and let us know if you have any thoughts on this topic! Our essay: Copyright […]
Adidas Drops Ye: The Division of IP Rights
Following discriminatory comments made in the media, many brands are cutting ties with Ye (formerly Kanye West), resulting in the severing of contractual relationships. This includes one of his most notable collaborations – Adidas. Adidas severing ties with Ye will likely have impacts on the division of intellectual property rights. An article published by Fortune […]
Two Crocodiles Going After It (Again)
I think it’s fair to say that Lacoste, a French retail company, is a very well-known brand here in Canada. I remember walking by stores selling Lacoste products in malls growing up. This brand may be less familiar to some of you. I remember first coming across a Crocodile Garments store in Seoul, South Korea […]
The Use of AI in Protecting Fashion Designs
I thought I’d share this interesting article I came across titled The Dupe Killer, Tracking Copies with AI. Dupe Killer is an intellectual property tool used by Deloitte for luxury fashion brands. The tool is used to monitor for visual design infringements by searching for copies of products based on their shape or configuration. I […]
Fashion Passing Off Denied
After our lectures on passing off, I found a case that involved two fashion companies. In Original Beauty v G4K, the High Court did not find that passing off had been established. In its claim, Original Beauty, House of CB, argued that G4K, Oh Polly, copied its “get up” and misrepresented to the public that Oh […]
“Patent Families” in the Pharmaceutical Industry
After our last class this morning on patents, I came across this article where Incannex Healthcare filed a patent application to protect a certain drug’s (IHL-42X) clinical program. This reminded me of our discussion today, where we learned that patents can be filed for a combination of previously patented items, so I figured I would […]
Air Fryers and Patents
After our class today on patents, I wanted to see whether it applied to my current favourite cooking appliance, air fryers! I found the link online to one of the patents for air fryers that show the history of that patent and the photos as well. I have attached the link below: https://patents.google.com/patent/US4817509A/en Additionally, I […]
We’re Only in it to Not Get Sued!: A Brief Exploration into the Fair Dealing Defence for Parody Purposes
In the spring of 1968, The Mothers of Invention released their third studio album We’re Only in It for the Money. The album contained a blend of music and satire that was already distinctive to the band’s lead songwriter and guitarist, Frank Zappa. The lyrics of the record aimed at large chunks of society, including […]
Personalized Medicine and Patent
(photo from: https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/nih-turning-discovery-into-health/personalized-medicine) Biotechnology has been a significant area for patent applications. Who does not like the idea of anti-aging or curing cancers? The idea of personalized medicine has been around for years. It means, instead of a universal drug for a disease, the scientists analyze a patient’s personal genetic profile and make the “cocktail” […]