Search Trademark

Yahoo has just announced they will no longer allow PPC advertisers to advertise or bid on trademarked terms.

Could this be a trend of things to come from the other major search players?

MSN s new adCenter (still in beta) states you are not allowed to infringe trademarks within their editorial guidelines (see policy below).

However, Google still maintains a strong stance in allowing advertisers to bid on trademarked search terms as long as the trademarked term is not used within the advertiser s ad-copy.

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In the case of Merz Pharma GmbH and Co KGaA v Allergan Inc [2006], a dispute arose as to the validity of a patent for the use of Botulinium toxins in a type of medical treatment.

Both the claimant and defendant companies were involved in the manufacture, marketing and development of pharmaceuticals. The defendant was the holder of a patent which concerned the use of the neurotoxin component of Botulinium toxins in the treatment of pain caused by muscular activity and contracture. The Botulunium toxins were a compound of the neurotoxin component and neurotoxin associated proteins .

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In the case of Merz Pharma GmbH and Co KGaA v Allergan Inc [2006], a dispute arose as to the validity of a patent for the use of Botulinium toxins in a type of medical treatment.

Both the claimant and defendant companies were involved in the manufacture, marketing and development of pharmaceuticals. The defendant was the holder of a patent which concerned the use of the neurotoxin component of Botulinium toxins in the treatment of pain caused by muscular activity and contracture. The Botulunium toxins were a compound of the neurotoxin component and neurotoxin associated proteins .

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India has been edge for the offshore outsourcing of the IT, financial services, business process outsourcing (BPO), because low cost manpower with higher education, neutral accent English speaking capability. In spite of these the India is emerging as new hub for KPO (knowledge process outsourcing), having large pool of knowledge workers in various sector. The India has been ranked the most preferred KPO destination.

KPO deals with executing standardized processes, involves higher-end services which require advanced analytical and technical skills. knowledge process outsourcing involves Legal works carried out at law firms like patent document writing, global filing, search, trademark search, trademark registration, prior art searches, legal advise on infringements, invalidation search, freedom of use search, etc. The prior

art search for a patent, drafting and filing of patent in the US is very expensive. According to a recent study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, legal assistants and paralegals working in India on behalf of U.S. law firms earn, on average, between $6 and $8 per hour. That’s about one-third of what their counterparts in the United States are paid.

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In September 2006, Nike agreed to pay Hackney Council 300,000 for the unlawful use of the Council s H logo. Nike had not obtained Hackney Council s permission to use the logo. The settlement figure was calculated by taking into account the total global sales of Nike merchandise, and an appropriate percentage was established.

Logos, such as the H logo, can be registered as trade marks or registered designs and copyright may also subsists in a logo as artistic works governed by the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended. This particular case was interesting as Hackney is a public sector organisation, and usually these types of disputes are between companies.

Most public sector organisations do not see the need to register logos as trade marks or registered designs, especially as many of their designs are quite old. This case shows that it can be in their financial interest to ensure that their intellectual property rights (IPRs) are protected.

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