Woman Takes on Coca-Cola in Trademark Dispute and Wins

In 2005, an Australian woman named Annabelle Young wanted to start a tea company. In order to protect her IP she decided to trademark the name HONEST TEA in Australia.  Not too long after her trademark issued,  an American company using the same name brought suit against her claiming global rights in the name.  That company was unsuccessful but shortly thereafter, Coca-Cola bought the US based company and took aim at Young again, claiming that her product was not a tea.  After ten years of legal battles and immense legal fees, Young finally succeeded in defending her trademark.  This case highlights the importance of trademarking your names, logos and slogans early on in the business development stages in protecting your brand. 

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"Happy Birthday" Song now in the Public Domain

A California judge hearing a copyright suit against Warner/Chappell music recently ruled that the "Happy Birthday" song is in the public domain.  The judge held that Warner could enforce its copyright only in certain arrangements of the song.

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Use Caution when Issuing Take Down Notices: "Copyright Law Does Not Authorize Thoughtless Censors...

A Pennsylvania woman recently faced a copyright infringement suit when she posted a video of her child dancing to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" in 2007.  Universal Music Corp. contacted YouTube after learning of the video and had the posting taken down for a period of several weeks.  The video was later restored after the mother argued that there were no legitimate grounds for removal.  She then filed suit against Universal claiming damages for the wrongful denial of access for her publication.

A federal judge in San Jose found for the Plaintiff and the Ninth Circuit upheld the opinion, finding that a copyright holder must consider whether the copyright use is "fair" prior issuing a take down notice.